The Mayor and Council finds and determines as follows:
A. The Borough of North Haledon frequently receives requests from various
business entities engaged in fiber optic and other cable communications
industries seeking the Borough's approval for the use of rights-of-way,
streets, other municipally owned property and, in some instances,
existing easements which previously have been granted by the Borough
to public utilities for the purpose of installing overhead and/or
underground cables, conduits, wires and similar equipment.
B. Such requests appear to be a part of the information superhighway
network forecast for our country.
C. Requests of the kind described involve substantial review by the
Borough Engineer and Borough Attorney before approvals can be granted,
often involve the excavation of streets, the provision of additional
police services during installation, with the concomitant disruption
of traffic and public inconvenience, and also involve additional time
and expense for inspection and expense arising out of potential liability.
D. The Borough desires to be supportive of the emerging innovative technology
that fiber optic and other cable offers to its users, but not at the
expense of burdening Borough taxpayers.
E. The imposition of a reasonable annual fee for approvals, licenses,
permits or subeasements which are approved and granted will balance
the needs of the businesses and the Borough and its taxpayers and
promote the public safety and welfare.
In order to implement the purposes of this article, the application
process and license or permit fee schedule provided hereafter shall
apply.
A. Every applicant for the installation of fiber optic or other cable
or for the use of a public utility easement shall submit to the Borough
Engineer:
(1) A
plat showing the proposed location of the fiber optic or proposed
installation;
(2) A
depiction indicating whether the proposed installation is overhead
or underground;
(3) Copies
of all easements proposed to be used which have previously been granted
to utilities; and
(4) All
consents for the use of any such easements by the applicable utilities.
B. Every application recommended for approval by the Borough Engineer,
if approved by the Mayor and Council, will require as a condition
thereof the following:
(1) Payment of a permit fee in accordance with the schedule set forth in Chapter
275, Fees.
(2) An annual renewal fee, payable to the Borough on July 1 of each subsequent fiscal year, as set forth in Chapter
275, Fees.
(3) A certificate of insurance, naming the Borough as an additional insured,
for general liability coverage in the amount of at least $2,000,000.
(4) An indemnification agreement, properly executed by the applicant,
which shall hold the Borough, its officers, agents and employees harmless
from any loss, claim or damage arising out of the installation, maintenance
or use of the fiber optic cable installed by the applicant, the form
of said agreement to be approved by the Borough Attorney.
(5) An agreement that the easement holder will permit the Borough to
use the holder's easement without consideration for the installation
of fiber optic or other cable for Borough operations, provided that
said installation will not interfere with any fiber optic or other
cable the easement holders may have previously installed in the easement
area.
(6) An agreement that the applicant will provide a minimum of six pairs
of strands in each fiber optic cable (i.e., if a cable contains 48
strands and two cables are run, the Borough will have the use of 12
pairs of strands, six pairs per cable) to the Borough for its use
and the use of any other governmental and quasi-governmental entities
approved by the Borough.
C. No license or permit issued hereunder shall be valid for a period
of more than the lesser of 10 years or, if applicable, the balance
of the term of an easement previously granted to a utility pursuant
to Title 48 of the New Jersey Statutes.
D. In any instance in which the holder of an existing easement requires that an applicant for license or permit hereunder obtain municipal approval or consent by ordinance, the applicant shall pay to the Construction Official, in addition to the fee established by Subsection
B hereof, an ordinance fee as set forth in Chapter
275, Fees, and:
[Amended 10-15-2014 by Ord. No. 22-2014]
(1) The cost of advertising the ordinance prior to adoption; and
(2) The cost of advertising the notice of adoption of the ordinance.
E. In the event that the fiber optic or other cable installation interferes
with a planned municipal installation, the subject fiber optic or
other cable shall be relocated by its owner in an expeditious manner
within the right-of-way to a location approved by the Borough at no
cost to the Borough. The owner of the fiber optic or other cable shall
not pay any additional fee to the Borough due to the relocation.
F. These procedures shall not be applicable to existing easements previously
granted to Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), Verizon
- New Jersey, or to existing easements previously granted to or obtained
by the present or future holder of a cable television franchise grant
by the Borough of North Haledon.
G. Any underground installation of fiber optic cable, where applicable, shall be required to comply with the street opening requirements set forth in this Chapter
523 of the Code of the Borough of North Haledon to the satisfaction of the Borough Engineer.