(a) 
The purpose of this article is to:
(1) 
Assist in the management of facilities placed in, on or over the public rights-of-way in order to minimize the congestion, inconvenience, visual impact and other adverse effects, and the costs to the citizens resulting from the placement of facilities within the public rights-of-way;
(2) 
Govern the use and occupancy of the public rights-of-way;
(3) 
Assist the city in its efforts to protect the public health, safety and welfare;
(4) 
Conserve the limited physical capacity of the public rights-of-way held in public trust by the city;
(5) 
Preserve the physical integrity of the streets and highways;
(6) 
Control the orderly flow of vehicles and pedestrians;
(7) 
Keep track of the different entities using the public rights-of-way to prevent interference between them;
(8) 
Assist in scheduling common trenching and street cuts; and
(9) 
Protect the safety, security, appearance and condition of the public rights-of-way.
(b) 
This article may be referred to as the "management of the public rights-of-way ordinance."
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 1, 5-9-2000]
This article applies to all providers that place facilities in, on, under or over public rights-of-way.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 2, 5-9-2000]
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Certificated telecommunications provider
means the same as in V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 283.002(2) (any entity that has been granted a certificate from the Texas Public Utility Commission under V.T.C.A., Utilities Code ch. 54 authorizing that entity to provide local exchange telephone service).
City
means the city of Richland Hills, Texas. As used throughout, the term "city" also includes the designated agent of the city.
City manager
means the city manager of the city or the city manager's designee.
Direction of the city
means all ordinances, laws, rules and regulations of the city that are not inconsistent with this article and that are now in force or may hereafter be passed and adopted.
Facilities
means any and all of the wires, cables, fibers, duct spaces, manholes, poles, conduits, underground and overhead passageways and other equipment, structures, plants and appurtenances and all associated physical equipment placed in, on, over or under the public rights-of-way.
Person
means a natural person (an individual), corporation, company, association, partnership, firm, limited liability company, joint venture, joint stock company or association, and any other such entity.
Provider
means a certificated telecommunications provider and any other person which now has facilities or which seeks to place facilities in, on, over or under the public rights-of-way.
Public rights-of-way
means the same as in V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 283.002(6), (the area on, below or above a public roadway, highway, street, public sidewalk, alley, waterway or utility easement in which the municipality has an interest. The term does not include the airwaves above a public right-of-way with regard to wireless telecommunications).
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 3, 5-9-2000]
(a) 
Any provider seeking to place facilities on, in, under or over the public rights-of-way shall first file an application for a construction permit with and obtain such permit from the city and shall abide by the terms and provisions of this article pertaining to use of the public rights-of-way.
(b) 
Any provider, except a certificated telecommunications provider, prior to placing, reconstructing, or altering facilities in, on, under or over the public rights-of-way, must obtain separate municipal authorization from the city.
(c) 
Any provider with a current, unexpired consent, franchise, agreement or other authorization from the city (grant) to use the public rights-of-way that is in effect at the time this article takes effect shall continue to operate under and comply with that grant until the grant expires or until it is terminated by mutual agreement of the city and the provider, or is terminated as otherwise provided for in such grant or by applicable law. So long as such grant is in effect, it shall control and this article shall not be applicable in the event of a conflict.
(d) 
In order for the city to know which providers own facilities in the public rights-of-way within the city, each such provider that owns facilities shall register with the city and provide the information required by the city, on forms provided by or approved by the city. Each provider shall update and keep current its registration with the city at all times.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 4, 5-9-2000]
(a) 
The city manager shall administer and enforce compliance with this article.
(b) 
A provider shall report information related to the use of the public rights-of-way that the city manager requires in the form and manner reasonably prescribed by the city manager.
(c) 
The city manager shall report to the city council upon the determination that a provider has failed to comply with this chapter.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 5, 5-9-2000]
A provider is subject to reasonable police power regulation of the city to manage its public rights-of-way in connection with the construction, expansion, reconstruction, maintenance or repair of facilities in the public rights-of-way, pursuant to the city's rights as a custodian of public property, based upon the city's historic rights under state and federal laws. Such regulations include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) 
At the city's request, a provider shall furnish the city accurate and complete information relating to the construction, reconstruction, removal, maintenance and repair of facilities performed by the provider in the public rights-of-way.
(2) 
A provider may be required to place certain facilities within the public rights-of-way overhead or underground according to applicable city requirements absent a compelling demonstration by the provider that, in any specific instance, this requirement is not reasonable, feasible or is not equally applicable to other similar users of the public rights-of-way.
(3) 
A provider shall perform operations, excavations and other construction in the public rights-of-way in accordance with all applicable city requirements, including the obligation to use trenchless technology whenever commercially economical and practical and consistent with obligations on other similar users of the public rights-of-way. The city may waive the requirement of trenchless technology if it determines that the field conditions warrant the waiver, based upon information provided to the city by the provider. All excavations and other construction in the public rights-of-way shall be conducted so as to minimize interference with the use of public and private property. A provider shall follow all reasonable construction directions given by the city in order to minimize any such interference.
(4) 
A provider must obtain a permit, as reasonably required by this article and any other applicable city codes, prior to any excavation, construction, installation, expansion, repair, removal, relocation or maintenance of the provider's facilities. A construction permit is not required for routine maintenance that does not require excavation of the public rights-of-way or which does not block traffic lanes or sidewalks during peak traffic periods between 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, or for more than two hours during any nonpeak traffic period. Once a permit is issued, the provider shall give to the city a minimum of 48 hours notice (which could be at the time of the issuance of the permit) prior to undertaking any of the above-listed activities on its facilities in, on, over or under the public rights-of-way. The failure of the provider to request and obtain a permit from the city prior to performing any of the above-listed activities in, on, under or over any public right-of-way, except in an emergency as provided for in subsection (11) of this section, will subject the provider to a stop work order from the city and enforcement action pursuant to this Code. If the provider fails to act upon any permit within 90 calendar days of issuance, or within a specific period stated in such permit, the permit shall become invalid, and the provider will be required to obtain another permit.
(5) 
When a provider completes construction, expansion, reconstruction, removal, excavation or other work, the provider shall promptly restore the public rights-of-way in accordance with applicable city requirements. A provider shall replace and properly relay and repair the surface, base, irrigation system and landscape treatment of any public rights-of-way that may be excavated or damaged by reason of the erection, construction, maintenance or repair of the provider's facilities within 30 calendar days after completion of the work in accordance with existing standards of the city in effect at the time of the work, unless extended by the city for good cause.
(6) 
Upon failure of a provider to perform any such repair or replacement work, and five days after written notice has been given by the city to the provider, and in the event repairs have not been initiated during such five-day period, the city may repair such portion of the public rights-of-way as may have been disturbed by the provider, its contractors or agents. Upon receipt of an invoice from the city, the provider will reimburse the city for the costs so incurred within 30 calendar days from the date of the city invoice.
(7) 
Should the city reasonably determine, within two years from the date of the completion of the repair work, that the surface, base, irrigation system or landscape treatment requires additional restoration work to meet existing standards of the city, a provider shall perform such additional restoration work to the satisfaction of the city, subject to all city remedies as provided in this article.
(8) 
Notwithstanding the foregoing in subsection (7), if the city determines that the failure of a provider to properly repair or restore the public rights-of-way constitutes a safety hazard to the public, the city may undertake emergency repairs and restoration efforts, after emergency notice has been provided, to the extent reasonable under the circumstances. A provider shall promptly reimburse the city for all costs incurred by the city within 30 calendar days from the date of the city invoice.
(9) 
A provider shall furnish the city with construction plans and maps showing the location and proposed routing of new construction or reconstruction at least five business days before beginning construction or reconstruction that involves an alteration to the surface or subsurface of the public rights-of-way. A provider may not begin construction until the location of new facilities and proposed routing of the new construction or reconstruction and all required plans and drawings have been approved in writing by the city, which approval will not be unreasonably withheld, taking due consideration of the surrounding area and alternative locations for the facilities and routing.
(10) 
If the city manager declares an emergency with regard to the health and safety of the citizens and requests by written notice the removal or abatement of facilities, a provider shall remove or abate the provider's facilities by the deadline provided in the city manager's request. The provider and the city shall cooperate to the extent possible to assure continuity of service. If the provider, after notice, fails or refuses to act, the city may remove or abate the facility, at the sole cost and expense of the provider, without paying compensation to the provider and without the city incurring liability for damages.
(11) 
Except in the case of customer service interruptions and imminent harm to property or persons (emergency conditions), a provider may not excavate the pavement of a street or public rights-of-way without first complying with city requirements. The city manager or designee shall be notified as promptly as possible regarding work performed under such emergency conditions, and the provider shall comply with the requirements of city standards for the restoration of the public rights-of-way.
(12) 
Within 60 days of completion of each new permitted section of a provider's facilities, the provider shall supply the city with a complete set of as-built drawings for the segment in a format used in the ordinary course of the provider's business to the extent they are prepared in the ordinary course of business, but excluding customer specific, proprietary or confidential information and as reasonably prescribed by the city and as allowed by law. The city may, at its discretion, accept in lieu of as-built drawings, any reasonable alternative which provides adequate information as to the location of facilities in the public rights-of-way.
(13) 
The city may require reasonable bonding requirements of a provider, as are required of other entities that place facilities in the public rights-of-way.
(14) 
In determining whether any requirement under this section is unreasonable or unfeasible, the city manager or his designee shall consider, among other things, whether the requirement would subject the provider or providers to an unreasonable increase in risk of service interruption, or to an unreasonable increase in liability for accidents, or to an unreasonable delay in construction or in availability of its services, or to any other unreasonable technical or economic burden.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 6, 5-9-2000]
(a) 
In the exercise of governmental functions, the city has first priority over all other uses of the public rights-of-way. The city reserves the right to lay sewer, gas, water, and other pipe lines or cables and conduits, and to do underground and overhead work, and attachments, restructuring or changes in aerial facilities in, across, along, over or under a public street, alley or public rights-of-way occupied by a provider, and to change the curb, sidewalks or the grade of streets.
(b) 
The city shall assign the location in or over the public rights-of-way among competing users of the public rights-of-way with due consideration to the public health and safety considerations of each user type, and to the extent the city can demonstrate that there is limited space available for additional users, may limit new users, as allowed under state or federal law.
(c) 
If the city authorizes landowners to occupy space under the surface of any public street, alley or public rights-of-way, the grant to an abutting landowner shall be subject to the rights of the previously authorized user of the public rights-of-way. If the city closes or abandons a public right-of-way that contains a portion of a provider's facilities, the city shall close or abandon such public right-of-way subject to the rights of the provider.
(d) 
If the city gives written notice, a provider shall, at its own expense, temporarily or permanently remove, relocate, change or alter the position of provider's facilities that are in the public rights-of-way within 120 days, except in circumstances that require additional time as reasonably determined by the city based upon information provided by the provider. For projects expected to take longer than 120 days to remove, change or relocate, the city will confer with the provider before determining the alterations to be required and the timing thereof. The city shall give notice whenever the city has determined that removal, relocation, change or alteration is reasonably necessary for the construction, operation, repair, maintenance or installation of a city governmental public improvement in the public rights-of-way. This section shall not be construed to prevent a provider's recovery of the cost of relocation or removal from private third parties who initiate the request for relocation or removal, nor shall it be required if improvements are solely for beautification purposes without prior joint deliberation and agreement with the provider.
(e) 
If the provider fails to relocate facilities within the time allowed by the city in this section, the provider may be subject to liability to the city for such delay and as set forth in this Code, now or hereafter enacted.
(f) 
Notwithstanding anything in subsection (d) of this section, the city manager and a provider may agree in writing to different time frames than those provided above if circumstances reasonably warrant such a change.
(g) 
A provider may trim trees in or over the public rights-of-way for the safe and reliable operation, use and maintenance of its facilities. All tree trimmings shall be performed in accordance with standards promulgated by the city. Should the provider, its contractor or agent fail to remove such trimmings within 24 hours, the city may remove the trimmings or have them removed, and upon receipt of a bill from the city, the provider shall promptly reimburse the city for all costs incurred within 30 working days.
(h) 
Providers shall temporarily remove, raise or lower their aerial facilities to permit the moving of houses or other bulky structures if the city gives written notice of not less than 48 hours. The expense of these temporary rearrangements shall be paid by the party or parties requesting and benefitting from the temporary rearrangements. The provider may require prepayment or prior posting of a bond from the party requesting the temporary move.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 7, 5-9-2000]
(a) 
A provider shall obtain and maintain insurance in the amounts reasonably prescribed by the city with an insurance company licensed to do business in the state acceptable to the city. A provider shall furnish the city with proof of insurance at the time of the request for construction permits. The city reserves the right to review the insurance requirements and to reasonably adjust insurance coverage and limits when the city manager determines that changes in statutory law, court decisions or the claims history of the industry or the provider require adjustment of the coverage. For purposes of this section, the city will accept certificates of self-insurance issued by the state or letters written by the provider in those instances where the state does not issue such certificates, which provide the same coverage as required in this section. However, for the city to accept such letters, the provider must demonstrate by written information that it has adequate financial resources to be a self-insured entity as reasonably determined by the city, based on financial information requested by and furnished to the city. The city's current insurance requirements are described in exhibit A printed at the end of this article.
(b) 
A provider shall furnish to the city, at no cost to the city, copies of certificates of insurance evidencing the coverage required by this section. The city may request the deletion, revision or modification of particular policy terms, conditions, limitations or exclusions, unless the policy provisions are established by a law or regulation binding the city, the provider or the underwriter. If the city requests a deletion, revision or modification, a provider shall exercise reasonable efforts to pay for and to accomplish the change.
(c) 
An insurance certificate shall contain the following required provisions:
(1) 
Name of the city and its officers, employees, board members and elected representatives as additional insureds for all applicable coverage;
(2) 
Provide for 30 days prior, written notice to the city for cancellation, nonrenewal or material change; and
(3) 
Provide that notice of claims shall be provided to the city manager by certified mail.
(d) 
A provider shall file and maintain proof of insurance with the city manager. An insurance certificate obtained in compliance with this section is subject to city approval. The city may require the certificate to be changed to reflect changing liability limits. A provider shall immediately advise the city attorney of actual or potential litigation that may develop which may affect an existing carrier's obligation to defend and indemnify.
(e) 
An insurer has no right of recovery against the city. The required insurance policies shall protect the provider and the city. The insurance shall be primary coverage for losses covered by the policies.
(f) 
The policy clause entitled "other insurance" shall not apply to the city if the city is an insured under the policy.
(g) 
The provider shall pay premiums and assessments. A company which issues an insurance policy has no recourse against the city for payment of a premium or assessment. Insurance policies obtained by a provider must provide that the issuing company waives all right of recovery by way of subrogation against the city in connection with damage covered by the policy.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 8, 5-9-2000]
(a) 
Except as to certificated telecommunications providers, each provider placing facilities in the public rights-of-way shall, as a condition of permit approval, agree to promptly defend, indemnify and hold the city harmless from and against all damages, costs, losses or expenses (i) for the repair, replacement or restoration of city's property, equipment, materials, structures and facilities which are damaged, destroyed or found to be defective as a result of the provider's acts or omissions, (ii) from and against any and all claims, demands, suits, causes of action and judgments for (a) damage to or loss of the property of any person (including, but not limited to the provider, its agents, officers, employees and subcontractors, city's agents, officers and employees, and third parties); and/or (b) death, bodily injury, illness, disease, loss of services, or loss of income or wages to any person (including, but not limited to the agents, officers and employees of the provider, the provider's subcontractors and the city, and third parties), arising out of, incident to, concerning or resulting from the negligent or willful act or omissions of the provider, its agents, employees and/or subcontractors, in the performance of activities pursuant to this article. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the provider has a franchise agreement effective within the city, and such franchise agreement includes indemnity provisions in favor of the city, then to the extent of any conflict between the foregoing and the indemnity provisions in the franchise, the provisions in the franchise shall be controlling.
(b) 
This indemnity provision shall not apply to any liability resulting from the negligence of the city, its officers, employees, agents, contractors or subcontractors.
(c) 
The provisions of this indemnity are solely for the benefit of the city and are not intended to create or grant any rights, contractual or otherwise, to any other person or entity.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 9, 5-9-2000]
If any of the provisions of this article or of a permit granted under this article are violated or otherwise not followed, a permit may be revoked by the city manager or his designee. If a provider has not followed the terms of this article or of a prior permit issued under this article in work done pursuant to a prior permit, new permits may be denied or additional terms imposed. Failure to reimburse the city as required in this article shall, in addition to all other remedies available to the city, be grounds for recovery by the city upon the surety bonds required in this article or by any permit issued under this article for the amounts which should have been reimbursed, together with all costs incurred by the city in recovering such sums, including reasonable attorneys' fees. Any appeal from the denial or revocation of a permit shall be to the city council, and shall be filed with the city manager within 15 days of the action appealed from.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 10, 5-9-2000]
This article shall be construed in accordance with the city codes in effect on the date of passage of this article to the extent that such codes are not in conflict with or in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States or the State of Texas, subject to the city's ongoing authority to adopt reasonable regulations to manage its public rights-of-way, pursuant to sections 70-256 and 70-257 or as otherwise provided by law.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 11, 5-9-2000]
The city may institute all appropriate legal action to prohibit any provider from knowingly using the public rights-of-way unless the provider has complied with the terms of this article.
[Ord. No. 876-00, § 12, 5-9-2000]