[Ord. No. 501 § 1]
This chapter shall be known as the Maurice River Township Street Opening and Excavation chapter.
[Ord. No. 501 § 2]
The terms set forth below shall have the meanings ascribed thereto for purposes of this chapter:
a.
EMERGENCY — Shall mean any unforeseen circumstances or occurrence, the existence of which constitutes a clear and immediate danger to persons or properties.
b.
STREET, ROAD or AVENUE — Shall mean a public street, road, avenue, lane, drive, public easement, public right-of-way, public alley or public way accepted or maintained by the Township and any State or County road over which the Township may have acquired jurisdiction by agreement.
c.
SUPERVISOR OF ROADS — Shall mean the individual duly appointed by the Township in such title or other individual so designated by the Township.
d.
TOWNSHIP — Shall mean the Township of Maurice River, County of Cumberland and State of New Jersey.
e.
UNDERGROUND FACILITY PROTECTION ACT — Shall mean N.J.S.A. 48:2-73 et seq., as amended and supplemented thereto and all regulations promulgated thereunder.
[Ord. No. 501 § 3]
No person, firm, corporation or public utility shall hereafter tear up, open or excavate any street, road or avenue in the Township, owned, maintained or controlled by the Township as a part of its road system, for any purpose whatsoever, without first making application for and receiving a permit therefor signed in the name of the Township by the Township Clerk. No permit shall be granted hereunder until an applicant has complied with the provisions of the Underground Facility Protection Act.
[Ord. No. 501 § 4]
The permit, when issued, shall be required to be signed by the real party in interest applying therefor, or his or its agent, and said permit shall constitute a valid contract between the real party in interest and the Township.
[Ord. No. 501 § 5]
The application for the permit and the permit itself shall constitute one (1) instrument, but the permit shall in no case be effective until signed in the name of the Township by the Township Clerk.
[Ord. No. 501 § 6]
At the time application is made for said permit, the applicant shall:
a.
Submit a written application for such permit to the Township on such forms as the Township shall prescribe, including the name and address of the applicant, the nature, location and purpose of excavation, (including a reasonable sketch showing the location of the opening to be made and the size of said opening), whether the excavation is new construction or repairs, the date of commencement and date of completion of the excavation and such other data as may be reasonably required. All information as required by the Underground Facility Protection Act shall be required before a permit may be issued.
b.
Submit such application in triplicate and present same to the Township Clerk, together with all fees and certificates required by this chapter.
c.
Furnish a certificate of insurance as required herein.
d.
Keep the original copy of the permit. The permit must be in the possession of the party or parties actually doing the work and must be exhibited to the Supervisor of Roads or duly authorized inspectors or, in the instances of County or State highways, to the respective inspectors of those organizations.
e.
The application shall be signed by the Township Clerk and one (1) copy retained in the file, one (1) copy returned to the applicant and the third copy shall be forwarded to the Supervisor of Roads.
[Ord. No. 501 § 7]
The following fees shall apply to applications made pursuant to this chapter:
a.
Permit Fee. The applicant shall pay a permit processing fee of ten ($10.00) dollars for each and every opening and ten ($10.00) dollars for each and every renewal of said permit.
b.
Inspection Fee. The applicant shall pay an inspection fee of twenty-five ($25.00) dollars for each and every opening to cover the cost of inspecting the work authorized by the permit.
c.
Maintenance Fee. The applicant shall pay a maintenance fee of fifty ($50.00) dollars per square yard to cover the estimated cost of maintenance for one (1) year following completion of the work.
[Ord. No. 501 § 8]
By making application hereunder, the applicant agrees to save the Township, its officers, employees and agents harmless from any and all costs, damages and liabilities which may accrue or be claimed to accrue by reason of any work performed under said permit. The acceptance of any permit under this chapter shall constitute such an agreement by the applicant whether the same is expressed or not.
[Ord. No. 501 § 9]
Each applicant shall provide the Township with an acceptable certificate of insurance indicating that he is insured against claims for damages for personal damage which may arise from or out of the performance of the work, whether such performance be by the applicant, the applicant's subcontractor or anyone directly or indirectly employed by the applicant. Such insurance shall also cover collapse, explosive hazards and underground work by equipment on the street and shall include protection against liability arising from completed operations. The liability insurance for bodily injury in effect shall not be in an amount less than one hundred thousand ($100,000.00) dollars for each person and three hundred thousand ($300,000.00) dollars for each accident, and for property damages an amount not less than fifty thousand ($50,000.00) dollars with an aggregate of one hundred thousand ($100,000.00) dollars for all accidents. Self-insurers may be relieved of the obligation of submitting certificates if they are self-insured in accordance with the requirements of State law and submit certificates thereof acceptable to the Township Attorney. In the case of a public utility or authority, a self-insurer certificate issued by the Security Responsibility Bureau of the Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Law and Public Safety for the State of New Jersey shall be accepted in lieu thereof.
[Ord. No. 501 § 10]
The road, when opened pursuant to said application and permit, shall, upon completion of the work, be immediately refilled with gravel and at least two (2) inches of bituminous patch shall be applied when street or road is improved. This first refilling shall be considered temporary. Final fill must be made with materials specified by the Supervisor of Roads, and in all cases the opening shall be replaced in as nearly as possible the same condition as it was at the time of the opening, including all filling, replacing of shoulders of the road where removed and rolling and tamping to conform to the grade and the balance of said road, and, insofar as concrete pavement is removed, shall be replaced finally with reinforcement of the same materials and in the same manner as the road was originally built. All construction or paving debris is likewise to be removed from the site to the satisfaction of the Supervisor of Roads.
[Ord. No. 501 § 11]
The applicant shall notify the Supervisor of Roads immediately upon the completion of the job. The excavation and the work required to be done shall be inspected by the Supervisor of Roads. In the event the Supervisor of Roads does not approve the replacement, the applicant shall be notified orally or in writing and shall be given a reasonable time to correct the deficiency, and upon the failure to correct said deficiency, the Supervisor of Roads shall report the same to the Township Committee, and thereupon the Township shall cause the road to be properly repaired and the applicant shall be held liable therefor.
[Ord. No. 501 § 12]
In case of emergency, any person may make an excavation in or tear up the surface of any road without first having obtained from the Township Clerk a permit therefor, in which case the person must make application for such a permit within two (2) working days after the occurrence of such emergency; provided, nevertheless, that said person shall first advise by telephone the office of the Township Clerk of the nature of the emergency.
[Ord. No. 501 § 13]
The applicant shall properly guard the excavation by the erection of suitable barricades and also by displaying warning lights at night. The applicant shall in all cases provide reasonable safeguards by day and night to protect the traveling public. The applicant shall at all times maintain proper and sufficient drainage to prevent the accumulation of water upon the road to ensure an adequate and safe passage for the traveling public.
[Ord. No. 501 § 14]
If the excavation is to extend the full width of the road, no more than one-half (1/2) of the road shall be opened at one time, and such half shall be backfilled before the other half is opened, so as to permit the free flow of traffic.
[Ord. No. 501 § 15]
All permits issued under this chapter shall expire and become void ninety (90) days from the date of issue unless renewed in writing by the Township Clerk upon request of the applicant prior to said permit's expiration, but the Township shall not lose any of the rights of action, if any it has against the applicant by reason of granting such renewal.
[Ord. No. 501 § 16]
Any person, entity or corporation who or which violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by one or more of the following: imprisonment in the County jail for a term up to but not exceeding ninety (90) days or by a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty ($250.00) dollars and not more than one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars or by a period of community service up to but not exceeding ninety (90) days, or any combination of the above. Each day that a violation exists, occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense for the purpose of imposing the penalties referred to above.
[Ord. No. 650-2016]
No permit shall be issued for any street opening which would disturb the pavement of any road having been constructed, reconstructed or overlaid until a period of five (5) years after the completion of said construction, reconstruction or overlay, except in the event of an emergency or hardship as described below. The five-year period as articulated herein shall be calculated from December 31 of the year in which the road was constructed, reconstructed or overlaid and run for five years.
a.
Emergency Opening. In the event that an entity shall be required to open a street and/or roadway as a result of an emergency, said emergency opening shall be reviewed by the Township Construction Official and Township Engineer and if the said Township Construction Official and Township Engineer shall determine that no such emergency existed, then the entity so opening the street and/or roadway shall have a fine imposed upon such entity in the amount established in Section 6-16.
b.
Hardship Condition. In the event in which a property owner has a hardship condition which requires a street opening permit to be issued contrary to Section 6-3, the Township of Maurice River may grant relief if all of the following conditions are met:
1.
A letter addressed to the Township, care of the Township Clerk, is received detailing the hardship and necessity of opening the street in lieu of waiting the prescribed period of time.
2.
Upon receipt of the letter, a public meeting date will be set for the Township to take formal action.
3.
The property owner making the request shall serve notice to all property owners within two hundred (200) feet, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal hand delivery, a minimum of ten (10) days prior to the public meeting.
4.
The property owner shall file a copy of the notice served to the adjoining property owners with an affidavit of proof of delivery of notice with the Township Clerk at least three (3) days prior to the public meeting. The notice must:
(a)
Identify the property by street address and block and lot;
(b)
State the reason for the hardship;
(c)
State the type and size of the street opening;
(d)
Advise the adjoining property owners that, if they have any objections, they must advise the Township Clerk, in writing, as to their objections to the proposed street opening at least three (3) days in advance of the public meeting;
(e)
State date and time of public meeting;
(f)
Be approved by the Township Clerk prior to mailing;
5.
The Township shall consider the request at a public meeting and review all objections received, in writing. Approval or denial of the request shall be formal adoption of a resolution.
c.
Roadway Restoration.
1.
In the event that an emergency or hardship requires the opening of a roadway that has been constructed, reconstructed or overlaid by the Township during the previous five (5) years, a full width reconstruction will be required. The restoration will consist of a six-inch dense graded aggregate base course and a six-inch HMA 19M64 bituminous base course brought to existing grade, within the excavated area. A full width, curb to curb, milling two (2) inches in depth to extend twenty (20) feet beyond the limit of excavations will be performed after proper settlement in the trench area. The allowable time for the settlement shall be ninety (90) days unless otherwise directed by the Township Engineer. The final surface course shall be a two-inch HMA 9.5M64 bituminous surface course.
2.
Trench restoration may be permitted under special circumstances, and at the option of the Township of Maurice River and the Township Engineer, for openings having a minimum impact on the longevity and serviceability of the street in question.
3.
The Township Engineer may allow, at his or her discretion, other means of restoration which in said Engineer's opinion are deemed to have a minimal impact on the serviceability and longevity of the street in question.