The following words and phrases, when used in this article shall have the meanings as ascribed to them in this section, except on those instances where the context clearly indicated otherwise:
APPLICANT
Any person whom makes application for a permit.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Trafford, Pennsylvania.
CALENDAR YEAR
January 1 through December 31, inclusive.
CONCRETE
Soil cement, plain cement concrete or reinforced cement concrete and material contained in the base course of some borough streets.
CORPORATE AUTHORITY
Any governmental corporation initiated by Borough Council under the Municipal Authorities Act of 1945.
COST
Actual expenditures incurred by the borough for labor, equipment, and materials which include all fringe benefits and overhead.
DEGRADATION FEE
A fee paid by the permittee to the borough to defray a percentage of the costs for resurfacing and reconstructing borough streets resulting from the depreciation of streets associated with street openings.
DEPARTMENT
The public works department of the Borough of Trafford.
EMERGENCY
Any condition constituting a clear or present danger to life or property by reason of escaping gas, exposed wires, or other breaks or defects in the user's line.
INSPECTION FEE
A fee paid by the permittee to the borough to defray street opening inspection costs.
PERMIT FEE
A fee paid by the permittee to the borough to cover the costs of issuing, processing and filing the street opening permit.
PERMITTEE
Any person who has been issued a permit and has agreed to fulfill all of the provisions of this article.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, firm, associations, utilities or corporation.
PUBLIC UTILITY
Any utility company, excluding corporate authorities of the borough.
RESURFACE
A process which provides a new wearing surface in a certain paved street area, with the same material that was existing prior to excavation.
SIDEWALK AREA
The portion of the street right-of-way reserved for sidewalks.
STREET
The entire right-of-way of a public street, public highway, public alley, public avenue, public road or public easement within the borough limits, including the designated curb and sidewalk are, including cartway, sidewalk, gutter and/or the right-of-way area, whether or not such street or any part thereof is owned in fee by others than the borough.
USER
The public utility, municipality corporation, municipal authority, or any other person who, or which uses a line to provide service to one or more customers.
WORK DAY
Normal business hours for borough government including Monday through Friday, except designated holidays.
A. 
The opening of the surface of any street within the borough other than by the corporate authorities of the borough is hereby prohibited, unless a permit is obtained for that purpose in the manner hereinafter described. Such permit shall be granted by the Borough Code Enforcement Officer when the person applying for such permit files an application with the Borough Code Enforcement Officer in compliance with provisions of this article, and pays the fee hereinafter stated. Provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be constructed to permit the issuing of a permit for the making of a tunnel under any street within the borough.
B. 
If street opening are necessitated by emergencies, street opening permits shall be obtained on the first regular business day on which the borough office is open for business and such permit shall be retroactive to the date when the work was begun.
C. 
A person performing street openings for an emergency shall verify the emergency nature of the circumstance in writing to the Borough Council within five days after such an emergency on the street opening application.
[Amended 7-11-2000 by Ord. No. 675]
Permits for the opening of any street shall only be granted upon compliance with the following express provisions:
A. 
A written application shall be filed for each and every opening and signed by the person desiring such permit from the Code Enforcement Officer, which shall be granted upon depositing with the borough the amount as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council. The application shall set forth the purpose of the opening, extent, size, location of same, date or dates and time such opening is to be permitted, and the date and time such opening shall be refilled and temporarily resurfaced in the manner hereinafter provided and shall provide that the applicant shall faithfully comply with every provision of this article. All applications shall be accompanied by a plan or sketch showing the exact location, character and dimensions of the proposed opening for the installation of new work or the location of the alteration involving changes in the location of pipes, conduct, wires or structures incidental thereto.
B. 
Prior to the issuing of such permit, every applicant shall pay the borough the amount hereinafter required and for the purposes provided. No permit shall be granted to any applicant unless the applicant has paid all moneys then due the borough for prior excavations made or for any loss, damages or expenses in any manner occasioned by or arising from the work done by the applicant under the provisions of this article.
C. 
No permits shall be granted in any case until the applicant shall have executed and delivered to the borough a bond in the amount hereinafter fixed, with good surety shall be either an approved surety or trust company or an individual who shall be the owner of real estate in Westmoreland County and/or Allegheny County, reasonable worth over and above all debts and encumbrances at least double the amount of such bond. The amount of the bond shall be viz: $1,000 for each opening, $10,000 for an indefinite number of openings and bond shall be given up to the condition that the principal will indemnify and save harmless the borough from any loss, damage or expense whatsoever, in any manner occasioned by or arising from the opening of any street or work done in consequence thereof or the manner of doing such work; and the bond shall remain in force for a period of 24 months after the permanent resurfacing of each opening.
An applicant shall file a properly executed certificate of insurance with the borough and verify that the applicant is insured against claims for personal injury as well as against claims for property damaged which may arise from or out of the performance of the excavation work, whether such performance be by the applicant or by anyone directly or indirectly employed by such. Such insurance shall include protection against a liability arising from completed operations, underground utility damage and collapse of any property. Liability insurance for bodily injury shall be in an amount not less than $300,000 for each accident and for property damages an amount not less than $100,000. Failure of an applicant to file a certificate if insurance shall be sufficient reason for denying said permit. The applicant shall save harmless the borough from any and all damages and liability by reason of personal injury or property damage arising from work done by the applicant under the provisions of this article.
A. 
A permit fee, inspection fee and degradation fee for borough streets shall be paid to the borough prior to the issuance of the permit. The borough shall have the right to waive fees for contractors performing work under contract with the borough.
B. 
The minimum charge for a permit for a street opening 1/3 yards or less shall be set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council. The charge for a permit for a street opening of more than 1/3 square yards shall be the sum of the minimum charge for a 1/3 square yard or less and an additional amount a fee as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council for each additions square yard or portion thereof.
[Amended 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 667]
C. 
The degradation fee will be as follows:
[Amended 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 667]
(1) 
The rate of fee is in dollars per square yard of streets constructed, reconstructed or resurfaced within the following number of years prior to the issue date of the permit and shall be as set forth from time to time by resolution of Borough Council.
(2) 
The number of square yards in the computation of fees will be based on the next highest whole square yard figure. Minimum fee will be equal to the rate for one square yard.
(Example) Degradation fee for streets 3 years old; 10 square yards
10 S.Y. @ $10.00/S.Y. = $100.00
D. 
Where permission is granted to make an opening or openings within the lines of a sidewalk, whether improved or unimproved, or upon the dirt roadway of any street, the applicant shall pay the borough a fee as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council for an opening of 10 lineal feet or less for the purpose of paying for the cost of issuing such permit and the necessary inspection, and an additional charge for each addition lineal foot over ten. The applicant shall restore the sidewalk or dirt roadway to its original condition and see that the same is in a safe and proper condition.
[Amended 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 667]
E. 
All future changes in the amount charged by the borough for street excavation permit fees, and related bonds may be established upon motion of Council rather than by ordinance or resolution.
All openings shall be refilled and resurfaced on or before the time specified in the permit according to the following methods:
A. 
The work is to be done by cutting and removing a section of the improved roadway.
B. 
The trench shall be backfilled in accordance with the specifications regulating street excavations within the Borough of Trafford and the paved road and rigid pavement restoration specifications prepared by Neilan Engineers, Inc., dated 1997. Said specifications are appended to this article and incorporated herein by reference.
At all times all proposed street excavation and related work, the actual street excavation and related work, and the completed street excavation and related work, including but not limited to restoration, shall be subject to inspection and approval by the Public Works Foreman and/or the Borough Engineer's designated agent.
[Amended 7-11-2000 by Ord. No. 675]
A street opening permit shall be obtained for any test hole work from the Code Enforcement Officer, which shall be granted upon depositing with the borough the amount as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council. No test holes shall be made in or upon a grated surface of the highway than as specified in such permit, and no excavation may interfere with any water pipes, sewers or drains of the borough or any other underground utility service. Test holes shall be promptly backfilled in accordance with provisions set by the borough.
It is the responsibility of each and every contractor to register the proposed excavation by registering with the Pennsylvania One Call System.
A. 
All gutters shall be left open so as not to obstruct the free passage of water, and the sidewalks and footways must be kept in a safe and passable condition. All excavations or material from them shall have places on them sufficient lights and barricades to identify them from all directions during the day and after dark.
B. 
If for safety purposes, the Department deems it necessary to install additional warning devices such as lights, barricades or signs, the permittee shall be notified of the decision and shall receive instruction on the installation. In case of emergencies, the borough may install all additional warning devices deemed necessary by the Department. Should circumstances warrant additional public safety measures, the borough, in its discretion, may call out traffic control personnel, such as a flag person and police, to direct traffic flow in the vicinity of the excavation site. The borough shall invoice from the date of installation and/or placement until the permittee installs warning devices.
C. 
If the permittee fails to install such devices, the borough shall invoice the permittee for rentals, installation and personnel costs incurred from the date of installation and/or placement until the date of removal. Payment not made by the permittee within 30 days of the invoice date will be chargeable against the posted bond including all fees and costs involved in the collection of this payment.
In no case shall a permittee open or remove a greater area of street surface than specified in the original application. The permittee shall not open any street area at any location not specified in the original application. If the permittee determined during construction that an additional area of the street will have to be opened, he shall notify and secure permission from the department for the additional opening. Upon receipt of permission, the permittee shall file a supplementary application for the work no later than the next work day. Fee amounts as specified in this article shall be followed for any subsequent fees associated with the supplementary applications.
The permittee shall guarantee and maintain his work for a period of 24 months from the completion of the restoration and replacement work. Within this twenty-four-month period upon notification from the borough of necessary correction work required, the permittee shall correct or cause to be corrected all restoration work required within five working days of receipt of the notification. The Department shall determine the extent of the restoration required and method of correction. Any and all work not completed within this five-day period may be completed by the borough at the discretion of the borough. The borough shall invoice the permittee for all costs incurred by the borough in the performance of this work. Payment not made within 30 days of the invoice date will be chargeable against the posted bond including all fee invoices in the collection of this payment, plus a penalty of 20% of the unpaid amount.
The borough, with the assistance of the Borough Engineer, shall have the right from time to time to promulgate and issue specifications and regulations covering the work provided for in this article. The regulations appended to this article are incorporated herein by reference.
Any person violating any provision of this article shall be subject to a fine not less than $100 or more than $300 for each and every offense together with costs and in default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed. Each failure to obtain a permit to comply with any requirements of this article and each and every day during which such violation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.