No person or public utility shall cause any excavation, including trenching, boring or directional drilling, on any public right-of-way of the Town, including the ditches located within said right-of-way, to be made for the purpose of installing any sewer line, water pipe, gas pipe, electric, CATV, telephone or telegraph transmission line, buried conductors and utility poles, or any excavation without first obtaining a permit for such excavation from the Clerk/Treasurer, except as provided in §
260-18.
The applicant shall submit to the Clerk/Treasurer, at the time
the permit is applied for, sufficient information on the proposed
work to enable the Highway Superintendent to properly evaluate the
work to be done. The Highway Superintendent shall solely determine
whether sufficient information has been submitted, such information
to include at least the following:
A. Where the proposed opening is less than 20 square feet in area or
less than 30 feet in length, the applicant shall state the nature
and location of the work, the reason for the work, and the proposed
method of doing the work.
B. Where the proposed opening exceeds 20 square feet in area or 30 feet
in length, the applicant shall submit in triplicate a plan or sketch
of the proposed work showing the location, nature, reason, and method
of doing the work.
The applicant shall submit to the Clerk/Treasurer, at the time
the permit is applied for, a cash deposit conditioned to guarantee
the restoration of the surface of such right-of-way or portion of
right-of-way as may be disturbed by the proposed excavation, unless
the required deposit has been waived by the Town Board. The applicant
shall be responsible for the surface restoration or the cost of such
restoration.
A. Deposit. The amount of the required cash deposit shall be as follows:
(1) For all excavations along a public highway not exceeding 100 square
feet: $500.
(2) For all excavations exceeding 100 square feet and not more than 300
square feet: $1,500.
(3) For all excavations exceeding 300 square feet and not more than 600
square feet: $3,000.
(4) For all excavations exceeding 600 square feet, the cash deposit shall
be based on a rate of $5 per square foot.
(5) For multiple excavations within the current calendar year, an applicant
may, in lieu of the above, provide an annual deposit of $10,000. Such
deposit shall be maintained at that amount.
(6) Utility poles: no deposit required.
B. Use of deposits. The Town may use all of such deposits to pay the
cost of any work the Town performs to restore or maintain the public
street as herein provided. If the applicant fails to perform such
work, the amount refunded to the applicant shall be reduced by the
amount expended by the Town, plus 25% of such cost for general overhead
and administrative expenses.
C. Release of cash deposit. All restoration work shall be guaranteed
for a period of one year after completion of same. Upon completion
of the work in a satisfactory manner, but not sooner than 12 months
thereafter, the deposit shall be refunded.
D. Public utility companies. Where excavations are made by public utility
companies covered under § 66.0425(6), Wis. Stats., a permit
may be granted without such deposit. It is further provided, however,
that the Town may, in the future, require such deposit from any such
utility if a bill rendered in accordance with this article remains
unpaid 30 days after date of billing.
A copy of the permit shall be available at the site at all times.
If work is not commenced within the time period specified on
the permit, the permit shall automatically expire and a new permit
shall be obtained and an additional fee charged. The Highway Superintendent
may extend the time limit for sufficient cause.
Notice required from the applicant shall be as follows:
A. To affected persons. The applicant shall notify all public and private
individual firms and corporations affected by the work at least three
working days before such work is to start.
B. To Highway Superintendent. The applicant shall notify the Highway
Superintendent at least three working days prior to the commencement
of work and again at least 24 hours prior to backfilling or restoring
the surface.
When an immediate excavation is necessary for the protection
of public or private property and Town offices are closed, the same
shall be reported to the Police Department, which shall grant permission
to make the necessary excavation upon condition that an application
be made in the manner herein provided within three working days.
Whenever it is necessary to remove street or alley pavement
for installation of new facilities within five years of the construction
of the pavement, the applicant shall pay and forfeit as damages to
the Town the following charges based upon the unit prices as established
by the Town Board for the year in which the opening is made, such
charges to be in addition to the restoration costs incurred by the
applicant:
A. First year: 50% of the unit price.
B. Second year: 40% of the unit price.
C. Third year: 30% of the unit price.
D. Fourth year: 20% of the unit price.
E. Fifth year, 10% of the unit price.
Not more than 200 lineal feet of trench shall be opened at one
time.
No trench excavation shall remain open in excess of three calendar
days, unless permission is obtained from the Highway Superintendent
prior to the third day. For each day or fraction thereof the excavation
remains open in excess of three days, the applicant shall pay to the
Town $100.
The following procedures shall be observed in all street excavations:
A. Excavating. The trench shall be saw cut and shall be excavated to
a sufficient width and depth to permit the laying of the pipe conduit,
using special care to avoid damaging existing conduits or pipes. All
work shall be done to conform to the applicable standards of the Department
of Safety and Professional Services and applicable Occupational Safety
and Health Administration regulations and to the rules and regulations
of the Town. All refuse and excess excavated material shall be removed
from the street limits as the work progresses and shall not be deposited
on the site.
B. Maintenance of hard surface opening.
(1) General. The applicant shall backfill the openings with slurry immediately
upon completion of the work, topped with not less than 3 1/2
inches of bituminous concrete. The applicant shall maintain such temporary
pavement in good condition for a minimum of two weeks. Open gravel
trenches shall not be permitted.
(2) Final restoration. After the two-week period, the applicant shall
perform all final surface restoration with eight inches of crushed
limestone base and four inches of bituminous concrete placed in two
lifts. The final restoration shall consist of removing the temporary
surface, trimming all broken edges, and restoring the pavement to
equal or better than original condition. The applicant shall guarantee
and maintain the site of the excavation for one year after restoring
it to its original condition.
(a)
Restoration of openings in other than hard surface areas. All
surfaces or subsurfaces of areas other than hard surface areas as
may be disturbed in any street excavation shall be replaced in substantially
the same condition as they were prior to such disturbance.
(b)
Backfilling. Backfilling shall be done with due care in a workmanlike
manner according to approved methods so as to prevent the settling
of the facility. In all streets, alleys, sidewalks or other public
ways, whether improved or unimproved, all excavated material shall
be removed and the trench shall be completely backfilled with slurry
meeting the following specifications: the materials shall be placed
in a cement mixer truck and thoroughly mixed, 1,350 pounds sand, 775
pounds #1 stone (one inch), 1,150 pounds #2 stone (two inches), 25
gallons (+0 to -0.5 gallon) water per cubic yard. No additional water
will be allowed. The above weights are damp weights. Just prior to
placing the slurry, the mixer shall be run at mixing speed for one
full minute to ensure an even mixture.
(c)
Traffic control devices. The applicant shall provide and maintain
proper barricades, signs, flags, and flag persons at all locations
where construction and maintenance work interferes with normal pedestrian
or vehicular traffic use of the street. All markings and signing provided
for traffic control purposes shall conform to the standards and specifications
of the current issue of the State Manual of Traffic Control Devices,
as may be applicable.
(d)
Town's right to restore surface. If the applicant fails
to restore the surface of the street to its specified condition within
14 days of being notified to do so, the Highway Superintendent may
do all the work and things necessary to restore the street. The applicant
shall be liable for the actual cost thereof, plus 25% of such cost
for general overhead and administrative expenses. The cost of such
work shall be deducted from the cash deposit or bond, where applicable,
or billed directly to the public utility company involved. If the
cost of repairs exceeds the cash or bond limits held, the additional
amount shall be billed to the applicant. No future street excavation
permits shall be issued to the applicant until such invoices are paid
in full.
C. Erosion control. The applicant shall provide and maintain sufficient
erosion control devices to prevent materials from entering any ditch,
storm sewer or waterway.
For the purpose of administering the provisions of this article,
each applicant shall pay to the Clerk/Treasurer the following permit
fees for each street in which an excavation is to be made:
A. For all excavations within the pavement of a Town road not exceeding
100 square feet, or if in the right-of-way ditch not exceeding 100
lineal feet: $75.
B. For all excavations within the pavement of a Town road exceeding
100 square feet and not more than 300 square feet, or if in the right-of-way
ditch exceeding 100 lineal feet but not exceeding 300 lineal feet:
$90.
C. For all excavations within the pavement of a Town road exceeding
300 square feet and not more than 600 square feet, or if in the right-of-way
ditch exceeding 300 lineal feet but not exceeding 600 lineal feet:
$100.
D. For all excavations within the pavement of a Town road exceeding
600 square feet, or if in the right-of-way ditch exceeding 600 lineal
feet: $0.20 per square foot or lineal foot.
E. Utility poles: $50 per pole.
F. If the applicant for a permit starts work on an excavation in the public right-of-way before a permit is issued for the same, the above permit fees shall be doubled. This shall not apply to emergency work under §
260-18.
G. If any public utility adopts a program for replacement of aboveground
facilities with underground facilities and applies for a permit therefor,
no fee shall be charged to the utility for the replacement project.
The utility exempted shall conform to the other provisions of this
article.
Except as otherwise provided, any person found to be in violation of any provision of this article shall be subject to a penalty as provided in Chapter
1, General Provisions, Article
I, of the Town Code.