[Adopted 3-27-1950 (Ch. 101 of the 1971 Code)]
A.
No person, firm or corporation shall open or cause
to be opened, by cutting or excavating, the surface or soil of any
street, highway, sidewalk area or public ground for any purpose whatsoever,
without first obtaining therefor from the Commissioner of Public Works
a written permit for street opening; nor shall any person, firm or
corporation make or cause to be made any connection into a sanitary
sewer, stormwater drain or water main in an easement or right-of-way
across private property, said sanitary sewer, stormwater drain or
water main forming a part of the sewer, drainage or water-distribution
system, respectively, of the City of Middletown, without first obtaining
from the Commissioner a written permit for street opening.
B.
Such permit shall be valid for an effective period
not to exceed 30 consecutive calendar days, to be determined and specified
therein by the Commissioner. Such effective period may be extended,
if so requested in writing by the permittee prior to expiration thereof,
for such additional period as the Commissioner, at the latter's discretion,
may authorize.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation desiring a permit
for street opening shall make application thereof to the Commissioner
for each such opening upon forms to be provided for that purpose.
B.
Said application shall contain the names and addresses
of the applicant and of the owner of the property in front of which
or for whom the work is to be performed. Each and every applicant
by filing the application shall agree to defend, indemnify and save
harmless the City from any and all claims arising from or as a result
of any excavation of street or sidewalk. The size and purpose of the
opening to be made and the maximum size of such opening, the date
or dates when the work is to be performed, the type of pavement or
surface to be disturbed, together with such necessary sketches and
additional information as the Commissioner may require, and a signed
statement by the applicant that the said applicant agrees to perform
the work for which the permit is granted strictly in accordance with
the conditions of the permit, the provisions of the Charter and of
the ordinances of the City and the applicable rules and regulations
of the Department of Public Works, shall also be listed.
[Amended 9-23-1974; 10-16-2018]
No permit for street opening shall be issued
by the Commissioner of Public Works until the applicant therefor shall
have first placed on file with the Commissioner of Public Works of
the City of Middletown, at the sole cost of the applicant, satisfactory
evidence of public liability insurance naming the applicant thereon
as well as the City of Middletown as a named insured and waiver of
subrogation, in an amount not less than $1,000,000 for any one person
and not less than $3,000,000 for any one accident, and property damage
insurance in the amount of not less than $2,000,000 for any one accident.
The applicant must provide workers' compensation with waiver of subrogation
in favor of the City of Middletown. The applicant may, in lieu of
placing on file the actual policy, deliver to the Commissioner of
Public Works a certificate by an insurance company duly licensed to
operate in the State of New York certifying that insurance in the
amount above set forth, and naming the City of Middletown as an insured
on the said policy, is in force and effect. All such certificates
or policies shall be approved as to form, correctness and adequacy
by the Corporation Counsel of the City of Middletown. Failure to file
with the Commissioner as herein required and to keep in force and
effect insurance as provided for above shall result in a denial by
the Commissioner of any street opening permits.
[Amended 9-23-1974]
A.
No permit for street opening shall be issued by the
Commissioner until the applicant therefor shall have first paid to
the City of Middletown in cash or by check payable to the City of
Middletown, a charge and deposit as determined hereunder.
B.
For every ditch there shall be a mobilization charge
of $50. In addition, there is a charge of $3 per square foot of opening
up to 50 square feet of opening. Any additional square footage over
the 50 square feet will be charged at $2 per square foot. All ditches
are to be filled only with run-of-bank gravel and properly compacted
so undue settlement does not occur. The Commissioner of Public Works
or his designated representative shall inspect and measure the ditch
and bill the applicant for any additional square footage due the City
and, further, to authorize any rebate due the applicant for a ditch
smaller in size than that paid for in the application.
[Amended 3-28-1983; 12-27-2005]
C.
In the event that the deposit, as provided for in Subsection B is not sufficient to cover the charges as set forth in said Subsection B, the balance shall be paid to the City by the person obtaining the said permit within 30 days of the rendering of a bill from the City for said amount. In the event that payment in accordance with the said bill is not paid within 60 days from the date of the rendering of the bill, no further permits shall be issued by the City to the applicant. This prohibition shall remain in effect until all accounts of street permits for street openings shall have been paid.
A.
The amount of deposit shall be retained by the City
for the duration of the period of maintenance as defined hereinbelow.
B.
Upon failure or default by the permittee of any of
the terms, agreements, covenants and conditions of the permit on the
permittee's part to be done or performed, said deposit may be used
by the City for any expense incurred by the City by reason of such
failure or default on the part of the permittee.
C.
Any balance left after deductions for proportionate
amount of insurance premiums insuring the City from any claims from
such excavations; deductions for use of City equipment for use of
which no additional deposit is required; and the expense of such failure
or default, as determined and certified by the Commissioner, has been
paid and deducted from the amount of the deposit, shall be refunded
to the permittee.
A.
Unless otherwise agreed upon between a public service
corporation and the City of Middletown, a public service corporation
may, in lieu of the deposit hereinbefore specified for street opening,
file and keep on file with the Commissioner of Public Works a bond
in the amount of $5,000, the said bond to be approved as to form,
amount and sufficiency of surety by the Corporation Counsel, and the
said bond to be retained as security for the faithful performance
by the applicant of all the terms, agreements, covenants and conditions
of the permit on the applicant's part to be done or performed.
B.
Said bond provided for hereinabove shall be considered as a deposit, and the provisions of § 416-22 of this article in regard to the disposition of deposits, and in § 416-23 in regard to expenses incurred by the City, shall apply equally to a public service corporation in the same manner as specified for other permittees in said § 416-23, and each excavation shall be considered to be made under § 416-20, particularly as to agreement to the defense and indemnification of the City, and provisions of § 416-21 as to insurance shall apply.
C.
A public service corporation which contemplates excavating
any public street in the City of Middletown shall file in January
of each and every year a schedule of excavations contemplated to be
made during said calendar year, listing the names of the streets,
description of the work to be performed, including a statement of
the width, length and depth of said excavations and their location
on said street.
D.
Any street on which the City or any public service
corporation has made a major excavation shall not again be excavated
for any major installation for a period of two years except with the
expressed consent of the Common Council of the City of Middletown.
E.
In case of emergency due to breakage of pipes, etc., street openings may be made by a public service corporation prior to obtaining a permit for street opening; provided, however, that said public service corporation shall have filed the required bond and evidence of insurance as specified in this section and in § 416-21 of this article, and provided further that the said public service corporation shall make application for the necessary permit for street opening not later than 24 hours (Saturday afternoons, Sundays and holidays not included) after said opening has been commenced.
A.
It shall be the duty of the person, firm or corporation
by whom or for whose benefit any street opening is to be made for
any purpose whatsoever in the City of Middletown, to give written
notice thereof to any company whose pipes, conduits or other structures
are laid in the street in which any work is to be done by the permittee
under the provisions of a street opening permit, not less than 24
hours before commencing such opening or work; and such person, firm
or corporation doing such work shall, at its own expense, carefully
support, maintain in operation and protect from injury such pipes,
conduits or other structures, and, in case of injury, shall restore
same, at its own expense, to as good a condition as they were before
the beginning of such opening or work.
B.
In case of failure of said person, firm or corporation
to comply with the provisions of this section, then same may be done
by the company to whom the pipes, conduits or other structures belong,
and the costs thereof and all damages sustained by the said company
thereby shall be paid by said person, firm or corporation to said
company, who may, in default thereof, maintain an action against such
person, firm or corporation.
A.
The permittee shall erect and maintain suitable barricades
and fences around all of his or its work while excavation or other
work is in progress, and shall arrange his or its work in such a manner
as to cause a minimum of inconvenience and delay to vehicular and
pedestrian traffic. The Commissioner may require that the work be
so arranged as to make possible the complete removal of obstructions
to traffic on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
B.
Warning flags or signs and suitably lighted red lights
shall be provided around the excavation and placed 50 feet in front
of the excavation facing the direction of travel, and watchmen shall
be provided if so ordered by the Commissioner and in accordance with
the latter's directions.
C.
Where the free flow of traffic is interfered with,
the permittee shall designate competent persons to direct and expedite
traffic by means of lights or flags.
D.
Unless otherwise authorized by the Commissioner, vehicular
traffic shall be maintained at all times during the progress of the
work being performed under the permit.
A.
Excavated material shall be stored in neat piles so
placed as to cause the least interference with the use of the roadway
or sidewalks.
B.
Whenever conditions make it necessary, the Commissioner
may require that the sheathing be installed.
C.
Unless otherwise authorized in writing by the Commissioner,
sheathing and shoring shall be left in place with a cutoff line 18
inches below ground surface.
A.
No backfilling shall be done by the permittee until
the work being done under the permit shall have first been inspected
and backfilling authorized by the Commissioner. In case of nonconformity
with this requirement, the Commissioner shall have the right to require
that the work be uncovered by the permittee at the latter's own expense
so that proper inspection may be made.
B.
The material used to backfill the bottom of the trench
up to a level of two feet above the completed pipe or other structure
shall be clean earth, sand or rock dust, and shall contain no broken
rock, stone or frozen earth.
C.
Above a level two feet higher than the top of the
completed pipe or other structure, the material used for backfill
shall be approved material containing no frozen earth and not more
than 1/3 broken rock and no stone or piece thereof shall exceed 1/2
cubic foot in size.
D.
The space between the pipe or other structure and
the bottom and sides of the trench shall be packed full by hand and
thoroughly tamped as fast as placed and up to the level of the top
of the pipe or other structure, which shall then be covered by hand
to a level at least three feet higher than the top thereof, the backfill
material being carefully deposited and tamped in layers not more than
six inches thick.
E.
Tamping shall be done with a light tamper weighing
from six to eight pounds and shall be conducted in such a manner as
to secure compacted backfill without in any way injuring or disturbing
the completed pipe or structure.
F.
Compacting the backfill by means of flooding or puddling
with water will not be allowed except with the prior written authorization
of the Commissioner.
Tunneling under pavements or sidewalks will
not be allowed, but small pipes or conduits having a dimension of
six inches or less may be driven beneath pavement or sidewalks in
such a manner that the surface shall not be disturbed or injured,
and provided that:
A.
The prior written approval of the Commissioner is
obtained.
B.
No excavation in connection therewith shall be closer
than one foot to the edge of a sidewalk or 18 inches to the edge of
a pavement.
C.
Such pipes or conduits shall be enclosed in sleeves
or larger pipes so that required replacements or repairs may be made
in the future without disturbance or injury to the pavement or sidewalk.
D.
In the event of damage to a pavement, sidewalk or
subsurface pipe or structure caused by driving such pipe or conduit,
the permittee shall repair and make good the damage at the permittee's
own expense.
No person shall excavate or dig up any sidewalk
except with the permission of the Commissioner of Public Works. No
fee or deposit shall be required. All proper safeguards shall be provided,
and work shall be performed in a manner satisfactory to the Commissioner
of Public Works and in accordance with the provisions of this article.
A.
Temporary resurfacing.
(1)
Immediately after backfilling and tamping the excavation,
the permittee shall place there on an acceptable temporary resurfacing
as provided hereinbelow. Such temporary resurfacing shall be maintained
even with the roadway or other surface, as directed, until permanent
restoration of the surface is ordered by the Commissioner.
(2)
The temporary resurfacing shall consist of not less
than two inches of asphalt pavement (New York State Item 53) when
opening was made in an existing concrete, brick or macadam pavement
or asphalt-surfaced covered dirt streets, two inches of acceptable
cinders in all unsurfaced streets, except that where topsoil, seeded
areas or sod have been disturbed by the excavation, the permittee
shall restore the ground surface to the same condition as existed
before the work was begun.
(3)
Permanent restoration of the surface over a street
opening excavation shall not be made until satisfactory settlement
of the backfill has taken place in the opinion of the Commissioner.
B.
Concrete pavements.
(1)
Before proceeding with pavement resurfacing, the existing
concrete pavement shall be neatly cut back a distance of not less
than 12 inches beyond the edges of the excavation, care being taken
not to remove any existing steel reinforcement. Such distance shall
not be reduced without prior approval of the Commissioner and may
be increased as provided hereinunder.
(2)
Where the existing pavement has been undermined by
the excavation or by any work connected therewith, or where spalled
or scaled surface areas of existing pavement adjoin the areas to be
resurfaced, the permittee shall remove additional pavement beyond
the distance stated hereinabove as ordered by the Commissioner.
(3)
In the event that any portion of the proposed concrete
resurfacing, as finally determined by the Commissioner as provided
hereinabove, is nearer than four feet from a joint, then such removal
shall be extended to said joint. The smallest horizontal dimension
of the concrete resurfacing shall be not less than four feet.
(4)
None of the subgrade so exposed shall be disturbed
in any way except when, in the opinion of the Commissioner, such subgrade
is unstable, in which case the unstable material shall be removed
as ordered, and replaced with approved stable material in layers not
to exceed four inches, each layer being thoroughly compacted and tamped.
(5)
The upper edges of the existing concrete pavement
shall be uniformly plumbed and tooled for a depth not to exceed one
inch, the remaining depth being left with straight but rough edges.
(6)
Reinforcement consisting of deformed steel bars not
less than 3/8 inch in size, spaced as ordered, or wire mesh weighing
50 pounds per 100 square feet, shall be placed two inches above the
sub grade and shall be adequately tied in with the existing reinforcement,
if any.
(7)
The edges of the existing concrete pavement shall
be thoroughly washed, wire brushed, dampened and painted with a 1:1
neat cement coating immediately previous to the placing of the new
concrete resurfacing.
(8)
The concrete shall be proportioned, mixed, placed,
finished and cured as ordered. The Commissioner may, in his discretion,
require the use of an approved high early-strength cement placed under
approved methods. The use of admixtures and work in freezing weather
will be allowed only with the Commissioner's prior approval and as
directed.
(9)
Approved joints shall be installed where directed.
(10)
The resurfaced area shall not be opened to traffic
until so ordered by the Commissioner.
C.
Asphalt pavements.
(1)
In resurfacing existing asphalt pavements, the permittee
shall cut back the existing pavement a distance of not less than six
inches beyond the edges of the excavation. Such distance shall not
be reduced without prior approval of the Commissioner and may be increased
by the Commissioner if the existing pavement has been undermined by
the excavation or by any work connected therewith.
(2)
The permittee shall place on this subgrade four inches
of approved crushed stone of required size properly tamped, and 2 1/2
inches to three inches of asphalt premix shall be added and finished
in an acceptable manner.
D.
Other surfaces. The temporary surfacing of asphalt-treated
dirt streets may be brought to grade by applying asphalt premix over
the area. Any other surfaces disturbed by reason of the work performed
under the permit shall be restored by the permittee as directed by
the Commissioner.
E.
Work may be done by City. The Commissioner may, in
his discretion, cause any or all of the work contemplated in this
section to be done by the City's own forces or by contract or otherwise,
in which case the City shall be reimbursed for any expense incurred
thereby, and the permittee shall have no claim against the City for
loss of anticipated profits or for any other losses by reason thereof.
F.
Provisions of this section shall apply only to excavations
and ditches running parallel to the curb.
[Amended 12-4-2012]
A.
Any person
or persons, partnership, association, limited-liability company, public
utility company or corporation doing or permitting to be done or causing
to be done any act or thing contrary to the provisions of this article
shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not less than
$500 nor more than $1,000 for each violation, or to imprisonment not
to exceed 15 days in jail for each violation, or to both such fine
and imprisonment for each violation. Every violation of any provision
of this article shall be a separate and distinct offense, and in case
of continuing violation, every day's continuance thereof shall be
and is deemed to be a separate and a distinct offense.
B.
In addition
to the imposition of fines and/or imprisonment as set forth above,
the City may seek injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction
to prevent the continued violation of this article.