No person shall open up or alter the grade, dig or excavate in the roadbed, pavement or gutters of any street of the Village for any purpose whatsoever, except upon compliance with the provisions herein, and no person shall tunnel under the roadbed of any street in whole or in part for any purpose.
[Adopted 6-24-1954 as Ord. 3.1 of the Unified Code of Ordinances]
A.
Except as hereinafter provided, not less than 24 hours prior to the proposed time of such digging or excavating, application shall be made to the Village Clerk for a permit therefor. Such application shall state:
(1)
The name of the applicant.
(2)
The fact that the application is either that of a representative of a division, department or branch of government of a utility corporation, of a plumber or electrician duly qualified or of a person whose occupation, business or work requires such excavation to be made and whose name meets with the approval of the Mayor or Village official having charge of the street.
(3)
The precise place where the applicant desires to dig or excavate, with the distance from the nearest street intersection or from the property abutting the street at the point of proposed application.
B.
Cash deposit or bond. Each applicant may be required by the Clerk, subject to review by the Mayor, to make a cash deposit to cover the cost of restoring the street and its pavement to a condition which meets the approval of the Mayor or person designated by him or, in the alternative, a bond giving adequate insurance that such repavement will be made and may also be required to procure liability insurance in a company authorized to do business in this state, running to the Village, guaranteeing that the applicant has provided public liability coverage of not less than $100,000/$300,000 and property damage insurance of not less than $10,000 to save the Village harmless from all claims, actions and proceedings brought by any person for injury to person or property resulting from or occasioned by any fault or default of the person to whom the permit is issued or anyone acting thereunder on his behalf.
A.
As a condition precedent to receiving a permit, the applicant shall agree that immediately upon completion of his work and, when required, its inspection and approval, he will backfill the excavation. Thereafter, when the Village restores the street at the place excavated to complete repair, the cost thereof will be paid by the permittee, the amount due being taken from the sum placed on deposit if said sum is required or paid by the permittee in the event that a deposit is not required. Until such complete repairs have been made, all liability from the condition of the street remains upon the permittee.
B.
In the alternative, upon permission, in writing, by authorization of the Board of Trustees, the permittee may himself restore the pavement to complete repair under the supervision of the Mayor or person designated by him and in conformity with grades and specifications to be provided for such work.
When there has been full compliance with the provisions herein stated and no other valid objections have appeared, the Village Clerk will issue a permit to the applicant therefor.
Every grant of work for which a permit is issued must be begun within 12 hours of the time the permit is issued.
Each person to whom a permit is issued hereunder must at all times have it available at the place of the excavation and, upon demand, show it to the representative of the Village.
In an emergency such as the breaking of a main or stoppage of a sewer line or other condition calling for immediate opening of a street to prevent loss or injury to property, application may be made to the Village Clerk for an emergency permit, in person or by telephone, and authority shall be granted to proceed with the necessary work forthwith, but it shall be the duty of the person so performing such work to place warning signs, lights and barriers to protect the public and upon the first day of resumption of regular business of the Village to comply with the provisions of this article in relation to the obtaining of a permit and all of the other provisions of this article.
Whenever the surface of a street is disturbed or an opening made therein or when, as a result of work done thereon, there exists a depression below the surrounding grade or an elevation higher than the grade because of excess backfill or for other reasons, the person to whom the permit was issued or who has caused the hazard shall provide adequate safeguards to the public by erecting a barrier or fence of distinctive type or color marking the outside limits of the affected area and bearing warning signs distinguishable by day and adequate number of lighted lanterns or flares to give warning of the danger after dark.
[Amended 6-19-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990]
For the infraction of any provision hereof, any permit may be canceled and permission to do similar work may be withheld from the offender for a period of three months from the time of such violation. In addition, each violation of this article shall be punishable by a fine of not to exceed $250 or by imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both.