[Adopted as Art. XII of the Code of Ordinances]
Any person who petitions for location of electric or other wires, poles, ducts, conduits or manholes upon, over, through or under any public ways or over any building shall, when such petition is filed in the office of the City Clerk, also file a plan showing the street and number or, if there is no number, the exact proposed location of such electric or other wires, poles, ducts, conduits or manholes upon, over, through or under any public way or over any building in the City.
No telegraph, telephone or electric light company or any other corporation or person shall erect any post or poles to support wires or lines for the transmission of electricity in any public way or grounds, except by order of the City Council, previously obtained, which shall set forth the exact location of such post or pole proposed to be erected.
A. 
Whenever permission shall be granted by the City Council to erect and maintain poles, or to construct conduits or other fixtures in the public ways, bridges or grounds, to support or carry lines, telephone wires or for the transmission of electricity, the person to whom such permission is granted shall, within 30 days from the date of the order granting such permission, file in the office of the City Clerk a written acceptance of the location of such poles, conduits or other fixtures, and the conditions upon which the permission has been granted, and in default thereof such grant shall be null and void.
B. 
Such person may, however, at his election, file in the office of the City Clerk a general acceptance of the location of poles, conduits or other fixtures, and conditions upon which permission may be granted by the City Council from time to time to the person, and such acceptance shall constitute an acceptance of each of such orders, unless such person shall advise the City Clerk in writing, within 30 days from the date of the order, of his refusal to accept the locations and conditions of a specific order.
Whenever the City shall construct, enlarge, relocate, repair or alter the streets, ways or bridges, or the sewers, water pipes or other public works, in such streets, ways and bridges where conduits and wires are laid, which conduits and wires, in the opinion of the City Council, should be removed or changed in respect to their location, such removal or change shall be made without delay at the expense of the person owning or operating the same.
No wire or line for the transmission of electricity for any purpose shall be attached to any tree, building, erection or fixture of any kind, in any public way or grounds by cross-arms or otherwise, except by permission, in writing, of the Inspector of Wires, previously obtained, in which such tree, building, erection or fixture shall be described.
Every petition presented to the City Council for permission to erect posts to support wires or lines, or to attach wires or lines to trees or other fixtures, for the transmission of electricity for any purpose, shall be accompanied by or contain a statement of the exact location of each post proposed to be located, and of each tree, fixture or building to which it is desired to attach such wires or lines. The City Council, or in its discretion a committee thereof, shall give a hearing on every petition to all parties interested, except as to the attachment of wires and lines to fixtures other than trees. Notice of such hearing shall be given by the City Clerk at the expense of the petitioners to all persons owning or occupying land along the line of the proposed location. Notice shall state briefly the streets or ways, and parts thereof, and the lands to which such petition relates, and shall be served by leaving an attested copy thereof at the last and usual place of abode or business of each person, or by sending the same through the mail postpaid and directed to each such person. Such further notice shall be given to any parties interested as the City Council may direct.
None but sound, reasonably straight, well-formed posts, smooth and free from decay, of quality satisfactory to the Inspector of Wires, shall be erected and maintained in any public way, bridge or grounds. Wooden poles shall be of chestnut, cedar or hard pine, shall be not less than 25 feet above the ground and shall be set to a depth not less than five feet, and, on corners or dead ends where impracticable to guy, shall be set in concrete or keyed, and the name of the company, corporation or person owning the pole and the number thereof shall be distinctly attached thereto by means of a metal tag.
All posts erected and maintained in the public ways for the support of wires and other lines for transmission of electricity shall as nearly as practicable be set and maintained in a perpendicular position, of as uniform a height as practicable, and in line with the street or way, and shall be kept properly painted by the owners thereof, in such colors and manner as the Inspector of Wires may from time to time direct.
When poles have been abandoned by the owners thereof, they shall remove them, unless it is positively known that they will again use them within 90 days. Wires owned by others on such poles shall be removed unless the owners of such wires assume the ownership of such poles, the same to be transferred to them by the original owner by grant of the City Council.
Except by permission of the Inspector of Wires, new poles shall not be brought on any street more than two days in advance of the time they are to be set; and when old poles are taken down, they shall be removed from the street on the same day.
When renewing poles, the butt of the old pole shall be removed and the new pole set in the identical or adjacent location, and the surface of the ground around the pole shall be leveled off, filled in with material of the same kind as the ground around the pole and left clear of all material and rubbish. When removing or relocating poles that are set in the curbline so that a space is left open in or between the existing curb, such shall be refilled with cement or concrete, or with granite curbing if the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works so requires.
Except by permission of the City Council, no wire or other line for the transmission of electricity, except service wires and loops to buildings, shall be attached to any post or tree or other fixture nor run along any public way or street at a height less than 20 feet from the ground; and except by written permission from the Inspector of Wires, no post more than 40 feet above the ground shall be erected for the support of such wires and lines. Except by written permission from the Inspector of Wires, all wires from poles to buildings, where crossing the street, shall be at a height of not less than 20 feet from the ground.
Persons conducting a telegraph, telephone, electric light or power business may construct and maintain underground conduits for cables and wires, together with manholes and house connections, and erect and maintain distributing poles at the termini of conduits, at suitable distributing points, in such streets, in such manner, of such shape, size and material, and under such regulations as the City Council shall hereafter designate upon application. The application shall be accompanied by a plan showing the exact location of such conduits, manholes and poles. The City Council shall grant a hearing on the application in the manner provided in § 253-6.
Whenever underground conduits have once been laid in the streets and ways of the City, they shall not be removed, relocated or changed without permission from the City Council.
No street, way or bridge shall be torn up or disturbed for the purpose of laying lines, wires or conduits or erecting, altering or removing posts, poles or other fixtures used for carrying electric lines or wires without a permit first obtained from the City Council, indicating the time, manner and place of disturbance and the conditions under which such is permitted. No street, way or bridge shall be torn up or disturbed for the purpose of repairing, changing or removing lines, wires or conduits without a permit in writing first obtained therefor from the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works. Whenever any opening or any disturbance is made in any street, way or bridge, it shall be promptly restored by the person owning or operating the lines or wires to as good a condition as it was in before such disturbance or opening, in a manner satisfactory to the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works. The portion of a street, way or bridge so opened or disturbed shall be kept in and maintained in such condition by such person for one year thereafter, and if not immediately so restored, kept and maintained, the same may be done by the City at the expense of such person without previous notice of the intention to do so.
A. 
One space on all poles in public streets or ways shall be reserved for fire alarm, police signal or other signaling systems belonging to the City, and used exclusively for municipal purposes.
B. 
No line or wire shall be attached to any pole or post by means of brackets or other side fixtures except by written permission of the Inspector of Wires.
C. 
On streets where curbstones are set, all poles shall be erected in the sidewalks as close as possible to the inside of the curblines, and where there are no curbstones erected, the curbline must be established before setting the poles.
D. 
No pole shall be set within 10 feet of any hydrant.
In any underground conduit system, such sufficient and necessary space as shall be determined by the City Council shall be reserved free of expense to the City for the use of fire, police and other telegraph and telephone signal wires belonging to the City, and used exclusively for municipal purposes. The City, by its Inspector of Wires and other proper servants, shall be allowed access to the conduits at all times. The City shall be allowed equal facilities and privileges with others using the same conduits in putting in, taking out and repairing wires.
Every person constructing, maintaining or operating a telegraph, telephone or other electrical line in the City shall execute a bond, with surety satisfactory to the Mayor, in a penal sum not less than $10,000, conditioned to indemnify and save harmless the City against all damage, cost, expense and loss whatsoever to which it may be subjected in consequence of the negligence of such persons, their agents, officers and servants in any manner arising from or growing out of the use and transmission of electricity, the privileges permitted by the City, and the construction, maintenance, operation and the use of lines, wires, cables, conduits, posts, poles, structures, constructions, fixtures and apparatus. The bond shall also be conditioned to fulfill all agreements with the City, all the lawful orders, conditions and obligations imposed by the City Council, and all obligations and duties required by law. A new bond of like import and with new surety may at any time be required by the City, which new bond shall be a strengthening bond, unless the surety on former bonds is expressly released from further liability by vote of the City Council.
No electric light, telephone or telegraph company shall destroy, cut, trim or mutilate any of the trees located on any of the thoroughfares or public grounds of the City, except by written permission of the City Arborist, or allow the insulation to become dangerous or to injure trees on any of the thoroughfares or public grounds of the City.
No person shall knowingly or wantonly operate or cause to be operated any machine, device, apparatus or instrument of any kind whatsoever within the City between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight, the operation of which shall cause reasonably preventable electrical interference with television, radio and other communication circuits reception, within the municipal limits; provided, however, that X-ray pictures, examinations or treatments may be made at any time if the machines or apparatus used therefor are properly equipped to avoid all unnecessary or reasonably preventable interference with television, radio and other communication circuits reception and are not negligently operated. This section shall not be held or construed to embrace or cover the regulation of any transmitting, broadcasting or receiving instrument, apparatus or device used or useful in interstate commerce or the operation of which instrument, apparatus or device is licensed or authorized by or under the provisions of any act of the Congress of the United States. The Inspector of Wires and his duly authorized assistants shall have the right to enter upon any premises at all reasonable hours for the purpose of inspecting the installation and working of all apparatus coming within the terms of this section, and it shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with the Inspector of Wires or his duly authorized assistants in making such inspection or to refuse to permit him or them to enter the premises for such purposes.
No person shall set up, install or maintain any outside antenna system for the purpose of operating television, radio or any other similar communications equipment without first having obtained therefor a written permit from the Inspector of Wires.