[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of North Andover. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 170.
Zoning — See Ch. 195.
Subdivision regulations — See Ch. 255.
For purposes of this bylaw, the definitions of "person," "poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures" and "utility" shall be the same definitions as those set forth in MGL c. 166, § 22A.
ALTERNATIVE COORDINATION PLAN
A plan to coordinate the implementation of the utility-specific plans required by this underground bylaw. In the event that the utilities and the Town are not able to reach agreement on any aspects of a negotiated project coordination plan, the Town will use reasonable discretion to establish an alternative coordination plan. The objective of this alternative coordination plan will be to use a single qualified general contractor to perform the excavation and civil work necessary for the installation of all of the underground facilities, including cable facilities, electric facilities, telephone facilities, and municipal facilities, contemplated by this underground bylaw, as well as a proposed formula for apportioning the cost of that qualified general contractor. This alternative project coordination plan will assume that each utility will directly install and energize its own cable and wire in the conduits and manholes constructed by the qualified general contractor. In establishing such alternative coordination plan, the Town shall be guided by the objective of achieving efficient coordination among the utilities, a cost-effective underground project, with the minimum disruption of the public way.
COMPANY SPECIFICATIONS
Detailed specifications provided by the each utility regarding the number and size of duct banks, the type and quantity of cable or wire, and the number and precise specifications of manholes and hand holes, the description and quantification of the equipment necessary to construct and install customer's service facilities, and all other specifications regarding all other facilities necessary to replace overhead service in the area of the community covered by this bylaw with underground service, all prepared in sufficient detail to be included in a request for bid for a qualified general contractor.
COST PER LINEAR FOOT
When reporting the cost of demolition or construction per linear foot, the cost should be reported per linear foot of the overhead or underground system. For example, the 1,000 feet of overhead or underground facilities that are located on 1,000 feet of one side of a public way would be reported as 1,000 feet of overhead facilities or underground facilities removed or constructed. If a particular utility has two lines or two conduits on a given set of poles or in a given duct bank, and therefore 2,000 feet of overhead wire or underground wire in this one-thousand-foot span of the public way, the cost per linear foot must be reported using the 1,000 feet of the public way as the denominator, and must not be reported using the 2,000 feet of wire as the denominator.
CUSTOMER'S SERVICE FACILITIES
The facilities required to connect a customer's building or structure to the underground service mandated by this bylaw, which customer's service facilities are more specifically defined in MGL c. 166, § 22I.
DIRECT COST OF DEMOLITION AND CONSTRUCTION
The direct cost of construction labor, construction materials, and construction equipment used to implement the demolition and construction mandated by this bylaw. This shall include the direct cost of construction labor, construction materials, and construction equipment used to install the customer's service facilities defined by MGL c. 166, § 22I. Direct costs of demolition and construction shall also include the following costs:
A. 
The direct cost of completing an "existing conditions plan," to the extent such cost is incurred at the request of the Town in order to expedite the schedule for the underground project, or incurred directly by the Town in order to expedite said schedule, and then reimbursed by the utility.
B. 
Interest on any amounts spent for such direct costs in excess of the two-percent annual expenditure required by § 175-5A of this bylaw, to the extent such excess expenditure is directly associated with an effort to expedite the actual construction schedule at the request of the Town.
C. 
The direct cost of any communication ducts installed at the request of the Town, which communication ducts are to be reserved municipal use.
NEGOTIATED PROJECT COORDINATION PLAN
The Town will review the coordination plans that are included in the cable company plan, electric company plan, and telephone company plan filed with the Board of Selectmen pursuant to this bylaw. The Town will host a project coordination meeting to be attended by representatives of the Town and each of said utilities, and use reasonable efforts to negotiate a project coordination plan that is acceptable to each of said utilities and the Town. The objective of this negotiated coordination plan will be to use a single qualified general contractor to perform the excavation and civil work necessary for the installation of all of the underground facilities, including cable facilities, electric facilities, telephone facilities, and municipal facilities, contemplated by this underground bylaw, as well as a proposed formula for apportioning the cost of that qualified general contractor. This negotiated project coordination plan will assume that each utility will directly install and energize its own cable and wire in the conduits and manholes constructed by the qualified general contractor. In negotiating such coordination plan, the Town shall be guided by the objective of achieving efficient coordination among the utilities, a cost-effective project, with the minimum disruption of the public way.
PETITION
The petition, timely filed, that is required by MGL c. 166, § 22D and § 175-5B(1) of this bylaw, relating to the permission to install underground facilities mandated by this bylaw. Such petition shall request permission for the shared use of common duct banks and common trenches by and among other utilities and the Town, or include a justification explaining why such shared use of common duct banks and common trenches is not possible.
PLAN FOR CONTINUATION OF ITS SERVICES, FOR THEIR REPLACEMENT WITH UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
A. 
The plan, timely filed, that is required by MGL c. 166, § 22D, and § 175-5B(2) of this bylaw, relating to the removal of that particular utility's overhead wires and associated overhead equipment and the construction of a particular utility's underground equipment to provide service to consumers in the geographic area covered by this bylaw. This utility-specific plan that meets the requirements of this bylaw must include at a minimum the following required components:
(1) 
The company's specifications for the underground project;
(2) 
An estimate of the total direct cost of demolition and construction of the project, which includes the cost of installing customer's service facilities;
(3) 
An estimate of the total salvage value of the overhead property to be removed;
(4) 
A statement of the total company revenues received in the community in the preceding calendar year, and an estimate of the total company revenues to be received in the community in the current year;
(5) 
An estimate of the total duration of the demolition and construction project, assuming that the company allocates and expends 2% of such annual revenues (plus the reasonable salvage value of the removed overhead equipment) to the direct cost of demolition and construction of that company's project;
(6) 
A proposed coordination plan that describes a plan for utilizing a single qualified general contractor to perform the excavation and civil work necessary for the installation of all of the underground facilities, including cable facilities, electric facilities, telephone facilities, and municipal facilities, contemplated by this underground bylaw, as well as a proposed formula for apportioning the cost of that qualified general contractor among the various users of the underground facilities constructed;
(7) 
A statement that the utility will participate in good faith in a negotiation conducted by the Town, that includes all of the utilities covered by this bylaw, in which the Town attempts to develop a negotiated coordination plan that is acceptable to each utility and to the Town;
(8) 
A statement that the company's plan will be implemented in a fashion that complies with any alternative coordination plan that may be established by the Town;
B. 
Such plan must be filed no later December 31 of the calendar year prior to the calendar year in which the first expenditures for the direct cost of demolition and construction are required to made.
QUALIFIED GENERAL CONTRACTOR
A contractor with extensive experience in designing and constructing underground utilities in Massachusetts, as evidenced by letters of recommendation from Massachusetts utilities that have contracted for the services of such qualified general contractor in the past.
STATEMENT
Annual statement, timely filed, that is required by MGL c. 166, §  22D and § 175-5B(4) of this bylaw. This annual statement must, at a minimum, include the following information regarding the removal of overhead facilities and construction of replacement underground facilities, completed by said utility in the prior calendar year:
A. 
Overhead facilities:
(1) 
Linear feet of overhead facilities removed;
(2) 
Street names on which such removal occurred;
(3) 
Direct cost of demolition associated with such removal for the calendar year in question;
(4) 
Direct cost of demolition associated with such removal per linear foot of overhead facilities removed;
B. 
Underground facilities:
(1) 
Linear feet of underground facilities constructed;
(2) 
Street names on which underground construction occurred;
(3) 
Direct cost of construction for the calendar year in question;
(4) 
Direct cost of construction per linear foot of such construction completed;
C. 
Customer service facilities:
(1) 
Number of customer service facilities completed;
(2) 
Street names on which customer service facilities occurred;
(3) 
Direct cost of construction associated with customer service facilities demolition and construction spent in any year prior to the preceding calendar year, which amount was in excess of the 2% of the standard defined in MGL c. 166, § 22D, and which excess amount the utility is allocating as a credit to reduce the dollar expenditures required by this bylaw for the direct cost of demolition and construction in the calendar year that is the focus of this financial report;
D. 
The dollar amount of the direct cost of demolition and construction spent in any year prior to the preceding calendar year, which amount was in excess of the 2% of the standard defined in MGL c. 166, § 22D, and which excess amount the utility is allocating as a credit to reduce the dollar expenditures required by this bylaw for the direct cost of demolition and construction in the calendar year that is the focus of this financial report;
E. 
Gross revenues:
(1) 
Gross revenues derived from that utility's customers in North Andover in the calendar year preceding the expenditures reported in Subsections A, B and C above;
(2) 
Representation that the amounts spent by such utility for the direct cost of demolition and construction, as itemized above, in Subsections A, B and C plus any credit as described in Subsection D, equals or exceeds 2% of the gross revenue reported in Subsection E(1) above.
No utility shall install or construct, except by way of replacement or upgrading of existing facilities, any poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures upon, along or across any public way within the parts of the Town listed in § 175-3. Any poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures installed or constructed in violation of this bylaw shall be immediately removed by the utility responsible therefor.
Applicability of § 175-2 applies to the following parts of Town:
A. 
Any new public way approved by the Planning Board to the extent it is exclusively situated in an approved residential or nonresidential subdivision.
B. 
Any way in which the wires and utility facilities are underground as of the effective date of this bylaw.
C. 
Downtown area: Main Street from Sutton Street to Merrimac Street, including 200 feet from Main Street on the following side streets: Waverley Road, First Street, and Second Street, all of School Street, and on Water Street from Main Street to High Street.
D. 
Old Common Area: along the former Essex Street from Academy Road to Great Pond Road; along Osgood Street from Bay State Road to the intersection of Andover Street. Along Andover Street from Academy Road to the intersection with Chestnut Street. Along Massachusetts Avenue from 200 feet northwest of the intersection with Osgood Street through the Old Center to Salem Street and Johnson Street to Milk Street and along Great Pond Road from Academy Road 200 feet to the east toward Stevens Street.
E. 
Those portions of the Lincoln Line that cross or are within the public way of the Lincoln Line from Dale Street substation South East to the corner of Salem and Foster, South West beyond Raleigh Tavern Lane and from the Woodchuck Hill substation to the corner of Salem and Foster Streets.
A. 
Any person who installs or constructs any poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures which are in violation of § 175-2 shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000.
B. 
Any person who fails to remove immediately any poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures which are in violation of § 175-2 shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 for each consecutive fifteen-day period during which the failure continues.
A. 
Any utility presently owning or operating poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures along or across any public way within the parts of the Town listed in § 175-3 on May 3, 1999, shall begin to remove such poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures following the effective date of this bylaw in accordance with MGL c. 166, § 22D. In preparation for making the minimum expenditures required by this Subsection A, each utility covered by this bylaw shall file with the Board of Selectmen the petition as required by MGL c. 166, § 22 and by Subsection B(1) of this section, and also file the plan as required by MGL c. 166, § 22D and by Subsection B(2) of this section. In order to enable the Town to monitor compliance with this bylaw, each utility covered by this bylaw shall file the statement with the Board of Selectmen, that is required by MGL c. 166, § 22D and Subsection B(4) of this section. Any petition, plan, or statement filed by a utility pursuant to this bylaw must meet the minimum content requirements and timely filing requirements defined in this bylaw.
B. 
Any utility that fails to remove any poles or overhead wires and associated overhead structures required to be removed to Subsection A of this section shall be punished by fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 for each consecutive fifteen-day period during which such failure continues; provided, however, that no utility shall have been deemed to have violated this bylaw, provided that:
(1) 
If replacement facilities for poles or overhead wires and associated overhead structures required to be removed will be needed in order for a utility to continue its service, the utility shall, within 60 days after the effective date of this bylaw, petition the Board of Selectmen pursuant to MGL c. 166, § 22 for permission to install, erect, or construct under the public ways replacement facilities for such poles and overhead wires and associated structures; and
(2) 
The utility shall file with the Board of Selectmen a plan (which shall be consistent with Subsection A of this section), for continuation of its service, for their replacement with underground facilities; and
(3) 
In each calendar year beginning with the calendar year next following the effective date of this bylaw and until all such poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures shall have been removed, the utility shall, in carrying out its plan, allocate and expend for the direct cost of demolition and construction (over and above the reasonable value of salvage) an amount which shall not be less than 2% of its gross revenues derived during the next preceding calendar year from its customers in the Town of North Andover; and
(4) 
The utility shall, on or before the last day of March in each year, file with the Board of Selectmen a statement signed under the penalties of perjury, by its treasurer, setting forth in detail the amounts spent by the utility during the immediately preceding calendar year in carrying out its plan; the purposes for which such expenditures were made; the gross revenues derived from its customers in the Town during the immediately preceding calendar year; provided, however, that no utility which enters into a cooperation agreement under MGL c. 166, § 22E shall be deemed to have violated this bylaw during the term such payments are to be made, so long as said utility shall not be in default of said cooperation agreement.
C. 
Notwithstanding the effective date of this bylaw, any utility may, in its sole discretion, cooperate with the Town's plans for early construction and may commence the removal of its poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures and proceed to perform the undergrounding work following this bylaw's adoption and prior to its effective date. Any such early cooperation by any utility will be subject to the utility's rights to recover its expenditures and impose and collect a billing surcharge under MGL c. 166, §§ 22D and 22M.
Any utility providing underground replacement facilities pursuant to this bylaw shall also install customer's service facilities as defined by MGL c. 166, § 22I. Such installation of customer's service facilities shall be incorporated into the plan filed with Board of Selectmen pursuant to § 175-5B(2) of this bylaw, and the cost associated with such installation of customer's service facilities shall be included in the report of direct cost of demolition and construction reported to the Board of Selectmen pursuant to § 175-5B(4) of this bylaw. It is the intent of this section that the cost of the installation of customer's service facilities shall be reimbursed to the utility through the two-percent surcharge contemplated by MGL c. 166, § 22D.
If any provision of this bylaw is determined to be invalid, such determination shall not affect the validity of the other provisions of this bylaw, which other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.