In the event that any street, curb, sidewalk or driveway entrance which now exists or is hereafter constructed is damaged by the owner of the abutting property or the owner's tenants or any person performing services or delivering goods to such property owner, it shall be the duty of the owner of such property to reconstruct or repair such damage in such manner and to such specifications as the Borough Engineer may direct.
Where the property owner fails to repair damage to streets, sidewalks, curbs and driveway entrances abutting his property as required by § 326-18, the Mayor and Council may cause a notice to be served upon the owner requiring him to undertake the necessary repairs within 30 days from the date of service of said notice.
The notice shall contain a description of the property affected, sufficient to identify it, a description of the repairs necessary to comply with this article and a statement that, unless the owner completes the repairs within 30 days after the service of the notice, the municipality will make the repairs required at the expense of the owner.
Notice under this article may be served personally or by leaving a copy of it at the owner's usual place of residence with a member of his family over the age of 14 years. In the case of infants, notice shall be served upon their guardians. When real estate is held by joint tenants, tenants in common or tenants by the entirety, service upon any one tenant shall be service upon all. If the owner of the real estate is not a resident of the municipality, notice may be served upon him personally or upon his agent in charge of the property, or upon the occupant of the property, or mailed to the nonresident owner at his last known post office address. If the owner is unknown or if for some reason service cannot be made in the manner provided herein, the notice shall be published at least once in the newspaper circulating in the municipality not less than 30 days before the repairs are made by the municipality. Notices to the owners of several different parcels of real estate may be inserted in the same publication.
Where the property owner, after being served with notice, neglects to make the required repairs within 30 days, the Mayor and Council may cause the repairs to be made by or under the supervision of the appropriate Borough official or may award a contract for the making of it. The municipal official in charge of the repairs shall keep an accurate account of the costs and report said costs to the Mayor and Council. The Mayor and Council shall examine the report and, if properly made, confirm it and file it with the officer charged with other assessments, who shall record it in the book in which other assessments of the municipality are recorded. Before confirming the report, the Mayor and Council shall give notice to the owner of the property of the time and place fixed for the examination of the report. The notice shall be served in the manner provided in § 326-21, but failure to give notice shall not invalidate any assessment. Where several properties are benefited by repairs made in accordance with this section, the costs shall be assessed against the properties benefited in proportion to their frontage upon the street or sidewalk.
No person shall perform any work of repairing, constructing, improving or maintaining any sidewalk or curb or break up the surface or make any excavation in any sidewalk without first obtaining a permit from the Superintendent of Public Works.
Application for a permit shall be made to the Superintendent of Public Works upon forms provided by him and shall contain the name and address of the owner of the property abutting the sidewalk where the work is to be performed; the name and address of the person who is to perform the work; the nature of the work to be performed; and such other information as the Superintendent may appropriately require.
[Amended 4-15-1985 by Ord. No. 85-4]
The Superintendent of Public Works shall determine the time limit during which the permit shall be valid, and the work to be performed shall be performed within the time limit provided, unless the same is extended, in writing, by the Superintendent of Public Works. The fee for a permit under this section shall be as provided in Chapter 163, Fees, which shall be used to defray the cost of inspections provided for in the following section.
Work performed under a permit required by this article shall be inspected by the Superintendent of Public Works or his authorized agent at least once each day and at its completion. It shall be the duty of the permittee to notify the Superintendent 24 hours before the commencement of the work and immediately upon the work being completed. In the event that the Superintendent or his agent discovers that the work or any part of it is not being performed in accordance with the provisions of this article or the plans and specifications on file in the Superintendent's office, he shall so notify the permittee or his agent. Work shall immediately cease and shall not be resumed until the violation is corrected. If the permittee fails or refuses to correct the violation within a reasonable time, the Superintendent may correct it or may cause it to be corrected. In such event, the cost of correcting the violation shall be a municipal lien against the property abutting the sidewalk and shall be collected in the manner provided in this article.