[HISTORY: Adopted 8-5-1997 by Ord. No.
0:97-2 (Ch. 85 of the 1990 Code).]
This chapter shall be known as and may be cited
as the "Harmony Township Street Excavation Ordinance."
No person, firm or corporation shall disturb
the surface of or make any opening, cut or excavation of any kind
in any road, street, alley, highway, sidewalk or any other public
way under the jurisdiction of the Township of Harmony for any purpose
without first having obtained a permit for the same as hereinafter
provided.
In the event of emergency where repairs must
be made immediately, then, and in that event only, the excavation
may be made for the purpose of alleviating the emergency. As soon
as the leak or interruption in service has been repaired, the person,
persons or corporation having made the excavation shall forthwith
apply for a permit and comply with all other applicable provisions
of this chapter.
Street excavation or street opening permits
shall be obtained in the following manner:
A.
Application in
writing shall be made to the Municipal Clerk and signed by the person,
firm or corporation making the proposed street opening or excavation,
setting forth the location of the proposed opening or excavation,
the size thereof and the purpose therefor. The application shall then
be forwarded to the Township Engineer for his review and approval.
The Township Engineer shall endorse his approval upon the face of
the application and shall then return the application to the Municipal
Clerk, who shall then issue the permit.
B.
Before the permit
shall be issued by the Municipal Clerk, the person, firm or corporation
making the- application shall have on file with the Township Clerk
a surety bond issued by a surety company authorized to do business
in this state, in the amount of $1,000, covering the opening or excavation
set forth in the application and any and all future openings and excavations
to be made in a calendar year. Said bond shall be conditioned upon
the permittee's compliance with this chapter and to indemnify the
Township for any loss, liability or damage that may result or accrue
from or because of the making, existence or manner of constructing
or guarding any such opening or excavation, during the term of said
bond.
C.
The person, firm
or corporation making and signing the application shall comply with
all the provisions of this chapter as hereinafter set forth.
D.
The fee for such
permit shall be $50 per opening. Such fee shall be due and payable
at the time the application is made to the Municipal Clerk. In addition
to the foregoing, the applicant will be responsible for reasonable
engineering and inspection fees, the fees set forth in the following
schedule:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
The Municipal Clerk shall provide each permittee,
at the time a permit is issued hereunder, a suitable placard upon
which is written the following notice: "Township of Harmony, N.J.
Permit No. _______________, Expires:____________." It shall be the
duty of any permittee to keep the placard posted in a conspicuous
place at the site of the excavation work. It shall be unlawful for
any person to exhibit such placard at or about any excavation not
covered by such permit or to misrepresent the number of the permit
or the date of expiration of the permit.
It shall be unlawful to make any opening or
excavation in any way contrary to or at variance with the terms of
the permit therefor. Proper bracing shall be maintained to prevent
the collapse of adjoining ground, and the excavation shall not have
anywhere below the surface any portion which extends beyond the opening
at the surface.
No injury shall be done to any pipes, cables
or conduits in the making of such excavations or openings, and notice
shall be given to the persons maintaining any such pipes, cables or
conduits, which are or may be endangered or affected by the making
of any such excavations or openings, before such pipes, cables or
conduits shall be disturbed.
A.
The area of pavement
to be removed from the proposed opening or excavation shall have straight
clean-cut edges, and the material removed from the excavation shall
be removed from the site and disposed of in a manner directed by the
Township Engineer.
B.
Upon completion
of the proposed work in the excavated area, the trench shall be backfilled
with broken stone or stone dust. The backfilling shall be made in
layers not to exceed six inches in depth and be thoroughly compacted,
and shall be carried to within six inches of the surface of the existing
bituminous pavement.
C.
Upon completion
of the compacted backfilling of the trench to the required elevation,
the backfilled area shall be paved with four inches compacted thickness
of bituminous stabilized base course and two inches' compacted thickness
of FABC-1 bituminous surface course.
D.
In areas where
concrete pavement is removed for the proposed excavation, the compacted
backfill shall be completed as above to the subgrade of the existing
pavement and repaved with an equal thickness of concrete pavement.
E.
All of the backfilling
and repairing of the excavated area shall be done in a neat and workmanlike
manner so that the restored pavement meets the existing surrounding
pavement as smoothly as possible. All the cost of backfilling and
repairing shall be borne by the permittee.
F.
All repairing
shall be completed within three days of the date that backfilling
is completed.
No part of a trench or excavation shall be tunnelled
or undermined, except in such cases as may be approved by the Township
Engineer.
If the permittee falls to complete the excavation
work covered by the permit, including backfilling as set forth in
this chapter within the time set by said permit, the Township Engineer,
if he deems it advisable, shall have the right to do all work and
things necessary to complete the excavation work. The permittee shall
be liable for the actual cost thereof and 25% of such cost, in addition
to general overhead and administrative expenses.
Whenever the Mayor and Township Committee enacts
any ordinance or resolution providing for the paving or repaving of
any street, the Municipal Clerk shall promptly mail a written notice
thereof to each person, firm or corporation owning any sewer main,
conduit or other utility in or under said street. Such notice shall
notify such persons, firms or corporations that no excavation permits
shall be issued for openings, cuts or excavations in said street for
a period of five years after the date of enactment of said ordinance
or resolution. Such notice shall also notify such person, firm or
corporation that application for excavating permits for work to be
done prior to such paving or repaving shall be submitted promptly
in order that the work covered by the excavation permit shall be completed
as soon as practicable, and in no event later than the date specified
in the permit for the excavation work therefor. During the five-year
period, no excavation permit shall be issued to open, cut or excavate
in said street unless, in the judgment of the Township Engineer, an
emergency as described in this chapter exists which makes it absolutely
essential that the excavation permit be issued.
Each permittee shall conduct and carry out the
excavation in such a manner as to avoid unnecessary inconvenience
and annoyance to the general public and occupants of neighboring property.
The permittee shall take appropriate measures to reduce, to the fullest
extent practicable in the performance of the excavation work, noise,
dust and unsightly debris and shall promptly remove from the street
all excess of excavated materials.
All persons, firms or corporations granted a
permit to make an opening or excavation in the public streets and
highways of the Township shall, at all times, maintain suitable barricades
and guards, display proper warning and signals and flags and provide
all necessary watchmen to prevent injury to any person or damage to
any vehicle by reason of the work. Such barricades shall be protected
by sufficient lights at nighttime. Streets and highways must be kept
open for traffic at all times, except when otherwise ordered or approved
by the Township Engineer.
No street or highway shall remain open because of any permit issued pursuant to this chapter for a period in excess of two weeks, unless the Township Engineer shall approve a greater period of time, either at the time of the application for the permit or subsequent thereto. If the Township Engineer shall approve such a period of time at the time the application is submitted, it shall be so endorsed upon the application, and if approved subsequently, such approval shall be in writing and an endorsement to that effect attached to the placard required in § 410-11. In any event, no such approval shall be granted except on written application, signed by the permittee or applicant, setting forth the reasons for such application.
Users of subsurface street space shall file
accurate drawings, plans and profiles showing the location and character
of all existing underground structures and installations with the
Township Engineer within two years after enactment of this chapter.
Corrected maps shall be filed with the Township Engineer within 60
days after new installations, changes or replacements are made.
A permittee, prior to commencement of excavation
work hereunder, shall furnish the Municipal Clerk satisfactory evidence
in writing that the permittee has in force and will maintain in force
during the performance of the excavation work and the period of the
excavation permit public liability insurance of not less than $100,000
for any one person and $300,000 for any one accident and property
damage insurance of not less than $25,000, duly issued by an insurance
company authorized to do business in this state.
The Township Engineer shall verify the extent
of the excavation or opening and shall inspect the work. No bond or
deposit money, as the case may be, shall be released until 18 months
after the completion of the project and receipt of written certification
from the Township Engineer stating that the work has remained in a
satisfactory condition for the said 18 months.
[Amended 12-29-1997 by Ord. No. 0:97-9]
Public utility corporations of the State of
New Jersey may file a corporate bond on a yearly basis in an amount
of $5,000, in lieu of cash bonds. Nonpublic utility permittees shall
post either a performance guaranty or cash bond in the amount of $5,000.
Should the Township Engineer determine that the amount of either the
corporate bond or performance guaranty deposited by the nonpublic
permittee is insufficient to defray restoration costs, the public
utility corporation or nonpublic utility permittee shall post a performance
guaranty, with the Harmony Township Municipal Clerk in such an amount
as is determined by the Township Engineer.
This chapter shall not be construed as imposing
upon the Township or any official or employee any liability or responsibility
for damages to any person injured by the performance of any excavation
work for which an excavation permit is issued hereunder; nor shall
the Township or any official or employee thereof be deemed to have
assumed any such liability or responsibility by reason of inspections
authorized hereunder, the issuance of any permit or the approval of
any excavation work.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person, firm or corporation who or which shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to the penalty provisions in Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty, of the Code of the Township of Harmony. Each day that a violation thereof is allowed to continue shall be considered a new and separate offense.
