The following words and phrases, 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:
APPLICANT
Any person who makes application for a permit.
CITY
The City of Nanticoke, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, its
elected officials, appointed staff, representatives or agents.
CONCRETE
Soil cement, plain cement concrete, or reinforced cement
concrete. Material contained in the base of some City streets.
COST
Actual expenditures incurred by the City for labor, equipment
and materials. These expenditures include all fringe benefits and
overhead.
EMERGENCY
Any unforeseen circumstance which calls to immediate action
to protect or safeguard life and/or property.
EMERGENCY REPAIR
Work necessitated by the rupture or malfunction of existing
underground facilities which calls for immediate action to protect
or safeguard life and/or property or to restore disrupted public utility
service.
INSPECTION FEE
A fee paid by the permittee to the City of Nanticoke to defray
street opening inspection costs.
PERMIT FEES
A fee paid by the permittee to the City of Nanticoke 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 provisions of this article.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, firm, association, utility
or corporation.
PUBLIC UTILITY
Any utility company, excluding corporate authorities of the
City, licensed by the Public Utility Commission of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
SIDEWALK AREA
That 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 road, or public easement within the City limits,
excluding the designated curb and sidewalk area.
WORKDAY
Normal business day for the City government, i.e., Monday
through Friday, except as-designated holidays.
Street opening permits shall only be granted upon compliance
with the following express provisions:
A. A written application shall be filed with the City Council for making
all street openings or excavations, and the same shall be signed by
the person desiring such permit. Such application shall set forth
the purpose for such excavation is to be made; the size and location
of the same; the full scope of work to be included in the project;
the date or dates during which such excavation is to be permitted;
the date such excavation is to be refilled and resurfaced in the manner
hereinafter provided; and shall provide that the applicant agrees
to faithfully comply with each and every provision contained in this
article. An applicant shall furnish a drawing of the proposed opening
site if requested by the City. Items required on the drawing shall
be specified at the time of request.
B. Prior to the issuing of such permit, every such applicant shall pay to the City the amount hereafter required for the purpose hereinafter provided and shall exhibit to the City Council a receipt for the amount aforesaid. No permit shall issue until the applicant has filed with the City Council evidence of insurance in compliance with Subsection
G of this section.
C. No permit shall be granted to any applicant unless the applicant
shall have paid to the City any and all monies then due to the City
for prior excavations made or for any loss, damages or expense in
any matter occasioned by or arising from the excavation of streets
of the City under prior permits. Except in emergency situations or
for emergency repairs, the City shall, at its discretion, be permitted
to deny the opening of a street which has been resurfaced or reconstructed
within a five-year period before the date of request for the street
opening.
D. Except in emergency situations or for emergency repairs, applications
for street openings shall be submitted to the City at least two workdays
prior to the proposed date of excavation. The City shall review each
application and grant or deny the applicant's permit upon completion
of the review.
E. No street opening shall be performed, except in the case of emergencies
or emergency repairs, when seasonally prohibited or, in the judgment
of the City Council, working conditions are unreasonable for such
work.
F. The applicant for a pave cut permit shall protect, defend, indemnify
and save harmless the City, its officers and/or agents thereof from
all claims, suits, actions and proceedings of every nature and description
which may be brought against the City, its officers and/or agents
thereof for or an account of any injuries or damages to persons or
public or private property because of any materials, appliances or
machinery used in the work, or by or on account of improper materials
or workmanship, or for or on account of any accident or any other
act, negligence or omissions of the applicant, or his agents, servants
or employees, and the City shall not in any way be liable therefor
during the period of the work progress and the two-year guarantee
period following the completion of the work.
G. The applicant shall secure insurance which shall include protection
against liability arising from personal injury, property damage, underground
utility damage, completed operations, and collapse of any property.
Minimum insurance shall be:
(1) Liability insurance per individual: $250,000; with limit for each
occurrence for bodily injury of $500,000.
(2) Liability insurance for property damage: $250,000.
(3) Evidence of insurance in the form of a certificate or letter executed
by a duly authorized representative of the applicant's insurance
carrier shall be submitted to the City Council. Such evidence of insurance
must include the provision that the City shall be given proper advance
notice of at least 30 days of cancellation or any material alteration
in the applicant's policy.
If the permittee fails to make adequate corrections to work found in noncompliance with this article or the permit in the time specified by the City Council or its agent, a penalty shall be imposed as provided in §
450-19 of this article until the corrections are completed to specifications. In addition, the permittee shall be liable for the cost of doing the work performed by the City or contracted for by the City to attain compliance with this article or the permit. The permittee agrees to reimburse the City for all fees and costs incurred by the City in the collection of the cost of doing the aforesaid work if the permittee fails to pay the invoiced amount within 30 days.
The penalty for any of the following violations shall be a fine
not to exceed $1,000 plus costs or imprisonment for a term not the
exceed 90 days, or both:
A. For cutting new pavement.
B. For failure to obtain a permit.
D. For each removal, alteration, burial of limestone or monument, and
failure to report same.
E. For each failure to restore test borings.
F. For each failure to obtain a permit or, having
obtained a permit, to comply with any of the requirements of this
article, and each and every day which such violation shall continue
shall constitute a separate offense. The City reserves the right to
deny the issuance of future street opening permits to any person who
violates the provisions of this article.
If any permittee is unable to complete street opening work on
or before the date specified in the permit, the permittee shall file
a written application for extension of time with the City Council.
The written application shall be in letter form and shall thoroughly
explain the reasons for the extension of time plus the additional
length of time required. A fee as set from time to time by resolution
of the City Council shall accompany the application. This fee shall
defray the costs of processing and filing the application.
In case the work has not been completed before the date of expiration
as shown on the permit, which time shall be fixed when the permit
and/or time extension is granted, the City may take steps to backfill
the trench and replace the street surface over the opening for which
the permit has been issued. The City shall invoice the permittee for
all costs incurred by the City in the performance of this work, and
the permittee agrees to make payment within 30 days to the City. The
permittee further agrees to reimburse the City for all fees and costs
incurred by the City in collecting this amount from the permittee
if the permittee fails to pay the invoiced amount within 30 days.
A street opening permit shall be obtained for any test hole
or test boring work. No test holes or borings shall be made in or
upon a greater surface of the highway than is specified in such permit,
and no excavation or test holes shall interfere with any of the water
pipes, sewers, drains of the City, or any other underground utility
service. Test holes having an area of four square inches or less shall
be filled by the applicant with a grout composed of one part cement,
two parts sand and a sufficient quantity of water, filled to the surface
of the highway, and the surrounding surface of the highway shall be
placed in the same condition as before. Test holes greater than four
square inches in area shall be backfilled in accordance with the provisions
of this article, unless otherwise directed in writing by the City
Engineer.
No line stone or monument in the City shall be removed, altered,
or buried at any time. When pave cuts or road construction require
the temporary removal of a line stone or monument, it must be preserved
at the site and reset at the direction of the office of the City Engineer.
All costs incident thereto, including surveys, shall be charged to
the permittee. A penalty shall be imposed for failure to report the
removal or alteration of a line stone or monument. Burial or paving
over a line stone or monument shall carry a penalty for each stone
or monument covered. In addition, all costs incidental to exposing
or resetting a line stone or monument shall be charged to the permittee.
No street in the City may be completely closed to traffic at any time during a pave cut without prior written permission of the City. One lane of traffic must be able to pass unobstructed at all times. Flagpersons must be posted at the limits of work at all times to direct traffic through the work area, and all established traffic patterns must be maintained at all times. If all other means of traffic control have been exhausted, the City may permit a road to be completely closed temporarily only with the prior written consent of the City Manager. When an emergency exists, the Fire and Police Chiefs and the City Manager shall be notified. An application form for a permit to close a street will be available from the City Manager. The completed application bearing the signatures of the before-mentioned officers shall be returned to the applicant and shall constitute a permit. A penalty as provided in §
450-19 shall be imposed for failure to notify the Fire and Police Chiefs.
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 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 City for the
additional opening. Upon receipt of permission, the permittee shall
file a supplementary application for the work no later than the next
workday. Fee amounts specified in this article shall be followed for
any subsequent fees associated with supplementary applications.
The permittee shall guarantee and maintain his work for 24 months
from the completion of the restoration and replacement work. Within
this twenty-four-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 calendar
days of receipt of the notification. The City Engineer 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. The City shall invoice the permittee for all costs incurred
by the City in performance of this work. Payment not made within 30
days of the invoice date will be chargeable against the permittee,
including all fees and costs involved in the collection of this payment.
The permittee agrees within 30 days to make payment to the City. The
permittee further agrees to reimburse the City for all fees and costs
incurred by the City in the collection of this amount from the permittee
if the permittee fails to pay the invoiced amount within 30 days.
For small area pave cuts, i.e., those less than 25 linear feet,
the permittee shall be required to complete the temporary restoration
within 48 hours of the initial cut during the normal working week,
excluding holidays and weekends. Extension time may be allowed upon
written application to the City Engineer, provided the permittee substantiates
sufficient reasons for the extension requested. Work on big cuts,
i.e., those 25 feet or more in length shall proceed in a continuous
manner and be completed in a reasonable time in accordance with the
time limits imposed by this article and the permit and any written
extension granted by the City Engineer as being in the public interest.