Chapter 640 Telephones, Public

Initial fee. The initial fee shall be $175 per calendar year or any part of a calendar year for each unit with a separate telephone number.

Renewal fee. The renewal fee shall be $100 per year for each unit with a separate telephone number. Any application for a license renewal which is not completed within 30 days of the renewal date shall be subject to an additional late administrative charge of $50.

Exemption. The license fees set forth herein shall not apply to any public telephone installation subject to an agreement with the Borough providing for the payment of any annual commission and/or franchise tax to the Borough.

Renewal. All licenses shall be renewed annually, with all applications for renewal to be submitted to the Borough not later than January 15 of each year.

Requirements for license.

Indemnification. All applicants shall execute an indemnification agreement as follows:

"The applicant, and any other persons on whose behalf the application is made, agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Borough of Red Bank, its agents, employees and representatives for all claims for damages to property, or injury to or death of persons arising out of or relating to the issuance of the license or the control, maintenance, ownership or use of each telephone."

§ 640-4 Request for hearing on denial of license.

Insurance. All applicants shall file with the Borough Clerk a general liability insurance policy of $1,000,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage naming the Borough, its officials, employees and representatives as additional insureds against any injury, loss or damage that may result from the placing, operating, maintaining or use of the telephone or telephone equipment.

In the event the Borough declines to issue a license, the applicant may request a hearing by filing a notice of appeal for denial of license in writing to the Borough Administrator within 10 days of notification of denial by filing such notice with the Borough Clerk.

Every applicant who is denied such license has a right to a hearing before the Borough Administrator or his designee within 30 days of the filing of the notice of appeal. At least five working days prior to the hearing, the applicant shall submit to the Administrator a written statement setting forth the factual and legal basis for each contention that is to be considered at the hearing.

§ 640-5 Emergency calls; telephone rates to be posted.

All telephones shall permit the following calls to be placed without charge:

Calls to 911 emergency number;

§ 640-6 Standards for maintenance and installation.

Emergency calls placed through operator assistance to the Police or Fire Department.

Current telephone rates for a local coin call shall be posted on telephone equipment or in the telephone booth containing the telephone equipment.

Toll rate quotations must be available from the operator upon request.

Telephones shall be located in or on structures and in the manner meeting the standards for pay telephones set forth in the State Uniform Construction Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-119 et seq., and any rules or regulations adopted to implement the provisions of that Act.

All telephones shall comply with the following standards:

No booth surrounding a telephone shall exceed eight feet in height, four feet in width or four feet in depth.

Each telephone shall be equipped with a coin return mechanism to permit a person using the telephone to secure an immediate refund if a call cannot be placed. The coin mechanism shall be maintained in good working order.

Each telephone shall have affixed to it, in a place visible to everyone using the telephone, the name and address of the licensee and the telephone number of a working telephone service to report a malfunction, secure a refund or give the notices provided for in this chapter.

Telephones shall be maintained in a neat and clean condition and in good repair at all times. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, a telephone shall be serviced and maintained so that:

(a)

It is reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and cracked paint;

(b)

It is reasonably free of rust and corrosion;

(c)

It is reasonably free of graffiti;

(d)

Any plastic or glass parts are unbroken and reasonably free of cracks, dents, graffiti, blemishes and discolorations;

(e)

Any paper or cardboard parts or inserts are reasonably free of tears, peeling or fading;

(f)

The structural parts thereof are not broken or unduly misshapen; and

(g)

The telephone receiver is attached to the fixed telephone equipment.

Any person who fails to maintain a telephone in proper working condition in accordance with these standards may be given 10 days' notice by the Borough to repair the telephone. Failure to timely comply with this notice shall be grounds for revocation of the license for said telephone, unless the licensee provides adequate assurance that the telephone shall be repaired or replaced in the immediate future.

(6)

Each telephone shall either contain a telephone book serving Monmouth County secured to the telephone or provide local directory or information assistance without charge.

(7)

Each telephone shall, within 10 days of a written request by the Police Chief to the licensee, be restricted to outgoing calls.

(8)

No telephone shall be removed unless the Clerk has received written notice of the intent to remove the telephone.

§ 640-7 Location of telephone.

No telephone shall be permitted in any Residential Zone as identified in the Zoning and Land Use Ordinances or the Planning and Development Regulations of the Borough.[1]

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 490, Planning and Development Regulations.

No telephone shall be permitted to rest upon, in or over any public street or sidewalk when such installation, use or maintenance:

Will endanger the safety of persons or property;

Will unreasonably interfere with or impede the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicles;

Will unreasonably interfere with the ingress or egress from any mailbox or structure;

Will interfere with the use of traffic signs or signals, hydrants or mailboxes permitted at or near said location; or

Will, in the opinion of the Police Department based upon reasonable grounds, facilitate illegal or illicit activity or unreasonably interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the area.

Telephones shall be placed, or otherwise secured, so as to prevent their being struck or knocked down or around the public street or sidewalk, but telephones shall not be chained or otherwise secured to any traffic or street signs, signals, hydrants, mailboxes or the like.

No telephone shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:

Within any marked crosswalk;

Within three feet of a curb return of any unmarked crosswalk;

Within five feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box or other emergency facility;

Within five feet of any driveway;

§ 640-8 Applicability to existing telephones.

Within three feet of any public area improved with a lawn, flowers, shrubs, trees or other landscaping;

(6)

At any location whereby the clear space for the passageway of pedestrians is reduced to less than four feet;

(7)

Within three feet of any building unless written permission is secured from the property owner and filed with the application;

(8)

Within a four-hundred-foot radius from any other telephone in the Borough.

This chapter shall apply to all existing telephones located on or above public sidewalks. Owners or lessees of such telephones shall have a period of 30 days from the date this chapter becomes final to obtain licenses as required by this chapter. The Borough reserves the right to reject any and all existing locations submitted for approval based upon their conformance with the standards of this chapter.

If a license is not obtained within the time specified herein or if the Borough rejects any application for a license, the owner shall forthwith remove said public telephone and all ancillary equipment. If the owner fails or refuses to remove said public telephone within 10 days from notification by the Borough, the Borough Manager or a designee may cause the public telephone to be removed. Public telephone equipment removed by the Borough shall be released to the lawful owner thereof upon payment of a fee of $500 to the Borough.

[Amended 10-12-2023 by Ord. No. NP2023-16]

If no person makes a claim for return of a public telephone and/or ancillary equipment removed by the Borough under this chapter within six months from the date of removal, it may be disposed of by the Borough pursuant to law including N.J.S.A. 40A:14-157.

§ 640-9 Suspension or removal of license; hearings.

[Amended 10-12-2023 by Ord. No. NP2023-16]

In addition to any other penalties for violation of this chapter, the Borough Manager or his designee may, after notice and hearing and for just cause, suspend, revoke or not renew any license issued hereunder for:

Any violation of the provisions of this chapter.

Failure to comply with any federal or state laws and/or regulations or any Borough ordinance pertaining to the operation of telephones.

Any cause which would have been cause for rejection of the application in the first instance.

A material and knowing misstatement or omission of information required on the application pursuant to this chapter. The question of whether a misstatement or omission is material and knowing shall be a question of fact for the fact finder.