[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Media
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-4-1891 by Ord.
No. 41]
[Amended 9-1-1909 by Ord.
No. 69]
The Mayor and Borough Council of the Borough of Media do ordain that
from and after the passage of this article it shall not be lawful for any
telegraph, electric light or telephone company, firm or individual to erect
or cause to be erected any pole or poles upon any public street, lane or alley
within the present limits of the Borough of Media unless the company, firm
or individual seeking to erect said pole or poles shall first make application
to the Council for permission to erect the same.
[Amended 11-19-1992 by Ord.
No. 846]
It shall be the duty of said company, firm or individual to submit to
the Council, accompanying such application, a written statement specifying
the number and location of said poles, and if permission shall be granted
by the Council to erect said poles, said company, firm or individual shall
cause said poles to be erected either in accordance with such statements or
subject to such conditions and modifications as the Council may direct.
If any company, firm or individual shall, by the erection of any pole
or poles, violate any of the foregoing provisions of this article it shall
be the duty of the Street Commissioner to report such violation to the Mayor,
who shall notify said company, firm or individual to remove said pole or poles
within 10 days from said notice under a penalty of $10 for every 10 days said
pole or poles are allowed to remain after the expiration of said notice.
[Amended 11-19-1992 by Ord.
No. 846]
In all cases where poles have heretofore been erected and whenever,
in pursuance of this article, any poles may hereafter be erected in or upon
any of said streets, lanes or alleys or said borough, it shall be the duty
of such company, firm or individual owning such poles to submit to the Borough
Secretary, on or before the first day of January in each and every year after
the passage of this article, a sworn statement of the number and location
of the poles so erected, and thereupon said Borough Secretary shall issue
a permit for each pole which shall entitle said company, firm or individual
to maintain said pole, subject to the provisions of this article, for the
term of one year for the time of such payment and no longer.
It shall be the duty of the Street Commissioner, at least once a year,
to cause a thorough inspection of all telegraph, telephone and electric poles
erected within the limits of said borough, and if any pole shall be found
to be defective, unsuitable or unsound he shall notify the owner of said pole
to forthwith replace the same with a sound pole, and if such owners neglect
to replace such defective, unsuitable or unsound pole within five days after
receiving such notice, said owners shall be liable to a fine of $5 for each
and every day during which said neglect or refusal shall continue, to be recoverable
as debts of like character are now recoverable by law and the ordinances of
said borough.
All telegraph, telephone and electric light poles now or hereafter erected
in said borough shall be designated by the names or initials of the owner
or owners of said poles and each of said poles shall bear a distinctive number,
which names, initials and numbers shall be legibly marked with oil paint upon
the poles so designated, and said poles shall also be painted with dark brown
paint for the distance of at least seven feet from the base thereof and said
paint shall be renewed whenever, in the opinion of the Council, it may be
necessary. Upon the neglect or refusal of any owner or owners to so mark and
paint their said poles within 10 days after notice so to do, it shall be lawful
for the Council to order said work to be done and the cost thereof to be collected
from the owner or owners of said poles.
The permission of the Council referred to in § 283-2 of this article may be exercised by a majority vote at any meeting and in such cases authorize the erection of any pole or poles as fully as if an ordinance to that effect had been duly enacted.
[Adopted 9-6-1905 by Ord.
No. 53]
It shall not be lawful for any telegraph, telephone or electric light
company or any firm or individual to lay or construct or cause to be laid
or constructed any conduits, ducts, pipes, manholes or other underground appliances
to contain wires or cables to be used for the transmission of electricity
along, under or through the streets, alleys or highways of the Borough of
Media unless such company, firm or individual shall first make application
to the Council for permission to lay and construct the same and shall submit
a detailed statement together with a plan showing the character and location
of the proposed construction and the streets, alleys and highways along, under
and through which it is proposed to construct the same.
If the Council shall approve the plan so submitted or any modification
thereof, the permission to lay and construct said conduits, ducts, pipes,
manholes and other underground appliances may be granted by a majority vote
of the whole Council at any stated or regular meeting or at a special meeting
called for the purpose as fully as if an ordinance to that affect had been
duly enacted, but such permission shall not take effect until the plan so
approved shall be identified by the signatures of the Mayor and President
of Council or in such other manner as the Council shall direct, and a copy
of the same certified by such company, firm or individual shall be furnished
to the borough to be filed among its records.
[Amended 11-19-1992 by Ord.
No. 846]
Such permission may contain any conditions or stipulations which the
Council may deem applicable to the circumstances of each particular case and
shall in all cases, whether so expressed or not, be taken to be subject to
all the provisions of this article, and no work shall be done in pursuance
thereof until a permit shall also be obtained from the clerk of the Council
for that purpose, and such permit shall not be issued for work to be done
in the months of December, January or February without the consent of the
Highway Committee.
All work done under the provisions of this article and of any permission
granted as aforesaid shall be so performed as to obstruct as little as possible
the streets, alleys and highways wherein it shall be carried on and also in
such manner that no opening or encumbrance shall remain for a longer period
than absolutely necessary for the proper execution of the work. No opening
for the purpose aforesaid shall extend over more than one block at a time.
Said company, firm or individual shall relay any sidewalk, curb or pavement
which may have been removed or damaged by it or them and shall restore the
surface of the street, alley or highway to as good a condition as it was in
before it was disturbed by any excavation or construction. It shall be the
duty of the Highway Committee to supervise said work and said Committee shall
have power to enforce these provisions.
[Amended 11-19-1992 by Ord.
No. 846]
Any permission granted in pursuance of this article shall be taken to
be subject to the right of the borough authorities to impose at any time all
licenses and no such grant shall be taken to be exclusive or prevent a grant
of similar privileges to other companies or individuals.
That space in the conduits laid under the provisions of this article
or permission granted thereunder shall be reserved for the purpose of carrying
free a wire or wires of any fire alarm or police telegraph system now in use
or which may hereafter be adapted by said borough. In no case, however, shall
said wire or wires carry high-tension currents except in conduits laid for
electric light wires.
The grantee of any permission aforesaid shall maintain its, their or
his conduits, ducts, pipes and manholes and any distributing wires and appliances
used in connection therewith in good and safe order and condition and shall
at all times fully indemnify, protect and save harmless said borough from
and against all actions, claims, suits, damages and charges and against all
loss and necessary expenditures arising from the construction and maintenance
of its or his system in said borough or from its or his neglect or failure
to maintain said apparatus in good and safe order and condition, and no such
conduits, ducts, pipes or manholes shall be dug up and removed without the
consent of the Highway Committee.
Any order or resolution of the Council granting permission as provided in the § 283-9 of this article shall be duly accepted in writing and under seal by the grantee within 15 days after the granting of the same, which acceptance shall be forthwith certified and returned to the Clerk of the Council and such acceptance shall be expressed to be an acceptance also of the provisions of this article, and in default of said acceptance being had and certified such permission shall be null and void.
