[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Cromwell 9-13-1989[1]; amended in its entirety TC 12-28-2017. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
CHARTER REVISION
Effective with the general election held in November 2013, the Town changed to a Town Council/Town Manager form of government. According to Charter § 11.04, any references in Town ordinances to the "First Selectman" or to the "Board of Selectmen" shall now be deemed to refer to the "Town Manager" or the "Town Council," as appropriate.
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 99.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 204.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 123, Excavations, adopted 3-10-1982.
No person, firm or corporation shall make any excavation, ditch, digging or otherwise alter, open or remove the surface of any street or highway in the Town of Cromwell until a permit has been obtained from the Director of Public Works or his authorized agent. Application for a permit shall be made on forms provided by the Director of Public Works and shall be accompanied by a sketch or drawing describing the work to be done. The sketch or drawing shall be in sufficient detail to facilitate an inspection of the excavation by Town personnel. The Director of Public Works may require details, plans and specifications and other engineering data to be submitted with the application if he shall deem such to be necessary. The permit shall be obtained at least 72 hours prior to commencement of excavation activities.
No person, firm or corporation shall lay, construct, open or maintain any drain or conductor pipe in such manner that the water from the same is discharged on any sidewalk, any Town Highway, or public ground in the Town of Cromwell.
Call Before You Dig (CBYD) (1-800-922-4455) must be notified at least three full working days prior to any excavation, and no permit will be issued without an appropriate CBYD ticket number.
A. 
Contractors applying for a permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall pay a fee to the Town of Cromwell in the amounts computed by measuring the surface area of such excavation as follows:
(1) 
Thirty-five dollars for the 500 square feet of excavation or fraction thereof; and
(2) 
Thirty-five dollars for each additional 500 square feet of excavation or fraction thereof, as indicated below:
Surface Area
(square feet)
Permit Fee
Up to 500
$35
501 to 1,000
$70
1,001 to 1,500
$105
1,501 to 2,000
$140
2,001 to 2,500
$175
2,501 to 3,000
$210
3,001 to 3,500
$245
3,501 to 4,000
$280
4,001 to 4,500
$315
4,501 to 5,000
$350
(continuing in increments of $35 for each 500 square feet or fraction thereof)
B. 
No permit fee shall be required of a private contractor or contractors doing work for the Town of Cromwell or any department, agency or commission thereof when done under the direction of the Director of Public Works of the Town of Cromwell.
A. 
No permit for any excavation in any Town street or highway in the Town of Cromwell shall be granted until the contractor shall file with the Director of Public Works:
(1) 
Proof of insurance as follows:
(a) 
Automobile: $1,000,000 combined single limit for bodily injury and/or property damage.
(2) 
Comprehensive general liability:
(a) 
Each occurrence: $1,000,000.
(b) 
General aggregate: $2,000,000.
(c) 
Products: completed operations aggregate: $2,000,000.
(3) 
Workers' compensation employer's liability: $100,000/$5,000/$100,000.
(4) 
Umbrella: $1,000,000 per occurrence.
(5) 
Proof of a performance bond in the minimum amount of $5,000 and in greater amounts as on the following page. Said performance will be an amount relative to the area to be excavated as determined by the Director of Public Works, all predicated on the contractor restoring the street or highway to a condition an approved by the Director of Public Works.
Surface Area
(square feet)
Bond Amount
Up to 1,000
$5,000
1,001 to 1,200
$6,000
1,201 to 1,400
$7,000
1,401 to 1,600
$8,000
1,601 to 1,900
$9,000
1,901 to. 2,000
$10,000
(continuing in increments of $1,000 for each 200 square feet or fraction thereof)
B. 
All such bonds and insurance coverage shall be for a term of at least one year and shall be kept in force continuously until the maintenance provisions hereinafter specified are satisfied. Evidence of renewal of coverage shall be furnished annually to the Director of Public Works.
C. 
The contractor shall hold harmless and indemnify the Town of Cromwell for any and all liability, damages, and costs which may in any manner be incurred by the Town of Cromwell by reason of or in connection with the issuance of a permit for such excavation or by reason of any act or omission of the contractor, his agents, or servants.
D. 
Contractors and public service corporations may dispense with the filing of a separate insurance policy and bond for each excavation by filing annually with the first Director of Public Works the proper evidence of insurance coverage and performance bond hereinbefore required, provided, however, that an application must be made for a permit for each separate excavation. Evidence of insurance coverage and performance bond shall be filed in the form and in companies or sureties satisfactory to the Director of Public Works. The surety company shall be licensed to do business in Connecticut and a form of surety bond is attached to this chapter.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The form of surety bond is on file in the Town offices.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a fine of not more than $50 for each day of the violation.
A. 
Whenever a permit has been issued and the regulations herein are not complied with, a stop-work order shall be delivered to the person, firm or corporation, or its representative, by the Director of Public Works. Upon such delivery, all work shall cease, the excavation shall be refilled or otherwise made safe and secure, and the permit shall be deemed to be suspended until the Director of Public Works authorizes, in writing, a resumption of the work. The Director of Public Works or his authorized agent shall be authorized to issue stop-work orders.
B. 
Any work not conforming to the details and specifications prescribed by the Director of Public Works may be completed by the Town, and all costs for such work shall be billed to the person, firm or corporation taking out such permit. No further permits shall be issued to said person, firm or corporation so billed until the balance owed the Town is paid. All remittances shall be payable to the Treasurer of the Town of Cromwell.
A. 
The contractor shall at all times take all proper precautions to safeguard any sewer lines, water mains and services, electrical conduits, telephone conduits, gas main and services, or appurtenances encountered in excavation, and shall properly maintain such installations so as to provide uninterrupted service of the same. In locations where the use of power equipment will endanger such installations, the work must be done by hand labor.
B. 
Excavations must be made in open cut, and no tunneling will be allowed except by special written permission from the Director of Public Works. Trenches shall be braced and sheeted when needed to meet applicable federal and state trench safety regulations.
C. 
No excavated material is to be placed on private property without written permission from the property owner, such written permission to be obtained by the contractor and filed with the Director of Public Works prior to placing excavated material on private property.
D. 
All excess material removed from streets, highways, Town properties or rights-of-way granted in favor of the Town of Cromwell that is not required or suitable for backfilling the excavation will remain the property of the Town of Cromwell and must be removed to and/or disposed of at a site approved by the Director of Public Works.
A permit issued by the Director of Public Works and the Chief of Police shall be obtained prior to excavation of any street or highway within the Town of Cromwell, excluding Interstate 91 and Route 9. A permit issued by the Chief of Police shall be obtained for any street or highway maintained by the State of Connecticut. All excavations shall be protected at all times in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The Chief of Police may proscribe such protection as deems necessary to allow for the safe passage of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, including requiring police officers or flaggers, whenever there are road closings, lane closings or other restrictions to traffic. Only 1/2 of the traveled portion of a street or highway shall be excavated, permitting safe passage of vehicular traffic on the remaining half. Under no circumstances shall an excavation or opening be made across the width of the entire street or highway in such a manner as to prohibit safe passage of vehicular traffic without the written permission of the Chief of Police. Excavation permits shall be obtained prior to the commencement of the excavation work and prior to causing any redirection of traffic. In the event of an emergency requiring excavation of a street or highway, verbal notice shall be made to the Cromwell Police Department prior to excavation.
A. 
All excavations provided for in this chapter shall be backfilled with bank-run gravel or material approved by the Director of Public Works. Material removed from the excavations may be used for backfill only with permission of the Director of Public Works or his authorized agent. All backfilling must be done in properly compacted layers not exceeding 12 inches in depth after compaction. No muck, clay, frozen earth, topsoil, stones over six inches in any dimension or other deleterious material shall be placed in excavation, but shall be disposed of as indicated above. The approved backfill material shall be placed and compacted at a moisture content between 4% and 6% (based on dry density, by weight), or within 2% of the optimum moisture content as determined by the moisture-density relationship test specified in American Society For Testing And Materials, AD1557.
B. 
At locations where the contractor elects to consolidate the backfill material by the so-called "Ho-Pac" method, the compacted layers shall not exceed four feet in depth after compaction. The vibratory compactor shall be placed directly on the backfill surface, and the compaction effort shall continue until no further visible settlement occurs.
A. 
After the excavation has been backfilled and compacted as indicated above, 12 inches of processed aggregate base shall be placed and compacted in three four-inch layers. The material used and the method of compaction shall be in conformance with the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation Standard Specifications for Roads, Bridges and Incidental Construction, Form 817, and future revisions thereto. A temporary bituminous patch, at least two inches in depth, shall be placed and compacted on top of the aggregate base so that the surface of the patched excavation is slightly domed above the adjacent pavement. After a minimum period of 60 days and a maximum of 360 days, the temporary patch material and any fouled aggregate base, shall be removed and replaced with new aggregate base if needed, and permanent bituminous material as indicated below:
(1) 
One and one-half inches of bituminous concrete surface course on two inches of bituminous concrete binder course.
B. 
The bituminous pavement material and the method of placement shall also be in conformance with Form 817 or the latest revision. After the removal of the temporary patch and prior to the placement of the permanent bituminous material, the existing pavement will be cut back as directed by the Director of Public Works or his authorized representative to create vertical faces which will either be by Public Works construction permit ordinance parallel or perpendicular to the new pavement. The vertical faces will be sealed with 85/100 asphaltic material to ensure a good bond between the old and new pavement material. The surface of the repaved excavation shall be flush with the adjacent pavement. All excavations shall be properly protected by barricades and warning lights furnished and maintained by the contractor during the curing period. Curbs and sidewalks are considered a part of the pavement and are to be restored to their original condition in accordance with applicable Town standards and specifications. All grassed areas or open areas are to be rough graded with boulders larger than six inches removed from the site. All lawned areas are to be fine graded with four inches of topsoil and seeded as approved by the Director of Public Works. All other highway facilities, signs, pavement markings, sewers or subsurface structures shall be restored to their original condition before excavation was made
A. 
The contractor shall be responsible for the maintenance of the repaired patch during the life of the temporary patch and for a period of one year after the acceptance of the permanent patch by the Director of Public Works. In the event that it is necessary to make repairs to the excavation or restoration of the pavement during the one-year period, said guarantee shall extend for an additional period of sixty days. The performance bond shall include said conditions of maintenance within its provisions.
B. 
Any patches not satisfactorily maintained by the contractor may be repaired by the Town of Cromwell, and the following charges shall be billed to the person, firm, or corporation responsible for the patch: $150 per repair on weekdays and $250 per repair on weekends and holidays. No further permits shall be issued to the person, firm, or corporation so billed until the balance owed the Town is paid. All remittances shall be payable to the Treasurer of the Town of Cromwell.