[Adopted 11-10-1958 by Ord. No. 243; amended at time of adoption of Code
(see Ch. I, General Provisions, Art. I)]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, entity or corporation
to make any opening or excavation in or under any Borough street,
alley, thoroughfare or right-of-way unless a permit therefor is secured
from the Borough for each separate undertaking. The Code Enforcement
Officer or police officers of the Borough shall promptly prohibit
any work being done without a proper permit, or contrary to the terms
hereof.
The permit application shall demonstrate compliance with the
following restrictions before any permit will be issued:
A. No opening shall extend beyond the center line of the street before
being refilled and the surface of the street restored to an interim
condition deemed by the Borough's Public Works Foreman, a member
of his/her department, or, if judged necessary, the Borough Engineer
(to be paid for by the permittee) to be safe and passable for travel
by vehicles or pedestrians.
B. Any disturbances to or interference with streets, sidewalks or other
improvements located within Borough rights-of-way shall be restored
to a condition acceptable to the Borough's Public Works Foreman, a
member of his/her department or, if deemed necessary, the Borough's
Engineer (to be paid for by the permittee), including appropriate
coloring of sidewalk materials to blend into existing sidewalks and
replacement of pavement and pavement markings. Right-of-way vegetation
shall be fully restored in kind and managed until such vegetation
has returned to full growth.
C. No more than 40 feet longitudinally shall be open in any Borough
street or combination of Borough street and right-of-way at any one
time.
D. The applicant for a permit shall provide and maintain all necessary
shoring and bracing of openings to protect persons, roadways, utilities,
and adjacent land and buildings from damage resulting from shifting
or subsidence of the adjacent land or other conditions.
E. No tunneling shall be allowed without the express approval of the
Borough Engineer (to be paid for by the permittee) and at least two
Borough officials. Permission for such work shall be specifically
included on the permit.
F. Excavated or other material shall be removed from the site, or placed
or stored on the side of the operation farthest from the pavement
but within the Borough street or right-of-way, and shall not be placed
on private property without the express approval of the property owner,
which must be given to the permit applicant, in writing, and included
as part of the application. Excavated or other material shall also
be stored and managed in such manner that there is no interference
with the flow of water, traffic and/or pedestrians.
G. Where a pipe drain, pipe culvert or other buried structure or facility
has been damaged by the permittee or any contractor or subcontractor
working for the permittee, it shall be replaced, restored, strengthened
or protected by the permittee at the permittee's sole cost and
expense, in a manner satisfactory to the Borough's Public Works Foreman,
a member of his/her department or, if deemed necessary, the Borough's
Engineer (to be paid for by the permittee).
H. No refilling of any excavation or opening shall be undertaken unless
or until written permission is received from the Borough's Public
Works Foreman, a member of his/her department or, if deemed necessary,
the Borough's Engineer (to be paid for by the permittee) and
the Public Works Foreman or his/her designee is present at the time
of backfilling.
I. All openings and excavations shall be backfilled promptly with suitable
materials and thoroughly compacted in layers according to Blawnox
Borough or PennDOT specifications and/or the specific direction of
the Borough's Public Works Foreman, a member of his/her department
or, if deemed necessary, the Borough's Engineer (to be paid for
by the permittee).
No permit shall be issued which would allow any excavation or
opening in a paved and improved street surface, or in the right-of-way
adjacent to the street surface if such activity in the right-of-way
would impair the street surface, of any paved and improved street
surface that is less than five years old, unless the applicant can
demonstrate clearly that:
A. The public health or safety requires the proposed work be permitted;
or
B. Unless an emergency condition exists that requires that the work
be performed.
All restoration work shall be performed to the satisfaction
of the Borough's Public Works Foreman, a member of his/her department
or, if deemed necessary, the Borough's Engineer (to be paid for
by the permittee). Generally, street surfaces shall be milled and
resurfaced full lane widths in instances where street openings are
limited to a single lane. Street openings that result in openings
in both lanes shall generally be restored by full-width milling and
resurfacing. Full-width milling and resurfacing may also be required
on streets with narrow cartways, even when street openings are restricted
to one side of the center of the cartway and in instances where the
applicant's operations have damaged the street surface beyond
the limits of the excavations. The depth of the pavement restoration
shall be as directed by the Borough Engineer, but in no case shall
the depth of the restored pavement be less than that of the existing
pavement. Should the final restoration of any street openings be delayed
due to freezing temperatures, wet weather or lack of availability
of paving materials, all such areas shall be restored temporarily
with bituminous cold patch material not less than two inches in depth.
The applicant shall be required to maintain all temporary paving to
the satisfaction of the Engineer until such time that final restoration
is complete. All pavement openings shall be permanently or temporarily
paved before the street or any portion thereof shall be open to traffic.
The applicant shall be required to submit, along with their
application, video and/or photographic documentation that adequately
demonstrates the preconstruction conditions along the path of the
proposed street opening and all adjacent areas.
Applicants shall be required to submit plans, drawn to scale,
clearly illustrating the proposed location of the street opening(s)
and nature and extent of the work being proposed.
If the work in opening, filling or maintaining or permanently paving and completely restoring the area of any street opening or excavation or right-of-way disturbance shall not be properly done or shall be unskillful or incompletely performed, based upon the evaluation of the Public Works Foreman and, if necessary, the Borough Engineer (to be paid for by the permittee) in their sole discretion, the Borough may, by letter to the permittee, declare the permittee to be in violation of the permit and shall provide an opportunity for the permittee to cure such violation. The violation shall be cured within five calendar days from the permittee's receipt of written notice. If such curative work has not been commenced and fully and satisfactorily completed within such time period, the Borough shall declare the permittee in violation of the permit and shall proceed to contract for such work as is required to fully restore the affected area to its approximate original condition, grade and appearance. In this event, any unreleased portion of the permit fee shall be retained by the Borough and treated as an escrow fund to be used by the Borough to satisfactorily complete such work. Any unused portion of the permit fee shall be returned in accordance with the provisions of §
479-9 hereof.
No new openings under an existing permit shall be made and no
new permit shall be issued to any person, firm, corporation or entity
where either the person, firm, corporation, or entity is in violation
of this article or the Borough has undertaken work to properly complete
the work required under a prior permit.
The Public Works Foreman, any member of his/her department or,
if deemed necessary, the Borough Engineer (to be paid for by the permittee)
shall have the right to observe and inspect all work done pursuant
to the permit. The Public Works Department shall ensure that all provisions
of this article and the terms and conditions of the permit are enforced
and complied with.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania
Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall
be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs
and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement
proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction,
or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine
or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and
committed to the county correctional facility for a period not exceeding
30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this article that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement
under this section, the Borough may enforce this article in equity
in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County.
In the event that any person, corporation or entity commences
excavation or other disturbance in a Borough street or right-of-way
which requires a permit under this article without first obtaining
a permit, and such person does not immediately cease work upon notice
from either the Code Enforcement Officer, the Borough Engineer or
a Borough police officer, restore the affected area to allow traffic
to safely pass over the area (which shall include the placement of
a steel plate), and immediately apply for a permit, the Borough shall
be authorized to impound any equipment which continues to work at
the site after the cessation notice is provided.
[Adopted 11-18-2004 by Ord. No. 542]
For the purpose of this article, the following terms, phrases,
words and abbreviations shall have the meanings ascribed to them below.
Definitions of words defined in the Communications Act shall have
the meaning ascribed to them therein unless otherwise set forth in
this article. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in
the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number
include the singular number and words in the singular number include
the plural number:
AFFILIATE
A person or entity:
A.
With a direct or indirect ownership interest in the subject
entity of 5% or more or which controls such interest, including forms
of ownership such as general, limited liability companies and other
forms of business organizations and entities, but not including corporations;
B.
With a stock interest in the subject entity where the subject
entity is a corporation and such stockholder or its nominee is an
officer or director of the permittee or who directly or indirectly
owns or controls 5% or more of the outstanding stock, whether voting
or nonvoting; or
C.
Which controls permittee and/or is controlled by or is under
common control with such person or entity.
ATTACHMENT
Any wire, optical fiber or other cable, and any related device,
apparatus or auxiliary equipment, for the purpose of voice, video,
or data transmission.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Blawnox, Allegheny County, Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, or its lawful successor, transferee or assignee thereof.
CONDUIT FACILITY
Any structure, or section thereof, containing one or more
ducts, conduits, manholes, handholes or other such facilities in the
permittee's telecommunications system.
COUNCIL
The Borough Council, the elected governing body of the Borough
of Blawnox.
DUCT
A single enclosed raceway for conductors, optical fiber,
wire or other cable.
FACILITY
Including, without limitation, any pipes, conduits, wires,
cables, amplifiers, transformers, fiber optic lines, antennas, poles,
streetlights, ducts, fixtures and appurtenances and other like equipment
used in connection with transmitting, receiving, distributing, offering,
and providing telecommunications, utility and/or other services.
FCC
Federal Communications Commission, or successor governmental
entity thereto.
LICENSEE
Any person, franchised, licensed, permitted or otherwise
lawfully occupying space in the public way.
PERMIT
Any authorization for use of the public way granted in accordance
with the terms of this article and the laws and policies of the Borough.
PERMITTEE
The holder of a valid permit issued pursuant to this article.
PERSON
Any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, association,
limited liability company, corporation or other form of organization
authorized to do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and
includes any natural person.
PUBLIC WAY
The surface of, and the space above and below, any public
street, highway, turnpike, bridge, land path, alley, court, boulevard,
sidewalks, parkway, way, lane, public way, circle, or other public
right-of-way, including public utility easements, dedicated utility
strips, or rights-of-way dedicated for compatible uses and any temporary
or permanent fixtures or improvements located thereon now or hereafter
held by the Borough in the service area which shall entitle the Borough
and the permittee to the use thereof for the purpose of constructing,
leasing, operating and maintaining the telecommunications system.
Public way shall also mean any easement now or hereafter held by the
Borough within the service area for the purpose of public travel and/or
for utility and/or public service use dedicated for compatible uses,
and shall include other easements and/or rights-of-way as shall within
their proper use and meaning entitle the Borough and the permittee
to use thereof for the purposes of constructing, leasing, operating,
or maintaining permittee's telecommunications system over poles,
wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, pedestals, vaults, manholes,
amplifiers, appliances, attachments, and other property as may be
ordinarily necessary and pertinent to the telecommunications system.
The definition of public way is subject to any exceptions contained
in 36 P.S. § 670-411.
SERVICE AREA
The present municipal boundaries of the Borough and shall
include any additions thereto by annexation or other legal means.
SURPLUS DUCTS OR CONDUITS
Conduit facilities other than those occupied by the permittee
or any prior licensee and unoccupied duct(s) held by permittee as
for emergency or spare use.
YEAR, ANNUAL or ANNUALLY
The period consisting of a full calendar year, beginning
January 1 and ending December 31, unless otherwise provided in this
article.