[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Ellenville 12-11-1996
by L.L. No. 17-2006. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Ellenville finds and declares
it to be the public policy of the Village to regulate the excavation and improvement
of any public street, sidewalk, road, highway, parking lots, alleys, pavements,
worksites, public ground, public place, public easement/right-of-way and private
properties, including, but not limited to, driveways and foundations, when
the excavation affects public properties, including, but not limited to, water
lines, sewer lines, storm drains, cable lines, gas lines, electric lines,
or other public utilities.
The following terms, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings
as indicated below for the purpose of this chapter:
The whole of any premises or property from which topsoil, earth,
sand, clay, gravel, humus, rock or other mineral deposit is excavated and/or
removed, or from which it is proposed that such materials be excavated and/or
removed.
The whole of an operation for the excavation and/or removal of any
materials from any excavated premises and the construction of an improvement
on said excavated premises, and shall include the grading and seeding of said
excavated premises. Excavation work does not include landscaping operations
on a private residential premises, including planting of trees and shrubbery,
and other forms of gardening which do not involve the erection or installation
of an improvement as further defined in this chapter.
A building, wall, structure, parking area, playground, walk, driveway,
street, highway or road.
A.
No person shall excavate in any street, sidewalk, road,
highway, parking lots, alleys, pavements, worksites, public ground, public
place, public easement/right-of-way and private properties, including, but
not limited to, driveways and foundations, when the excavation affects public
properties, including, but not limited to, water lines, sewer lines, storm
drains, cable lines, gas lines, electric lines, or other public utilities
within the Village, unless a written permit shall first be obtained for such
purpose from the Village Manager's office, which permit shall be issued
upon such terms and conditions as herein provided to safeguard safety or welfare.
A separate permit shall be required for each and every excavation.
B.
To obtain a permit, an application must be made in writing
on the form provided by the Village Clerk and signed by the applicant undertaking
the work, together with payment to the Village Clerk of the application fee,
which shall be established and revised from time to time by resolution of
the Board of Trustees. If the application is made by a municipality, the application
shall be executed by its proper officers. In lieu of such execution, the municipality
may, by resolution, designate an agent or officer to execute applications
for permits.
C.
The Board of Trustees shall, by resolution, establish
a uniform set of deposits, which can be made either by cash, certified check
or performance bond, which deposits shall be based upon the estimated actual
costs and expenses in restoring the street, sidewalk, highway, road, public
ground, public place or public easement/right-of-way to its former usefulness.
In no event should such deposit be any less than the principal amount of $750.
The Board of Trustees may, from time to time, change said deposits and principal
amount of bonds to reflect changes in costs and expenses.
D.
The Village will furnish and charge for an inspection
for each day from the time the road, street, sidewalk, highway, easement/right-of-way,
parking lot, alley, pavement, worksite or any other public or private property
is to be excavated until the backfilling with approved material and temporary
restoration of pavement has been completed. The applicant shall specify on
the application the date the excavation is to be made. If the permittee fails
to excavate the road, street, sidewalk, highway, easement/right-of-way, parking
lot, alley, pavement, worksite, or any other public or private property on
the date specified, unless the Village Manager is notified the day before,
inspection will be charged for every day he fails to do so. However, no excavation
shall be made on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or holidays unless an emergency
exists, such as a water or gas leak or sewer stoppage.
E.
In making the excavation, the permittee shall first notify
Dig Safely New York (DSNY), obtain site markings from DSNY, and preserve the
road, street, sidewalk, highway, easement/right-of-way, parking lot, alley,
pavement, worksite or any other public or private property from needless destruction
and shall cause the excavation, installation or repair of the utility and
backfilling to be one continuous operation.
F.
The permittee shall maintain safe crossing along the
line of excavation and shall keep same properly guarded by suitable barricades
and warning signs during the day and by barricades and lights at night.
G.
If the excavation extends the full width of the road,
only 1/2 of the road shall be excavated, and this is to be backfilled before
the other half is excavated, so as to permit the free flow of traffic. In
some cases, it may be possible to excavate on each side of the road and jack
or drive a pipe from one point of excavation to the other.
H.
Tunneling or mechanical methods of boring under the road
for service installations may be permitted only on the written approval of
the Village's Code Enforcement Officer.
I.
Backfilling must be done with a pervious material such
as stone screenings, second-grade crushed stone, sand, run-of-bank gravel
or other pervious material acceptable to the Village. Soils containing a high
percentage of clay, loam or silt shall not be used. The backfill material
shall be moistened and mechanically tamped until thoroughly compacted. All
excess material shall be removed from the roadway or street.
J.
In the event the Village is to make temporary or permanent
restoration of the pavement, the permittee assumes all responsibility for
the excavation and is required to backfill said excavation as many times as
is necessary to keep it safe for traffic until the Village makes the temporary
repair. Said temporary repair is to be made by the Village not later than
seven days after the excavation has been backfilled.
K.
The Village may grant permission on the permit to the
permittee to permanently restore the pavement with its own employees or a
contractor approved by the Village. The temporary pavement is to be made immediately
after the trench has been properly backfilled and compacted, and the permanent
restoration of pavement shall be made within six months, weather permitting,
from the date the temporary pavement was installed, and such permanent restoration
shall, as nearly as possible, duplicate the original pavement in type, material,
color and texture of the surface, except where penetration pavement exists,
in which case it will be necessary for the permittee to replace the surface
with bituminous macadam material consisting of five inches of crushed-stone
base (compactor) surfaced with 2 1 /2 inches of bituminous concrete macadam
(binder coarse) compacted and one inch of bituminous concrete (wearing coarse),
all in accordance with the standards and specifications of the New York State
Highway Department or as specified by the Ulster County Superintendent of
Public Works.
L.
Shoulder trenches shall be replaced with a pervious material
to within six inches of the surface. The final six inches shall consist of
second grade material crushed stone thoroughly rolled to the contour of the
road.
M.
In the event the permittee has been granted permission
to make temporary and permanent restoration of pavement, the permittee agrees
to assume all responsibility for any damage which may occur as a result of
the excavation from the time the excavation was made until permanent restoration
has been made and approved, at which time the Village assumes responsibility
thereof.
N.
Before a permit can be issued, the applicant or his agent
must first file with the Village Clerk adequate and satisfactory evidence
that he is covered by public liability insurance in the amount of $1,000,000
and $500,000 property damage and that under this coverage, or by separate
policies in all the above amounts, the Village of Ellenville and the Village's
Code Enforcement Officer are named as insured and fully indemnified. The contractor
must also file with the Village Clerk adequate and satisfactory evidence that
he is fully covered for workmen's compensation insurance.
O.
If the permittee shall not have received permission to
restore the pavement, or is unable to return to the worksite for whatever
reason, the Village will restore the pavement excavation, and the deposit
made by the permittee shall be used in defraying the expense of making such
restoration, the inspection cost and the permanent maintenance of such excavation.
A refund will be made to the permittee of any balance remaining of the deposit
made. Such refund shall be made through regular Village voucher within six
months after the excavation has been restored. If the restoration caused by
the Village exceeds the amount of the balance remaining in deposit, the permittee
shall be charged the unpaid amounts and, if same continues to remain unpaid
thereafter, shall be levied against the property owner's Village property
taxes.
P.
No excavation permits will be issued between November
15 and March 15, unless an emergency exists and permits are necessary. The
deposits will be doubled and the fee increased for such permits during this
period due to the fact that proper pavement repairs cannot be made during
the winter, and the following rules and regulations will pertain during this
period:
(1)
The backfill of all trenches during the period shall
only be made with screenings, second-grade crushed stone or approved run-of-bank
gravel, and if the excavation is in the shoulder, the last nine inches shall
be made with second-grade crushed stone thoroughly rolled to the contour of
the road.
(2)
If the excavation is in the pavement, there shall be
placed in the trench five inches of compacted crushed stone and surfaced with
2 1/2 inches of compacted bituminous concrete.
(3)
No rocks larger than five inches in any direction or
frozen dirt shall be placed in the trench.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything which may appear to the contrary
in this permit application and regulations, the applicant, by accepting this
permit, assumes all responsibility for the maintenance of said excavation
from November 15 to April 1 and further assumes all liability for damages
resulting from or in any way connected therewith during this period.
Q.
The charges to be made by the Village for excavating,
paving, restoring, maintaining and inspecting shall be in accordance with
a schedule to be established by resolution of the Board of Trustees.
The following regulations shall apply to all excavations, or closings
of any street, sidewalk, road, highway, public ground, public place, public
easement/right-of-way, parking lot, alley, pavement, worksite and private
properties, including, but not limited to, driveways and foundations, when
the excavation affects public properties, including, but not limited to, water
lines, sewer lines, storm drains, cable lines, gas lines, electric lines,
or other public utilities in the Village of Ellenville:
A.
Saw-cut pavement, sides of excavation to be vertical
with a maximum width of two feet on each side of pipe or conduit.
B.
Provide sheeting and shoring in all earth trenches deeper
than five feet.
C.
No blasting will be permitted.
D.
All applications for permits shall be accompanied by
plans which shall be complete and of sufficient clarity to indicate the nature
and extent of the work to be performed.
E.
The provision for plans can be waived by the Code Enforcement
Officer for repair work or temporary work.
Any person who shall refuse or neglect to comply with any provision
of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation. Each and every violation of
this chapter shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $5,000 or a sentence
of imprisonment not to exceed 15 days, or both. Each day's continued
violation shall constitute a separate violation.
A.
In addition to all other remedies provided for herein,
the Board of Trustees may also enforce obedience to this chapter by injunction
or by any other remedy available to it by virtue of the judicial process.
