No plan of subdivision shall be finally approved until the applicant has furnished a cash bond, a surety bond upon a Connecticut licensed surety company, or other security acceptable to the Town of Lyme in a sum and on terms satisfactory to the Board of Selectmen and the Commission, conditioned upon the completion of the work within the statutory period provided for such completion. The form of the bond as required by the Town shall be satisfactory to the Treasurer of the Town. In the event the Commission shall deem it in the best interests of the Town to extend the completion date of any such bond, such bond may be extended by the Commission, provided both principal and surety company have joined in an application to the Commission for such extension.
A.
Bond requirements.
(1)
The bond must be posted and continuously maintained for the duration of the five-year project (or other time for completion as designated by state statute) unless released by vote of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
(2)
Should the developer be unable to complete the bonded site improvements in a manner satisfactory under Town requirements, the bond deposited with the Town may be used by the Town to complete the required site improvements or, at the discretion of the Commission, to restore the property to a safe and attractive condition, provided that no individual lots have been sold or developed.
B.
Release of bond. Upon completion of improvements and upon acceptance of such improvements by the Town, the bonds as required under § 310-3.11 of these regulations shall be released by the Selectmen upon the substitution thereof of a maintenance bond in the amount of $2,500 or 1/10 of the cost of improvements, whichever is greater, to continue for a period of one year from the date of Town acceptance, guaranteeing to remedy construction or to indemnify the Town for repairing such defects. Application by written communication to the Board of Selectmen for approval of portions of the total improvements may be made upon completion of such portions. If such portions are accepted, the one-year period for the maintenance bond for the portions accepted will commence as of the date of acceptance and a prorated reduction in the bond may be approved by the Selectmen. The contractor or developer shall, when notified by the First Selectman, promptly and at his own expense, repair all failures in the construction and operation of structures and appurtenances which may occur during the maintenance period, and he shall similarly repair all defects, settlements and irregularities of the structures and appurtenances or drains, pipes, mains or conduits, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, road surfacing, land turfing, catch basins, retaining walls or other structures or improvements on the line of the work or adjacent thereto occurring during the maintenance period which are caused by or affected by his work. If the contractor or developer fails to remedy such defects within a reasonable time, not to exceed 60 days after the notice, the First Selectman may, without prejudice to any other remedy and upon written notice to the contractor or developer and surety company, cause the required repairs to be made and bill the contractor or developer or the surety company for the cost of the work then involved. Before release of the cash or surety bond, a registered professional engineer, selected and approved by the Board of Selectmen and the Commission, shall certify one of the following:
(1)
That all work required to be performed by the developer under such bonds shall have been done in substantial compliance with the final subdivision plans as approved by the Commission; or
(2)
The site has been restored to a safe and attractive condition in lieu of completion of work, provided that the applicant guarantees in writing that no lots will be sold or offered for sale, no building permits will be sought, and no individual lot development, including tree clearing and grading, will commence unless and until a bond for completion of work is posted with the Commission. Violation of this provision shall be grounds for revocation of the subdivision approval.