[Adopted 7-20-2000 by Ord. No. 1491]
A.
BORE
PERSON
RIGHT-OF-WAY
STREET
TUNNEL
The following words, when used in this article, shall
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except in those
instances where the context clearly indicates otherwise:
To make a hole in or through with a rotating tool to produce
a boring, the majority of which is to be filled by piping or conduit.
Includes any natural person, partnership, firm, general contractor,
association, corporation or public utility company.
The legally established right-of-way of any dedicated or
adopted street or road and any right-of-way dedicated for public use,
including but not limited to utility easements, sanitary sewer easements
and access easements and stormwater management easements.
Any adopted public street, avenue, road, square, alley, highway
or other public place located in the City of Butler and established
for the use of vehicles, including the entire legal right-of-way of
the street.
A passageway, as under a street, building or sidewalk, to
provide access to underground facilities.
B.
In this article, the singular shall include the plural,
and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
It shall be unlawful for any person to open
or to make any excavation of any kind in any of the streets or rights-of-way
in the City of Butler without first securing a permit therefor, as
hereinafter provided.
Any person desiring to make any opening or excavation
in any of the streets or rights-of-way in the City of Butler shall
make application to the Zoning Officer, in writing, upon blanks furnished
by the City setting forth the name of the applicant, the exact location
of the proposed opening or excavation and the approximate width or
depth thereof, and the application shall contain an agreement on the
part of the applicant that the work shall be done in full compliance
with the ordinances of the City and the laws of the commonwealth in
relation thereto and that the applicant shall well and truly save,
defend and keep harmless the City of Butler from and indemnify it
against any and all actions, suits, demands, payments, costs and charges
for or by reason of the proposed opening or excavation and all damages
to persons or property resulting in any manner therefrom, or from
any other matter, cause or thing relating thereto, or by any leak,
explosion or other injury from any pipe, apparatus, conduit or any
other matter placed in said excavation.
Before any permit shall be issued to open or
excavate in any street or rights-of-way in the City, the applicants
shall pay to the City of Butler a permit fee as designated by resolution
of the Mayor and City Council. Utility companies may make arrangements
with the City of Butler to be billed on a monthly basis.
All work done pursuant to a validly issued permit
shall comply with all rules, regulations, policies, specifications
and/or procedures approved from time to time by the City of Butler.
Any person opening a street or right-of-way
shall assume all risks for the presence or proximity of pipes, wires,
poles, tracks, walls, buildings and other structures and property,
of every kind and description, in or over his trenches or in the vicinity
of his work, whether above or below the surface of the ground; and
he shall be responsible for all damages and assume all expense for
direct or indirect damage caused by his work to any of them or injury
to any person or property, whether such structures are or are not
shown on the drawings. In no case shall a permittee open or remove
a greater area of street surface than specified in the original application
unless such work is under emergency conditions or a continuation of
work beyond the regular workday. The permittee shall not open any
street area at any location not specified in the original street opening
permit. If the permittee determines during construction that an additional
area of the street will have to be opened, he shall notify and secure
permission from the Zoning Officer for the additional opening. Upon
receipt of permission, the pennittee shall file a supplementary application
for the work no later than the next workday. Fee amounts specified
in the City's fee schedule shall be followed for any subsequent fees
associated with supplementary applications.
The permittee shall guarantee and maintain his
work for 36 months from the completion of the restoration and replacement
work. Within this thirty-six-month period, upon notification from
the City 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 Zoning Officer
shall determine the extent of restoration required and the method
of correction. Any and all work not completed within this five-day
period may be completed by the City at the discretion of the Zoning
Officer. The City shall invoice the permittee for all costs incurred
by the City in perfomiance of this work. Utility companies are required
to make permanent repairs within 30 days of all street openings except
on those occasions when the thirty-day period covers more than one
construction season.
The contractor shall be responsible for the
condition of all excavations made by him and the proper shoring and
bracing thereof. All slides and cave-ins shall be removed without
extra compensation, whenever and however they may occur.
All work in connection with openings in any
street or right-of-way, including but not limited to excavation protection,
refilling and temporary paving, shall be done by the applicant at
his sole expense, and such work shall be subject to the provisions
of this article and to the approval of the City of Butler or such
employee of the City as it may from time to time designate for that
purpose, provided that the Mayor and Council may require that cutting
the surface of improved streets and the backfilling of all excavations
therein shall be done by the City and the charge therefore shall be
paid by the applicant on the basis of actual cost of the work.
No tunneling shall be permitted without the
express written approval of the Mayor and Council or its designee
and permission therefor endorsed upon the permit. The backfilling
of a tunnel excavation shall be made only in the presence of the City
Engineer or an inspector designated by the City and shall be done
only in a method approved by the City or its designee. All costs of
inspection and supervision shall be paid by the applicant.
Backfilling shall be performed in a manner consistent
with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) standards
according to PennDOT Publication 408 as modified by the City of Butler
and shall only be done after the Zoning Officer is notified and when
completed by proper backfilling in the case of unimproved streets
and by temporary paving in the case of improved streets and shall
again notify the Zoning Officer. When backfilling must be completed
after the regular workday, the permittee shall notify the Zoning Officer
as soon as possible on the next regular workday.
In the case of any leak, explosion or other
accident in any subsurface pipe, line, construction or apparatus,
it shall be lawful for the person owning or responsible for such pipe,
line, construction or apparatus to commence an excavation to remedy
such condition before securing a permit, provided that an application
for a permit shall be made immediately and not later than the second
business day thereafter and that all other provisions of this article
are fully complied with.
No opening shall be made in any street, alley
or public place, or any permit issued therefor, during the months
of January and February in any year, except in the case of emergency
or absolute necessity, and then only upon express written authority
of the City Engineer or his designee.
Any person violating any provision of this article
shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than $100 nor more
than $300 for each and every offense, together with costs, and, in
default of payment thereof, shall be imprisoned not more than 30 days.
Each failure to obtain a permit or to comply with the requirements
of this article, and each and every day during which such violation
continues, shall constitute a separate offense. The Zoning Officer
reserves the right to deny the issuance of future street opening permits
to any person who violates the provisions of this article. This provision
in no way shall prohibit or limit the right of the City to bring legal
action against the permittee.
Any person who fails to obtain a permit or who
fails to properly conduct, replace or repair a street opening shall
pay all reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred by the City
of Butler to enforce the provisions of this article.
