[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Oil
City 9-10-1928 by Ord. No. 1192 (Ch. 99 of the 1986 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, firm or firms,
association or associations, corporation or corporations or department
of the City to make or cause to be made any excavation of any nature
whatsoever in any street, avenue, alley or lane within the City limits
without first securing a permit granting authority therefor as hereinafter
provided.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any person or persons, firm or firms, association or associations,
corporation or corporations or City department, other than the Department
of Public Works, applying for and to whom a permit may be issued.
[Amended 12-22-1986 by Ord. No. 2456]
The digging of any trench or excavating through or under
the roadway or sidewalk or the cutting into or opening and removal
of any pavement surfaces of any street, avenue, alley or lane within
the City limits.
A.
An application for the issuance of a permit shall be filed in the
office of the Department of Public Works, upon forms furnished by
the City for that purpose, and shall be signed by the applicant. Said
applicant shall set forth the location and purpose of the proposed
excavation, the dates between which said excavation is to be open,
the length, width and depth of the trench, the area of the roadway
surfaces to be removed and the names of all persons interested in
or to be benefited by the work to be done. The applicant shall agree
to protect and defend and indemnify and save harmless the City, officers
or agents thereof from all claims, suits, actions and proceedings
of every nature and description which may be brought against the City,
officers or agents thereof for or on account of any injuries or damages
to persons or public or private property due to any materials or appliances
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 said applicant or his agents, servants or employees,
and the City shall not in any way be liable therefor.
[Amended 12-22-1986 by Ord. No. 2456]
B.
The applicant shall agree that the City shall at all times have the
right and authority to correct any and all omissions in the conduct
of the work and to have the power to take possession of and to do
all of the work and charge the expense thereof to the applicant. The
expense so charged shall be promptly paid by said applicant.
C.
The applicant shall also agree to safeguard and maintain in good
order the excavation until such time as the City may temporarily or
permanently restore the street surface and to assume all cost and
expense due to defective backfilling for the period of one year after
the date of completion of the excavation, provided that said date
does not lie between November 15 and May 1; otherwise to date from
the latter date.
D.
The applicant shall further agree to abide by all the terms and conditions
of the ordinances under which the permit is granted, whether specifically
mentioned in the application or not.
E.
The applicant shall pay the required fee, as hereinafter provided,
and shall furnish a judgment bond satisfactory to the Director of
the Department of Administration and the Director of the Department
of Public Works as a guaranty of the fulfillment of all the applicant's
obligations under the permit.
[Amended 12-22-1986 by Ord. No. 2456]
F.
No permit shall be granted to any applicant unless said applicant
shall have paid to said City any and all moneys then due to said City
for prior openings made or for any loss, damage or expense in any
manner occasioned by or arising from the opening of streets, alleys
or highways of said City under prior permits.
[Amended 12-22-1986 by Ord. No. 2456]
Upon an application for the issuance of a permit being approved
by the Department of Public Works, the applicant shall pay the City
Treasurer the certain sums hereinafter named, whereupon there shall
be issued to the applicant a permit granting authority to make the
excavations named in said application. This permit shall at all times
be in the possession of a competent person actually on the work and
shall be shown upon request to any police officer or properly authorized
officer or employee of the Department of Public Works upon demand.
Every applicant shall pay the following sums for making excavations
as herein provided:
A.
For excavating any roadway, the sum of $10 per square yard or fraction
thereof for the first 50 square yards and $7 for each additional square
yard in excess of 50 square yards; and the sum of $10 per square yard
per inch of depth of bituminous replacement for the first 50 square
yards and $7 per square yard per inch of depth of bituminous replacement
in excess of 50 square yards; the minimum amount to be paid hereunder
shall be the sum of $20.
[Amended 5-25-1931 by Ord. No. 1281; 6-11-1934 by Ord. No. 1364; 8-15-1974 by Ord. No. 2311]
B.
The basis of measurement of street surface openings shall be the
actual number of square yards of paving or surfacing necessary to
completely repair the street surface at such opening. A fraction of
1/2 of a square yard shall be considered as a full 1/2 square yard,
and payment shall be made on this basis. All openings shall be measured
by the Street Commissioner, his agents or assistants, and such measurements
shall be final and conclusive.
In no case shall any applicant open or remove a greater area
of surface and at no other location than specified in the original
application; provided, however, that if at the time of actually doing
the work it should be necessary to open or remove a greater area of
surface than originally applied for, the applicant shall first notify
and secure, by telephone or otherwise, the consent of the Department
to do so, upon the express condition that said applicant shall and
will, before 12:00 noon of the following business day, file a supplementary
application for the making of an additional excavation.
In case of an emergency arising out of office hours, at night,
Sundays or legal holidays, when immediate excavation may be necessary
for the protection of life or public or private property, the same
shall be reported to the Police Department, which shall grant permission
to make the necessary excavation, upon the express condition that
an application be made in the regular manner on or before 12:00 noon
of the next following business day.
No charge shall be made for an excavation on the sidewalk where
the same is made in connection with a permit granted for an excavation
in the roadway nor for excavations made under permits issued for the
construction or repair of sidewalks, curbing or gutters, or where
permits have been granted for the erection of poles or to the owner
of the abutting property.
[Amended 10-10-1932 by Ord. No. 1308]
All moneys received by the City of Oil City for the issuance
of permits shall be placed in the general fund to be used in such
manner and for such purposes as may be directed and designated by
the proper officers of the City of Oil City.
Said applicant, during the progress of the work, shall provide
and maintain such fences, barriers, "street closed" and "danger" signs,
red lights and watchmen as may be necessary to prevent avoidable accidents
to the public and adjoining tenants. The convenience of the public
and temporary approaches to and crossings of intersecting streets
shall be provided for and kept in good condition where practicable.
The sidewalks or portions of the street adjoining the work or its
vicinity shall not be littered or obstructed more than necessary,
and the drainage gutters and inlets to the storm sewers shall at all
times be kept clean and unobstructed.
A.
Excavation shall be by open cut from the surface, and no tunneling
or drifting will be permitted except by permission and when so noted
on the permit. The amount of trench opened and also the amount unfilled
shall be at all times subject to the decision of the Department. No
trench or excavation shall be undercut or have a greater width at
the bottom than at the top. In case of slips or slides of the sides
of the excavation, the same shall be trimmed to solid earth and the
top surface cut back to the limit of the same before any backfilling
is commenced. When necessary or required by the Department, the sides
of a trench shall be sheathed and braced and rendered secure until
the construction has been laid therein and the trench refilled. Care
shall be taken not to move or disturb other subsurface structures,
and in crossing these or running parallel with or near them, they
shall be securely hung, braced and supported in place until the work
is completed. The applicant shall maintain their respective services
and shall repair all damage done to any of said structures. In rock
excavation, all drilling and blasting shall be conducted with the
greatest possible care and all possible precautions taken to guard
against accidents.
B.
All excavations shall be carefully refilled promptly after the completion
of the structures with such of the excavated materials as may be suitable.
All materials used for backfill shall be in proper condition, all
frozen or wet and soggy earth must be removed and replaced with filling
of proper consistency. Coarse, lumpy or cloddy earth must be pulverized
before being returned to the trench. From November 15 to April 1,
all excavations in paved streets shall be refilled with crushed stone,
thoroughly compacted, if in the opinion of the Department weather
conditions render the same necessary, or the Superintendent may, in
his discretion, refuse to issue any permit during said period, or
he may issue said permits under such special restrictions or conditions
as he may deem necessary. No rock fragments larger than nine inches
in any dimension shall be placed in the trench. The space between
the pieces of rock shall be filled with earth and tamped. Earth filling
shall be placed in layers not exceeding six inches and thoroughly
tamped with iron rammers not over 36 square inches of face and not
less than 20 pounds in weight or with an approved mechanical tamper.
All backfilling shall be done in the ratio of one man shoveling to
two men tamping or ramming. Puddling or water-tamping may be done
only by special permission or direction of the Department. In case
of any deficiency of proper material for backfilling, the same shall
be supplied by the applicant.
C.
All materials used in the base and surfacing of any street or roadway,
and which may be reused, shall be removed in accordance with such
instructions as may be issued from time to time and carefully laid
aside for future use. Such materials shall be kept separate from other
excavated materials, and the applicant shall be held responsible for
the preservation of such materials. In all unimproved streets, the
surface of the trenches, after being filled and settled, shall be
finished in a most workmanlike manner without needless delay and shall
in every respect be equal in quality, character and materials to the
street surface existing previous to making the excavation.
D.
In case of an excavation in a paved street or public highway, the
backfilling shall be carried up to a point about 18 inches below the
surface of the road and the filling left in an oval or convex shape.
From this point upward to the bottom of the material of the improved
road, the trench shall be widened nine inches on each side, but the
surface of the road shall not be disturbed for a width greater than
the width of the trench below the enlarged section. Into this enlarged
section of trench shall be placed concrete composed of one part cement,
two parts sand and four parts gravel, broken stone or slag. This concrete
arch shall be not less than six inches thick at the crown. Should
the width of the trench be more than 30 inches, the concrete arch
shall be reinforced with expanded metal or other approved type of
reinforcement. The applicant shall notify the Department of Public
Works when this concrete arch has been completed, and as soon as practicable
after the concrete has developed sufficient set the Department shall
restore the pavement surface with like material to that existing in
the adjacent pavement. The applicant shall maintain red lights, barricades
and any other protection necessary until the Department of Public
Works shall have completed the repairs; provided, however, that if
for any reason it may be impracticable for the Department to make
such repairs with reasonable promptness after the opening is ready,
the applicant shall be permitted to make temporary repairs in such
manner as may be directed by the Department so as to make the pavement
safe and usable by the public, and thereupon the obligation of the
applicant to maintain barricades, etc., shall cease.
[Amended 12-22-1986 by Ord. No. 2456]
[Amended 12-22-1986 by Ord. No. 2456]
The Police Department is hereby authorized and directed to carefully
note all excavations in the streets and sidewalks of the City and
the patrolmen to make special report of the same through the Chief
or Captain of Police to the Department of Public Works. When the work
is done without permit, the officer shall insist that the same be
stopped, pending the securing of such. In all cases of the opening
of streets, whether party exhibits permit or not, patrolmen shall
report.
[Amended 12-22-1986 by Ord. No. 2456]
Upon the passage of a resolution by the City Council to the
effect that it is the intention of the Council to pave or repave any
street or alley or part thereof within one year from the passage of
such resolution, the City Engineer shall notify all public service
corporations maintaining or likely to maintain underground structures
in said street of the passage of said resolution, and such corporations
shall thereupon make any additions, repairs or alterations in their
underground structures which they think may be required within a period
of five years. The City Engineer shall also ascertain whether properties
abutting said street, whether vacant or otherwise, are provided with
water and sewer services to the curbline. In case any properties are
not provided with water service, the City Engineer shall notify the
Director of the Department of Public Works, and the latter shall install
services to the curbline. In case any such properties are not provided
with sewer connections, the City Engineer shall notify the owner of
such property, and it shall be the duty of said owner to construct
a sewer connection from the main to the curbline within 30 days. Upon
failure of any owner to construct such sewer connection within 30
days from notification so to do, the Department of Public Works shall
construct the same. The first cost of such sewer construction shall
be paid from the general fund, and the actual cost of each of said
sewer connections, plus 15% to cover overhead, shall be charged to
the property owner and added to the latter's assessment for the
improvement of the street. Such sewer connection charges shall, however,
be shown separately on the assessment schedule and shall not be payable
upon the installment plan, as the paving assessment proper, but shall
be paid in full with the first payment on the paving assessment, and
the City Treasurer shall credit the amounts paid for sewer connections
to the general fund.
Except in case of emergency, no permit for excavating in any street covered by a resolution providing for its improvement, as set forth in § 154-13, shall be issued within the period commencing three months after the passage of said resolution and ending five years after the completion of the improvement. The City Engineer shall, within one month after the passage of any such resolution, cause to be posted along the line of the proposed improvement handbills setting forth the passage of the resolution and the provisions of this section. The emergency exceptions to the provisions of this section shall be restricted to cases where immediate excavation is necessary for the protection of life or public or private property, as provided in § 154-7 hereof, and to such other cases as may seem of sufficient importance as to secure a favorable vote of 4/5 of the members of the City Council.
[Amended 9-8-1986 by Ord. No. 2452]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine not exceeding $300
and costs of prosecution or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding
90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
