[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of North Attleborough as Art.
IX, Secs. 1 to 11, of the Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
No person, corporation, or Town department shall make any excavation
within the limits of any public way in the Town without first securing
a permit issued by the Board of Public Works, hereinafter called the
"BPW." Such permit shall be issued only upon written application stating
the location and extent of the proposed excavation and shall be exercised
only in accordance with any conditions imposed thereon.
B.
It shall be a condition of each permit thus issued that the surface
of the highway shall be restored to an acceptable condition by the
BPW or its authorized agent at the expense of the person, corporation,
or Town department to whom the permit is issued. Also, the permittee
shall protect the Town against the claims of all persons who may be
injured in their person or property by reason of such excavation by
filing a bond with the Town in such amount as BPW may determine or
a certificate indicating that the permittee has insurance coverage
for such contingencies. The BPW may fix the time within which such
permit shall remain in force and may prescribe what precautions shall
be taken to guard the public against injury. The Board of Public Works
may also require a bond to guarantee the faithful and satisfactory
performance of the work authorized by such permit.
[Amended 8-29-2023 by
Measure No. 2023-079]
C.
No person having authority to dig up or obstruct any street shall
do so in a manner which does not leave reasonable access for persons
and vehicles to property abutting on such street, or which does not
leave a reasonable passage through the street for fire apparatus.
D.
Any person, corporation, or Town department, before making any such
excavation, shall notify the head of the BPW and heads of all other
Town departments having wires, pipes, drains, or conduits under their
control in or on the way to be excavated, of the proposed excavation.
Twenty-four hours' notice of any excavation or obstruction to be made
in the public way shall be given by the permittee to the Chiefs of
the Fire and Police Departments.
[Amended 8-29-2023 by
Measure No. 2023-079]
The BPW may grant a written license to any person to occupy
or obstruct a public sidewalk for a limited time for the more convenient
erection, alteration, or repair of a building, and it may require
the person to whom such license is given to furnish a satisfactory
bond to the Town to hold it harmless from all claims for loss or damage
arising from such occupancy or obstruction. Whenever any sidewalk
becomes obstructed under such license, the person doing the work or
causing the same to be done shall place a good and convenient temporary
walk around such obstruction when ordered to do so by the BPW.
No person shall allow a gate or door of any building or fence
hereafter constructed or remodeled to swing on, over or into any public
street or public sidewalk in the Town.
A.
No person shall permit water from eaves or leader pipes of any building
owned or cared for by him to be discharged upon any sidewalk or public
way in the Town. Between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., and
at any time of day or night during freezing temperature, no persons
shall wash any window or wall of a building in such manner as to cause
the discharge of water upon any public sidewalk or walk devoted to
public use.
B.
No person, as owner or one in control of the premises, shall pump,
drain, or otherwise discharge water upon any sidewalk, public way
or way open to the public use without written approval of the Board
of Public Works, which may deny the request if the activity may obstruct
or impede travel or cause injury to person.
[Amended 8-29-2023 by
Measure No. 2023-079]
Every owner, tenant, or agent of any building shall remove snow,
ice or any other material that endangers the safety of pedestrians
from the roof of the building of which he is owner, tenant, or agent,
so that the same shall not fall and injure pedestrians on a Town way.
No person shall place or maintain over any sidewalk any awning,
shade, shade frame, canopy, sign, or other signboard without a permit
from the Building Inspector. He may require any person to whom such
permit is given to furnish a satisfactory bond to the Town to hold
it harmless from all claims for damages arising from such overhanging
device.
[Amended 8-29-2023 by
Measure No. 2023-079]
The Police Department, at the request of the Director of Public
Works, is authorized to remove or cause to be removed any vehicle
interfering with the removal or plowing of snow from any public way.
The cost of such removal and storage charges, if any, will be imposed
upon the owner of such vehicle, who shall be notified immediately
of such removal.
No person shall operate a sound truck or other vehicle using
sound or public address device on the Town ways without first securing
a permit from the Licensing Board.
No vehicle shall travel, or object be moved on any public way,
which has any device attached to or made part of its wheels or rollers,
or other supports on which it rests, which will injure the surface
of the way, unless otherwise allowed by law.
[Amended 8-29-2023 by
Measure No. 2023-079]
Whenever, in order to move a building or for any other necessary
purpose, a person desires that wires of any such company be cut, disconnected
or removed, the company shall forthwith cut, disconnect or remove
the same if the person desiring this to be done has first left a written
statement, signed by him, of the time when and the place, described
by reference to the crossings of streets or highways where he wishes
to remove said wires, at the office of the company in the Town where
such place is situated, 14 days before the time so stated or, if there
is no such office, if he has deposited such statement in the post
office, postage prepaid, and directed to the company at its office
nearest to said place 21 days before the time mentioned in said statement.
Persons, other than the Town or the commonwealth, desiring the removal
of such wires shall reimburse the company or municipality having control
of said wires for all costs incurred during their temporary removal
and replacement. If the company neglects or refuses to cut, disconnect,
or remove wires as hereinbefore provided, the Inspector of Electrical
Wiring or the Town Manager may cause the same to be cut, disconnected,
or removed and the Town may recover of the company in contract the
expense of so doing. Reimbursement shall also be made to the Town
for costs incurred during the temporary removal of signs, lights,
traffic signals, trees, or other services required to move a building
or for any other purpose. A person desiring the removal of such obstructions
as are under the control of the Town shall have a written statement,
signed by him, of the time when and the place, described by reference
to the crossings of streets or highways, where he wishes to remove
such obstructions at the office of the Town Clerk 14 days before the
time so stated; provided, however, that no such removal shall be made
without the prior approval of an authorized representative of the
appropriate department of the Town.
The Board of Public Works may grade and patch but shall not
install drainage on private ways, provided that the Director of Public
Works determines, and the Town Manager concurs, such repairs are required
by public necessity, and provided more than one-half of the abutters
along said private way, based on lots of frontage, request such repairs
and such private ways have been opened to use for over five years.
No betterments will be assessed. The Town shall not be liable for
any such repair work done on private ways.
