[Adopted 8-12-2013 by Ord. No. 13-6]
In the interest of public safety on Town streets, the roads
and streets, or portions thereof, of the Town of Genesee are hereby
declared to be subject to the street excavations requirements as set
forth herein.
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, cable television (CATV), telephone or telegraph transmission line, buried conductors and utility poles, or any excavation without first obtaining a permit for such excavation from the Town, except as provided in § 500-32, Emergency work.
A permit shall be issued only if the applicant submits evidence
to the Town Clerk that the applicant is covered by public liability
insurance in the following minimum amounts and that such insurance
protects the Town from all claims: $500,000 per person and $1,000,000
per occurrence. The evidence of insurance shall also provide that
the Town be notified at least 10 days prior to cancellation or expiration
of the insurance. The provisions of this section shall not apply to
entities covered under § 66.0425(6), Wis. Stats.
The applicant shall describe the place where the excavation
is proposed to be made with such certainty that it may be readily
located and shall specify the purpose for which the excavation is
to be made and when it is proposed to begin. In addition, the applicant
may be requested to provide additional information on the proposed
work to enable the Public Works Superintendent to properly evaluate
the work to be done. The Public Works Superintendent shall solely
determine whether sufficient information has been submitted.
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.
Notice required from the applicant shall be as follows:
A.
To Public Works Superintendent. The applicant shall notify the Public
Works 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 answering machine. A permit shall be applied
for on the next business day.
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 Public Works Superintendent for the year in which the
opening is made, such charges to be in addition to the restoration
costs incurred by the applicant:
Not more than 200 linear 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 Public Works 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 No. 1 stone (one inch), 1,150 pounds No. 2 stone (two inches)
and 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 Manual on Uniform 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 Public Works 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 billed directly to the permit 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.
[Amended 2-9-2015 by Ord.
No. 15-1; 12-13-2021 by Ord. No. 21-6; 1-10-2022 by Ord. No. 22-1]
For the purpose of administering the provisions of this article,
each applicant shall pay to the Town Clerk the permit fees for each
street in which an excavation is to be made as established from time
to time by separate resolution of the Town Board. 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 as defined herein.
Each violation of any provision of this article shall be subject to the penalties and remedies described in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I, General Penalty, of this Code. The penalties described herein shall be in addition to obligations imposed upon the property owner for corrective work, described in § 500-36 herein, and in addition to any other remedy that the Town may have regarding the violation.
