[Adopted 10-5-1978 by Ord. No. 2335 as §§ 22-11 to 22-21 of the 1978 Revised General Ordinances]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
EXCAVATE
Includes any excavation, digging, removal or disturbing of any kind of the surface of a public place.
PUBLIC PLACE
Includes any public street (including curbs, gutters and sidewalks), any public park or any public way or place of any kind.
UTILITY COMPANY
Any company regulated by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and granted permission by said board or by the laws of the State of New Jersey to operate a public utility within the City and shall include, without limitation, Public Service Electric and Gas Company, Hackensack Water Company, New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, Bergen County Sewer Authority, and any corporation granted a franchise to operate a cable television system within the City.
No person shall excavate a public place without first obtaining a written permit therefor from the City Engineer; provided, however, that in the event of an emergency rendering it impossible or impractical to obtain such written permit prior to such excavation, verbal permission therefor may be given by the City Engineer, the Director of the Department of Public Works, the City Manager, the Mayor or the President of the Council.
An application for such permit shall include a designation of the area in which the work is to take place and a plan of the proposed work, including any utility facility which is to be constructed, removed or altered in any way, with sufficient detail to enable the City Engineer to identify, locate and determine dimensions of the project.
The fee for a permit shall be as provided for in Chapter 191, Fee Schedule; provided, however, that no utility company shall be required to pay such permit fee.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
All applicants for a permit, including utility companies, shall pay a fee for inspections to be made by the City Engineer as follows:
A. 
The fee for inspection shall be based on the number of hours spent by the City Engineer or his representative in inspecting the work covered by the permit, computed at the rate provided for in Chapter 191, Fee Schedule.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
B. 
Prior to issuance of a permit, the applicant shall pay to the City Engineer, on account of such inspection fees, a sum estimated by the City Engineer to represent the probable total inspection fees, and following completion of the work the applicant shall pay to the City Engineer such additional amount as may be required, based on the actual amount of time spent performing such inspections, or the City Engineer shall refund any excess payment to the applicant in the event that the total time spent on such inspections is less than that originally estimated; provided, however, that a utility company may establish an account with the City and maintain on deposit with the City funds to cover anticipated costs of inspections, such accounts to be opened and maintained in a manner to be prescribed by the City Engineer and/or the City Finance Director.
A. 
No excavation permit shall be granted to any applicant other than a utility company until the applicant shall give a satisfactory bond to the City in such form and for such amount as shall be determined by the City Engineer in accordance with the schedule set out below, such bond to be conditioned upon the applicant's restoring the public place to its prior condition, following completion of the excavation, at no cost to the City.
B. 
The bond shall be in an amount equal to the total cost of the work to be performed, with such cost to be computed based on the schedule in Chapter 191, Fee Schedule.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
C. 
In the event that the total estimated cost of the work to be performed shall not exceed $500, then, in lieu of a bond, the applicant shall be required to deposit as the security aforesaid a certified check in an amount equal to the anticipated cost of construction, and in no event shall an applicant submit security of less than $100.
A. 
The permittee shall advise the City Engineer, Police Department and Fire Department at least 72 hours before the commencement of work. During the course of work the permittee shall, at the completion of work on each day, notify the Police Department and the Fire Department of the condition of the surface at the site of the work and, prior to the start of work each day, shall also notify the Police Department and the Fire Department of the location and nature of work to take place that day.
B. 
All work shall be performed in such manner and at such times as to minimize interference with public travel.
C. 
During the course of the work the permittee shall maintain safe pedestrian crossings along the line of the work and keep same properly guarded by suitable barricades and warning signs during the day and by barricades and lights at night, and where possible, shall cover work openings with steel road plates when work is not in progress, with all signs and procedures to conform with procedures and specifications set out in the current edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, issued by the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
D. 
During the course of the work the permittee shall not prevent access to any utility subsurface street openings or fire hydrants unless necessary for the performance of a part of the work, in which event such part of the work shall be performed as expeditiously as possible.
E. 
Once commenced, all work shall be prosecuted diligently and as expeditiously as possible and completed in as short a time as possible.
F. 
If any permittee shall fail to proceed promptly once excavation work has commenced and shall fail to promptly restore the work area after completion of excavation work, the City Engineer may serve such permittee with a written notice demanding that he complete such work within such fixed period of time thereafter as the City Engineer deems reasonably necessary for such purpose. In the event that the permittee does not conform with such notice, then the City Engineer may cause the said work to be done and shall charge the cost thereof to the permittee, which cost shall either be repaid to the City from the bond or certified check deposited with the City by the permittee or collected directly from the permittee.
A. 
Prior to excavating in concrete areas, the sides of the opening shall be cut with a masonry saw to a minimum depth of one inch. Prior to excavating in bituminous pavement areas, the sides of the openings shall be cut to the full depth of the pavement. In any excavation, the edges of the excavation shall be trimmed to a neat regular line, and in no event shall there be excavation or disturbing of a surface area larger than that which is required for the work to be performed.
B. 
Except as hereinafter provided, excavation of a sidewalk shall be performed by removing each full slab of sidewalk within which any excavation work is to be performed; provided, however, that if less than 1/2 of the length of a slab is to be removed, the City Engineer may authorize such removal without removal of the entire slab, provided that the permittee shall sawcut the sidewalk so as to produce a neat straight cut.
C. 
Upon completion of the work, the excavation shall be backfilled either with the material removed from the excavation, if the City Engineer determines that same is suitable, or otherwise with other suitable material to be obtained by the permittee.
(1) 
Backfill shall be placed in layers not exceeding six inches (15.24 cm), and each layer shall be compacted in such a manner as to eliminate all voids.
(2) 
Compaction shall attain a density of at least 90% of the maximum density possible.
D. 
No backfilling shall take place prior to inspection by the City Engineer, and without such continued inspection during the course of the backfilling as the City Engineer shall designate, and which, in his judgment, is necessary to ensure proper backfilling of the excavation.
E. 
In the event that such backfilling shall take place contrary to directions of the City Engineer or without inspection by the City Engineer, the City Engineer may require such remedial action as he deems necessary, including but not limited to removal of all of the backfilling material, alteration thereof, testing thereof, or leaving same in place for a prescribed period of time during which the City Engineer shall evaluate the sufficiency thereof.
In the event that material excavated from within a public place cannot be replaced within the excavated area or is not suitable for such purpose, the permittee, upon instructions from the City Engineer, shall deliver such material to such location within the City as shall be designated by the City Engineer, and such material shall be available for use by the City as it deems fit, or, if the City Engineer so directs, the permittee shall dispose of such material at some location outside the City.
A. 
Following completion of excavation work, the area in which such excavation has taken place shall be restored to a condition at least as satisfactory as that which existed prior to the excavation, and such restoration work shall be performed according to specifications and details on file in the office of the City Engineer.
B. 
The permittee shall be required to maintain and repair any defect or imperfection that appears in such restored excavation area within a period of one year from the date of final inspection thereof by the City Engineer following completion of such restoration work.
Any person who violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or both. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.