[R.O. 2008 § 406.010; Ord. No. 5376 § 1, 9-25-2008; Ord. No. 6506, 10-11-2018]
The following terms shall have the
following meanings unless otherwise defined by context:
The manager or administrator of the City or such other person designated by the City to hear appeals as provided in Section 406.050(B).
Any facilities located within the public rights-of-way and
owned by the City.
Includes, but is not limited to, ROW work made necessary
by exigent circumstances to repair, control, stabilize, rectify or
correct an unexpected or unplanned outage, cut, rupture, leak or any
other failure of a facility when such failure results or could result
in danger to the public or a material delay or hindrance to the provision
of service.
The City's Engineer or such other person designated to administer
and enforce this Chapter.
Any operation in which earth, rock or other material in or
on the ground is moved, removed or otherwise displaced by means of
any tools, equipment or explosives and includes, without limitation,
backfilling, grading, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling, well-drilling,
auguring, boring, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, plowing-in,
pulling-in, ripping, driving and demolition of structures, except
that, the use of mechanized tools and equipment to break and remove
pavement and masonry down only to the depth of such pavement or masonry,
the use of high-velocity air to disintegrate and suction to remove
earth, rock and other materials and the tilling of soil for agricultural
or seeding purposes shall not be deemed excavation. Backfilling or
moving earth on the ground in connection with other excavation operations
at the same site shall not be deemed separate instances of excavation.
A network or system or any part thereof used for providing
or delivering a service and consisting of one (1) or more lines, pipes,
wires, cables, fibers, conduit facilities, cabinets, poles, vaults,
pedestals, boxes, appliances, antennas, transmitters, radios, towers,
gates, meters, appurtenances or other equipment.
An individual, partnership, limited liability corporation
or partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, organization,
corporation or other entity or any lawful successor thereto or transferee
thereof.
Any person having ownership or control of facilities located
within the rights-of-way.
The practice of digging a test hole to expose underground
utilities to ascertain the horizontal location, vertical depth, size
or type of underground utility, with as little disturbance to the
actual utility as possible. Methods include hand digging, water (or
hydro) excavating, air, or vacuum extraction.
Meeting between the City and the ROW user, before construction
begins, to discuss the ROW work as outlined on the City-issued permit.
A permit granted by the City to a ROW user for ROW work.
A person or authorized contractor performing ROW work within
the rights-of-way. A ROW user shall not include ordinary vehicular
or pedestrian use.
Action by a ROW user to:
Install, change, replace, relocate,
remove, maintain or repair facilities within the rights-of-way; or
To conduct work of any kind within
or adjacent to the rights-of-way that results in an excavation, obstruction,
disruption, damage or physical invasion or impact of any kind to the
rights-of-way or the use thereof. The routine inspection of facilities
shall not be considered ROW work unless the inspection requires the
conduct of any of the activities or actions noted herein.
Unless otherwise restricted herein,
the surface, the air space above the surface and the area below the
surface of any public street, highway, lane, path, alley, sidewalk,
boulevard, drive, bridge, tunnel, parkway, waterway or sidewalk in
which the City now or hereafter holds any interest which, consistent
with the purposes for which it was dedicated, may be used for the
purpose of installing and maintaining facilities. Rights-of-way shall
not include:
City facilities or the City's property
other than ROW, such as City-owned or operated buildings, parks or
other similar property;
Airwaves used for cellular, non-wire
telecommunications or broadcast services;
Easements obtained by ROW users on
private property;
Railroad rights-of-way or ground
used or acquired for railroads; or
Facilities owned and used by the
City for the transmission of one (1) or more services.
No reference herein to "rights-of-way"
shall be deemed to be a representation or guarantee by the City that
its interest or other right to control the use of such property is
sufficient to permit its use for the delivery of service.
Providing or delivering an economic good or an article of
commerce, including, but not limited to, gas, telephone, cable television,
Internet, open video systems, video services, alarm systems, steam,
electricity, water, telegraph, data transmission, petroleum pipelines,
sanitary or stormwater sewer or any similar or related service, to
one (1) or more persons located within or outside of the City by use
of facilities located within the rights-of-way.
Along, under, over or across rights-of-way.
[Ord. No. 7105, 5-9-2024]
A.
In
addition to (and not in lieu of) all other conditions and requirements
in this Municipal Code, required by previous regulations promulgated
by the City, or appearing as a condition on any permit, all directional
boring in any residential area shall be conducted in accord with the
conditions and requirements of this Section.
B.
Additional
Administrative Requirements And Restrictions.
1.
The utility provider, contractor and sub-contractor for any excavation
work must be co-listed on the excavation permit and all such parties
(collectively, the "permittee") shall be listed as insureds on the
Certificate of Insurance (COI) covering the work.
2.
Each permittee shall hold no more than ten (10) excavation permits
involving active directional boring in the City at any time. Additional
permits shall not be issued by the City until the active directional
boring under existing permits has been completed by the permittee.
For example, if permittee is conducting directional boring under ten
(10) permits and completes the active directional boring under one
(1) such permit, one (1) additional permit may be issued by the City.
The purpose of this provision is to limit permittee's active directional
boring to ten (10) permits at any given time. For purposes of this
Section, "active directional boring" shall include all work where
directional boring is taking place and does not include projects where
the directional boring has been completed and the permittee is taking
final steps such as site restoration.
C.
Additional
Requirements For In-Field Performance.
1.
All boring equipment shall be calibrated in accordance with the manufacturer's
specifications. In addition, the calibration shall be checked at a
minimum of once per day and at any time during operations that the
location for the boring head is unknown or uncertain. Calibration
checks shall be conducted to ensure that the equipment is correctly
calibrated and functioning properly at all times. The job site supervisor
on duty shall keep a log on the project site indicating each calibration
and calibration check and shall include a signature verifying that
the check was witnessed. This log will be made available to City Inspectors
upon request at any time. Failure to produce confirmation and proof
of calibrations/checks will result in a Tier 1 Violation, with a protocol
as outlined below.
2.
All utility crossings shall occur at the pothole. If the boring equipment
is determined to be crossing utility equipment at a different location
than the intended pothole, a new pothole at the current location shall
be dug and the utility equipment shall be exposed at the new crossing
location. In addition, the depth of the boring equipment shall be
noted upon the ground in white spray paint at all utility crossing
locations.
3.
Independent third-party safety monitors shall be required to oversee
active directional boring done pursuant to excavation permits covered
under this Section. The number of safety monitors required shall depend
on the number of excavation permits where active directional boring
is being performed. Independent third-party safety monitor(s) is/are
required to work with each crew during active directional boring operations
in residential areas as follows:
|
One (1) to four (4) permits
|
One (1) safety monitor
|
|
Five (5) to seven (7) permits
|
Two (2) safety monitors
|
|
Eight (8) to ten (10) permits
|
Three (2) safety monitors
|
4.
Repairs for damage to any existing utility facilities or equipment
(including but not limited to gas, electric, sewer, water, cable,
fiber optic, etc.) shall be the responsibility of the permittee.
5.
Any lawns, plantings, driveways, sidewalks, roadways or other property
damaged during the course of excavation work shall be restored to
at least the pre-excavation condition by the permittee.
D.
Safety
monitors are required to perform the following duties:
1.
Be present during the pre-construction meeting(s) and to the extent
possible, be present on site when any directional boring operations
are taking place in residential areas (including pullback), but, at
a minimum, be present with each crew being monitored at least once
per day.
2.
Verify all stakeouts and/or locates.
3.
Verify pothole crossings while boring is taking place.
4.
Ensure that the permittee is following best practices and working
in compliance with applicable regulations.
5.
If the monitor observes any practices that are contrary to regulations,
the monitor shall inform City personnel immediately.
E.
Failure
to have the required number of safety monitors while work is occurring
will impact the issuance of additional permits involving directional
boring and may result in suspension of existing permits until the
required number of safety monitors is achieved.
F.
Tiered
Violation Protocol. A tiered violation protocol is hereby established.
Depending on the nature of an incident or violation, the following
protocols and procedure shall apply:
1.
Tier 1 Violations are violations of regulations and applicable law
not otherwise included in Tier 2, and include striking, or otherwise
damaging gas or electrical utility facility including a shovel strike.
a.
Upon the occurrence of a Tier 1 Violation, a report on the incident
including but not limited to information on the cause, person(s) responsible,
etc., shall be submitted to the City from both the monitor and permittee.
b.
Within ten (10) days from the time of the report submittal City staff
will review the report and make any suggestions regarding further
conditions or requirements for any work moving forward. Permittee
shall comply with any additional conditions or requirements designed
to prevent such violation from occurring again.
c.
City staff may impose further permit conditions and requirements
if such conditions and requirements are designed to prevent a similar
violation from occurring.
2.
Tier 2 Violations are violations involving striking or otherwise
damaging a gas or electrical utility lines or facilities (excluding
shovel strikes).
a.
Upon the occurrence of a Tier 2 Violation, a report on the incident
including but not limited to information on the cause, person(s) responsible,
etc., shall be submitted to the City from both the monitor and permittee.
b.
Representatives of the utility provider, the contractor, subcontractor
and safety monitor shall be required to meet with City staff and administration
to discuss and review the incident report and develop possible resolutions
or operational changes to prevent the same violation from reoccurring.
c.
Until the formal report has been submitted, the meeting has been
conducted and any resolution or operational changes have been implemented,
the permittee's work described in the excavation permit shall be stopped.
Upon completion of these items to the City's satisfaction, work related
to the permit may recommence.
d.
City staff may impose further permit conditions and requirements
if such conditions and requirements are designed to prevent a similar
violation from occurring.
e.
A fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) shall be paid to the City
by the permittee so that the City may recoup expenses incurred in
staff investigation, inspections and other tasks related to the incident.
Work shall not resume until such fee is paid.
3.
Multiple At-Fault Violations.
a.
If the City determines that any permittee [as defined in Subsection (B)(1), above] has been responsible for three (3) or more Tier 1 Violations within any 90-day period, the permittee shall:
(1)
Submit a report detailing each of the three (3) violations and
any operational/procedural changes which will be implemented to avoid
such violations in the future.
(2)
Meet with City staff to discuss the violations and any proposed
operational changes.
(3)
A fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) shall be paid by the
permittee to the City to recoup expenses for staff investigation,
inspection and other tasks relating to Multiple Tier 1 At-Fault Violations.
(4)
The number of strikes shall be reset to zero, upon compliance
with all requirements specified in this Subsection.
b.
If the City determines that any permittee [as defined in Subsection (B)(1), above] has been responsible for three (3) or more Tier 2 Violations within any 90-day period, the permittee shall:
(1)
Suspend all operations for all existing excavation permits issued
to the permittee. No new building or excavation permits shall be issued
to the permittee until all requirements specified in this Subsection
have been met.
(2)
Submit a report detailing each of the three (3) violations and
any operational/procedural changes which will be implemented to avoid
such violations in the future.
(3)
Meet with City staff to discuss the violations and any proposed
operational changes.
(4)
The City shall, within twenty-one (21) days of submittal approve,
or modify and then approve, a new operational plan.
(5)
Permittee shall schedule a limited directional boring demonstration
[which shall not exceed five hundred (500) linear feet] using the
procedures outlined in the new operational plan for one (1) working
day without a violation. The day of limited directional boring demonstration
shall be scheduled with a City Construction Inspector so that they
may observe the boring operations while conducted.
(6)
A fee of two thousand five hundred ($2,500.00) shall be paid
by the permittee to the City to recoup expenses for staff investigation,
inspection and other tasks relating to Multiple Tier 2 At-Fault Violations.
(7)
The number of strikes shall remain in effect, until the 90-day
rolling period has elapsed.
