[Adopted 8-3-64 as Ord. No. 132]
[Amended 10-6-75 by Ord. No. 276; 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308; 7-25-11 by Ord. No. 0-07-2011-027; 6-30-2025 by Ord. No. O-6-2025-017]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to make an excavation or to place any form of construction, debris or water in, over or upon any public road, street or right-of-way under the jurisdiction of the Township of Monroe without first obtaining a written permit, approved by the Township Engineer, which shall be issued by the Township Clerk upon payment of an application fee and other required considerations in accordance with Chapter 39 entitled "Fees" of the Code of the Township of Monroe. The Clerk shall promptly submit a copy of the permit to the Township Police Department and the Township Department of Public Works.
B. 
Application for such permit shall be made on forms obtained at from the Office of the Township Engineer.
Permission to make an opening or tear up the surface of a road or street does not carry with it any right to make drainage, sewer, water, gas, oil, steam, electric or telephone connections. A separate permit to make such connections must be obtained from the proper officials having jurisdiction thereof.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: For provisions pertaining to connections to the township sewerage system, see Ch. 92, Sewers; for provisions pertaining to connections to the township water supply system, see Ch. 126, Water Supply System, Public.
[Amended 7-25-11 by Ord. No. 0-07-2011-027]
Unless otherwise approved by the Township Engineer, where an excavation is to extend the full width of the road, only 1/2 of the excavation shall be made at one time, and such half shall be properly backfilled before the other half is excavated. In any event the permittee shall make certain that the road or street is open at all times to emergency vehicles and buses.
Where water or gas installations require services of existing users to be terminated, such utility shall notify such users of the period of time when the services will not be available. Such notice shall be given at least 24 hours prior to the interruption of service.
[Amended 7-25-11 by Ord. No. 0-07-2011-027]
In emergencies, such as broken or frozen water mains or other happenings which would endanger public life, health and safety, street openings may be made without the necessity of a written application as provided for in Section 105-1B hereof, provided that notice of such emergency shall be immediately given verbally to the Township Engineer. Written application for a permit shall nevertheless be made to the Township as soon as may be convenient, but in any event within 48 hours, all in accordance with Section 105-1A hereof.
Before a permit for any excavation below pavement grade will be issued, the permittee must file a certificate of insurance of $100,000 to $300,000 for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage.
[Amended 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308; 10-6-80 by Ord. No. 31; 6-30-2025 by Ord. No. O-6-2025-017]
A. 
No person, firm or corporation shall be granted a permit to open any surface within the right-of-way until such time as an amount sufficient to pay the expenses of repairing and replacing such public road or street or other surfaces or appurtenances within the street area be deposited with the Clerk in cash, certified check or bond. These expenses shall be determined in accordance with Chapter 39 entitled "Fees" of the Code of the Township of Monroe. All work in connection with street openings will be performed by the permittee or his agent.
B. 
Any person, firm or corporation may file a bond in lieu of the deposit in an amount equal to the amount determined by the Township Engineer as sufficient to pay the expenses of repairing and replacing the public road or street or other surfaces or appurtenances within the right-of-way. The said bond shall be submitted to the Township Engineer and approved by the Township Attorney as to form, amount and surety prior to its being filed with the Township Clerk. The said bond shall be conditioned upon replacing any such opening or openings in the manner required herein.
C. 
In the case of extraordinary situations or situations involving unusually large road openings, the Township Engineer may require the person, firm or corporation to complete the restoration of the road opening, and surety may be required in the form of up to 50% certified funds and 50% performance bond.
[Amended 7-25-11 by Ord. No. 0-07-2011-027]
All work required hereunder shall be performed and paid for by the person, firm or corporation obtaining the permit.
A. 
Pavement and shoulder operations.
[Added 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308]
(1) 
Pavement openings are hereby defined as openings within a traveled roadway or between curbs where curbs exist on a street. Pavement openings shall be completed as per the detail provided by the Township Engineer.
(2) 
Shoulder/lawn area openings are herein defined as openings within right-of-way adjacent to the existing pavement not including areas covered by concrete or pavement. Shoulder/lawn area openings shall be backfilled as specified hereinafter:
(a) 
Shoulder (no curb).
[1] 
Contractor shall fill to within eight inches of the existing shoulder surface.
[2] 
The remainder of the trench shall be filled with road stone and tamped or rolled to the equivalent capacity of a five to ten (5-10) ton roller.
(b) 
Lawn area (with curb).
[1] 
Contractor shall fill to within four inches of top of curb elevation.
[2] 
The remainder of the trench shall be filled with topsoil. Fertilizer and seed/sod shall be applied to surface.
B. 
Sidewalk and curb operations.
(1) 
Sidewalk/apron replacement/installation is hereby defined as the construction, reconstruction or resetting of concrete sidewalk and/or concrete apron within the right-of-way. Sidewalk/apron replacement/ installation shall be completed as per the detail provided by the Township Engineer.
(2) 
Curb replacement/installation is hereby defined as the construction, reconstruction and resetting of curb within the right-of-way. Curb replacement/ installation shall be complete as per the detail provided by the Township Engineer.
C. 
Whenever any person, firm, corporation or public utility opens any municipal road, street, highway or shoulder thereof for any reason, and the type of existing pavement or the lack thereof, the number, size or location of proposed trenches, together with the construction activity, would adversely affect the rideability or structural integrity of the existing pavement, the Township Engineer may require an overlay of two inches of bituminous concrete surface as per the detail provided by the Township Engineer over the entire existing pavement of roadway area.
[Added 10-6-80 by Ord. No. 30; amended 9-5-90 by Ord. No. 0-9-90-034]
D. 
The Township, at its discretion, may require said pavement overlay to be coordinated with other proposed Township construction on said roadways to the extent that structures, subgrade and other appurtenances may be required to conform to future roadway grades, and the cost of the required overlay may be requested for the applicant for inclusion in the overall project.
[Added 10-6-80 by Ord. No. 31]
[Amended 10-6-75 by Ord. No. 276; 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308; 7-25-11 by Ord. No. 0-07-2011-027]
Said cash security deposit, certified check or bond will not be released until the restoration is completed and approved by the Township Engineer. Request for said release shall be submitted in writing to the Township Engineer.
[Amended 7-25-11 by Ord. No. 0-07-2011-027]
A. 
Unless otherwise directed by the Township Engineer, the following specifications shall govern the backfill to be placed in excavated trenches:
(1) 
All road, shoulder and driveway openings shall be backfilled with a bank-run gravel or an approved equivalent and tamped in six-inch layers with a mechanical tamper.
[Amended 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308]
(2) 
All other openings shall be backfilled with the excavated material, tamped in twelve-inch layers with a mechanical tamper.
B. 
All material not suitable for backfill and all excess backfill material shall be removed from the site by the person, firm or corporation responsible for the opening.
C. 
The contractor shall notify the Township Engineer at least 24 hours prior to beginning backfilling operations.
[Added 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308]
[Added 4-3-89 by Ord. No. 4-89-18]
A. 
Responsibility for construction and maintenance. On all streets lying within the Township, sidewalks shall be laid and maintained in a good and safe condition by the owner or owners of the land thereby affected in the manner provided by this article.
B. 
Construction or repair by Township. If the owner of land affected by this article shall neglect for a period of 30 days to make the improvements or necessary repairs to sidewalks as required by this article, the Township Council may, in its discretion, cause such improvement to be made under the direction and supervision of the Department of Public Works. In the alternative, the Township Council may award one or more contracts for the making of such improvements or repairs.
C. 
Notice to property owners.
(1) 
Before proceeding to make any such improvements or repairs as set forth in Subsection B of this section, or prior to awarding any contract or contracts for the making thereof, the Township Council shall cause notice of such contemplated improvement to be given to the owner or owners of any lands thereby affected; such notice shall contain a description of the property affected, sufficiently definite in terms to identify the same, as well as a description of the required improvement and a notice that, unless the required improvements shall be completed by the owner within 30 days, the Township shall make such improvement or cause the same to be done pursuant to this article.
(2) 
Method of notice. Notice may be served in person upon an owner residing within the Township. Notice may also be given by certified mail to the owner's last known post office address, or it may be served upon the agent of the owner in charge thereof. In the event that the owner of any such property is unknown or service cannot for any reason be made as above directed, notice thereof shall be published at least once, at least 30 days before the Township shall cause any improvement to be made, in a newspaper circulating within the County of Middlesex. The Township may insert notice to the owner or owners of several different parcels in the same advertisement. Proof of service of such notices shall be filed within 10 days thereafter with the Township officer having charge of the record of tax liens, but failure to file proof of service shall not invalidate the proceeding in the event that service had actually been made as herein provided.
D. 
Lien for costs of construction.
(1) 
Whenever the Township shall cause an improvement to be made pursuant to this article, it shall maintain a true and accurate account of the costs and expenses thereof. This account shall apportion the costs and expenses among the several properties improved in proportion to their respective frontages. The officer in charge of such improvements shall then file a true statement of such costs under oath or affirmation with the Township Clerk. The Township Council shall examine this statement and, upon accepting it, shall direct that it be filed with the Township Tax Collector and the Township Treasurer. The Tax Collector and Treasurer shall record the assessments imposed pursuant to this article in the same book as other assessments.
(2) 
Every assessment imposed pursuant to this article shall bear the same interest and penalties as would an assessment for local improvements. Each lien imposed pursuant to this article shall date from the time of its acceptance by the Township Council and shall be a first and paramount lien upon the land assessed and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner as an assessment for local improvements imposed under this article and as established by law. Every officer charged with the enforcement and collection of an assessment for local improvements is hereby charged with the same duties in regard to the collection and enforcement of sidewalk assessments. No such assessment shall be invalid by reason of any error or omission in stating the name of the owner or owners of any such parcel, nor for any other informality where such parcel has actually been improved.
(3) 
The Township Council may provide for the payment of a lien imposed pursuant to this section in installments, in the same manner as with an assessment for local improvements.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 105-12, Maintenance and repair, amended 5-7-73 by Ord. No. 231, was repealed 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308.
If, in the opinion of the Township Engineer, conditions are such as to require sheathing, the permittee will install such sheathing as may be required upon order of the Township Engineer.
[Amended 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308]
A. 
It shall be the responsibility of the person, firm or corporation opening any thoroughfare or otherwise endangering or obstructing the normal flow of traffic to fully protect both vehicular and pedestrian traffic from possible accidents or injury by the placing of suitable barriers, crosswalks, notices, warnings and/or caution signs by day and flares or flashing lights at night, in accordance with the provisions of Title 39, Revised Statutes of New Jersey. The Chief of Police will determine the adequacy of such protection. The permittee shall notify all utilities franchised in the work operation area and shall further render proof of said notice to the Township Clerk.
B. 
All barriers and channelizing devices employed by any person, firm or corporation pursuant to this section shall comply with and shall be limited to those devices as set forth in Paragraphs 6C-1 through 6C-12, inclusive, of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as published by the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
[Added 10-5-81 by Ord. No. 26-81]
If necessary and desirable in the opinion of the Township Engineer, the permittee shall submit plans and specifications, in duplicate, which plans shall indicate the extent of the proposed work within the Township.
Upon application therefor the Township Council may extend the time during which any permit shall be valid, for such period as the Township Council shall deem advisable. In the event that the work required to be done by a permittee shall not be completed within the time stated on any permit or any extension thereof, the Township may complete the work required to be done by the permittee and restore the surface of the road affected. The permittee shall, upon demand, pay to the Township any excess of the cost to the Township over and above the security deposit, certified check or bond furnished by the permittee. Such amount may be recovered by the Township in a court of competent jurisdiction.
A. 
Any person, firm or corporation which is a private public utility subject to regulation by the Board of Public Utility Commissioners of the State of New Jersey and which desires to obtain permits under the provisions of this article may, in lieu of the provisions hereof requiring deposits under § 105-7, make a bond, which may be the bond of such public utility solely, in the penal sum of $10,000 running in favor of the Township, and file same with the Township Clerk. Such bond will be conditioned upon compliance with the applicable provisions of this article in respect to each street opening which shall be hereafter made by such public utility in the Township, and obligations of such bond shall be a continuing obligation to the full amount thereof in respect to each such street opening.
B. 
In lieu of the filing of the certificate of insurance for bodily injury and property damage in the amounts as set forth in § 105-6, the public utility may file with the Township Clerk, at the same time that the bond herein provided for is filed, a letter certifying that it is a self-insurer and exempt from the necessity of obtaining an insurance policy pursuant to the provisions of the State of New Jersey.
C. 
The Township may require the utility permittee to perform the required restoration activity ordinarily performed by the Township as set forth in § 105-8 above based upon the scope and magnitude of the project involved. Said restoration shall be conducted under the supervision of the Township Road Supervisor to standards as established by the Township Engineer. In such case, the restoration fees as set forth in § 105-7 may be waived.
[Added 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308]
A. 
Each permittee shall, as a condition of accepting any permit issued hereunder, save, hold and keep harmless and indemnify the Township, its officers, agents, servants and employees from and against any loss, damage, claim, demand or expense arising out of a suit or claim for damage or injury alleged to have been sustained as a result of any work done under such permit.
B. 
If, through the operations of the permittee, damage results to the subsurface, utilities, storm drainage lines or appurtenances, along with resultant damage caused by settlement of surface improvements, the permittee shall be obligated to rectify the resulting damage and post appropriate additional bonding or security as determined by the Township Engineer.
[Added 1-3-77 by Ord. No. 308]
[Added 10-6-80 by Ord. No. 31]
Any person, firm or corporation may appeal to the Township Council any decision of the Township Engineer or other Township official or enforcement officer within 10 days thereof. Said Council is hereby authorized and empowered in such cases to hear and fully decide and dispose of such matter. The Township Council shall hold a public hearing thereon and act upon the same no later than 30 days after the date of appeal, unless the Township Council and the applicant consent to extend the time for such action.
[Amended 10-6-75 by Ord. No. 276]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment in the Middlesex County Jail not exceeding 90 days, or both. Each and every day in which any violation exists shall be a separate violation.