[Amended 11-17-2015 by Ord. No. 25-2015]
A. 
No person shall open or excavate, under, over, upon or through, any public place or street or right-of-way of the Town at any place, at any time or for any purpose whatever without first obtaining a permit so to do, signed by the Mayor and attested by the Town Clerk.
B. 
No opening or excavation will be permitted within the surface of a public road, street or right-of-way upon which permanent pavement has been placed within five years of its application. This requirement may be waived upon the recommendation of the Town Engineer and upon approval of the Board of Alderman where the denial of the permit can be shown by the applicant to cause undue hardship.
C. 
Street openings within the paved or improved surface of any road, street or right-of-way shall be restricted between November 1 and April 20, except that the Town Engineer, after consultation with the Director of Public Works, shall have the authority to waive these requirements in instances where he determines that suitable weather conditions exist.
D. 
Emergency street openings may be made without the necessity of a written application in emergency situations, such as broken or frozen water mains or other situations which would endanger public life, health and safety, provided that notice shall be immediately given to the Police Department and Department of Public Works and that written application for a permit shall be made to the Department of Public Works for approval by the Town Engineer as soon as practical and, in any event, not exceeding 48 hours from the start of the excavation.
E. 
All Town of Boonton projects are exempt from the requirement to obtain a road opening permit.
F. 
A road opening permit is valid for a period of two years.
A. 
The application for permit shall provide a description of the work to be performed and provide a detailed schedule as to when the work is planned to start and finish. The applicant shall indicate the number of working days necessary to complete the project. The application shall be accompanied by an engineering plan, or sketch, drawn to scale, of the areas to be disturbed, including proposed dimensions, construction notes, specifications and restoration details. Plans provided shall show existing conditions, utility information, and include photographs of the project area. The permit application shall be filed in quadruplicate with one copy being retained by the Town Clerk, one copy given to the applicant upon approval, one copy sent to the Department of Public Works Superintendent and one copy sent to the Town Engineer for engineering review and determination of the escrow fees.
B. 
The applicant shall provide a certificate of insurance coverage acceptable to the Town. It shall name the Town and its Engineer as additionally insured.
C. 
The applicant shall indemnify, protect and save harmless the Town of Boonton and its agents, servants, its Engineer and employees from and against any and all suits, claims, losses, demands, or damages of whatever kind or nature arising out of or claimed to arise out of any negligent act, error or omission of the permitted, its agents, servants and its Engineer in the performance of the work covered by this permit.
D. 
A road opening permit agreement must be executed. (See Attachment A.[1])
[1]
Editor's Note: Attachment A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
E. 
A performance bond or certified check shall be presented prior to the issuance of approval of the application for permit in the sum of 120% of the cost of trench restoration, including backfilling and surface treatments in accordance with the specifications of the Town of Boonton. The applicant shall submit a calculation to the Town Engineer for approval showing the details of the bond amount determinations. Estimates must be based upon New Jersey prevailing wage rates.
F. 
A maintenance bond or certified check shall be presented prior to the issuance of approval of the application in the amount of 15% of the performance bond, and it shall remain in effect for a period of two years starting on the construction completion acceptance date.
A. 
Specifications for road openings.
(1) 
The New Jersey Department of Transportation Standard Specification for Road and Bridge Construction, latest revision, shall apply to all work unless otherwise noted.
(2) 
Prior to the start of construction, the applicant is to call New Jersey One Call 811 and provide confirmation to the Town.
(3) 
Prior to the start of construction, the width of the trench shall be determined, and cut lines shall be marked on the pavement 18 inches outside of the trench sidelines. A pavement cutter shall then be used to cut through the pavement, and pavement/subgrade removed, prior to excavating the trench. Trench walls must be maintained a minimum of 18 inches inside the pavement cut during the trenching operation; should said cut lines fall within two feet of the edge of pavement or face of curb, the pavement shall be removed to the roadway edge.
(4) 
In general, manholes, valve boxes and similar structures shall be located outside of the traveled way (both present and future). When this is not possible, the frames and covers for same shall be set 1/4 inch below the finished pavement surface; however, when pedestrian traffic is a consideration, they shall be set absolutely flush with the pavement.
(5) 
Service connection valves shall be located behind the curb and within the right-of-way, but not within the sidewalk. When this is not possible and they must be placed in the sidewalk, they shall be set absolutely flush in a cast iron box and only where approved by the Town Engineer.
(6) 
Under no conditions shall any installation be made through any storm sewer, catch basin, culvert or bridge.
(7) 
Stream crossings shall be at a distance from the center line of the road, to be determined by the Town Engineer in each instance. Encroachment application shall be secured from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection by the applicant.
(8) 
Curbs, gutters, under drains, catch basins, pipes, sewer laterals, water service connections or any other roadway installations that are removed, damaged or destroyed by the applicant or by his agents shall be replaced, at the expense of the applicant, using new material as approved by the Town Engineer.
(9) 
The use of any bucket with teeth in removing soil or other excavated material deposited on the pavement is forbidden. Only rubber-tired equipment shall be permitted on Town roadways. Track-type equipment is prohibited unless it is the plan of the applicant to repave the entire roadway.
(10) 
The applicant shall make all arrangements with adjacent property owners to remove shrubs, fences, trees or other obstructions when necessary for construction, whether they are on the Town of Boonton right-of-way or on private property. The applicant shall also make all arrangements with other utility companies for the necessary relocation of their respective facilities.
(11) 
Damage caused to any portion of the right-of-way, whether pavement, curb, sidewalk or unimproved area, shall be repaired to the satisfaction of the Town Engineer.
(12) 
It shall be the duty of the permittee to properly guard any excavation and storage piles by erecting suitable bafflers during the day and lights during the night, or warning signs and providing a watchman if deemed necessary by the Police and/or the Director of Public Works, or his designee, and/or the Town Engineer. All traffic control devices used on road or street construction or maintenance work shall conform to Chapter IV, Work Zone, of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The permittee shall be liable for any neglect in safeguarding the traveling public. If the excavation extends the full width of the road, only 1/2 of it shall be made at one time, and it shall be backfilled before the other half is excavated, so as not to interfere with traffic. Traffic control must be approved by the Boonton Police Department, and it will make the decision where police officers are required.
(13) 
No portion of any roadway shall remain without bituminous concrete pavement restoration at the end of the work day without the permission of the Town Engineer.
B. 
Standard construction details. Standard construction details are available from the Town Engineer and are attached to the application package.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Fees for the following shall be as provided in Chapter 130, Fees, Article III, Fee Schedule:
A. 
Application fee and escrow fee.
B. 
Escrow fees (according to opening size). For all openings greater than 1,000 square feet, the escrow fee will be determined based upon location of the work, construction schedule, restoration cost estimate provided in § 254-15, and the scope of work proposed. Full-time construction observation and reimbursement will be required for all projects determined to be of a nature that could impact the infrastructure of the Town of Boonton. This determination will be based upon the recommendation of the Town Engineer after careful review of the application and concurrence by the Town Administrator and the Director of Public Works.