[Adopted 5-4-1987 by Ord. No. 343]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to excavate, dig or drill any public street, lane, or alley in the Borough of Spring City without having first obtained a permit from the designated Borough Official of the Borough specifically authorizing the contemplated excavation, digging or drilling, provided that the words "public street, lane or alley" or any of them, as used herein, shall include the public sidewalk or sidewalk area along any street, lane or alley.
Upon application to the designated Borough Official by any person, firm or corporation contemplating excavation, digging or drilling in the public streets, and upon payment of the appropriate fee, hereinafter provided, the designated Borough Official shall issue to the applicant a permit specifically outlining the excavation, digging or drilling for which application shall have been made and which the permit is intended to authorize. The Borough shall notify all utilities when a street is to be resurfaced. Thereafter, no permit shall be issued for an opening in said street for a period of five years unless the prospective permittee proves to the Borough's satisfaction that an emergency exists. For purposes of this article, an emergency shall be defined as a natural gas leak, or leakage of toxic wastes, or such other circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe that an emergency exists.
Before any person, firm, association or corporation to which a permit is so issued commences any excavation, digging or drilling as authorized by the permit, such permit holder shall first notify the designated Borough Official of the precise place and time when the actual excavation, digging or drilling will be started. It shall thereupon be the power and duty of the designated Borough Official or some other person duly authorized by him to attend and supervise the operation so that it be carried on and completed with the least possible public inconvenience and damage to public property and with the greatest regard to public safety. All permits issued hereunder shall be valid for a period of 90 days from the date of issue.
[Amended 3-7-1988 by Ord. No. 351]
A. 
It shall be the duty of every person, firm, association or corporation holding a permit issued under this article to conduct the operation thereby authorized in such manner that the public safety is not endangered and that the public streets, lanes and alleys are restored to the same permanent condition in which they were when the operation was begun. To this end, street openings and mounds of excavated earth shall be adequately protected at all times by properly illuminated barricades; shall be adequately shored and retained to prevent subsidence, shifting or washing; and shall be refilled and repaved in a manner to prevent later subsidence. For failing to comply with the provisions of this section it shall not be a defense that the designated Borough Official did not require that the permit holder take any particular measure which this section requires.
B. 
All openings or excavations of streets, excepting drill holes, shall, before completion, be cut with a power saw and not with an air jack hammer or similar device.
C. 
Any person opening or excavating any street shall upon completion of the project and after notification to the Borough, immediately and completely refill such openings of excavations, mechanically tamping the same so as to prevent any settling thereof.
D. 
All refilling and restoration shall be done in strict conformance with the detailed sketch for refilling and restoration as set forth in Exhibit "A" which is a part of this article.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit "A" is on file in the Borough offices.
E. 
Where test holes have been drilled, they shall be filled and sealed with hot tar.
F. 
Temporary restoration and backfilling of any openings or excavations shall be as follows:
(1) 
Install a bed of screenings two inches thick under the utility or conduit line up to the spring line of the utility or conduit line.
(2) 
From spring line to a level six inches below the surface of the trench, backfill with a 2A modified stone aggregate, mechanically tamped at four-inch intervals.
(3) 
Before completing backfill of trench, a saw cut shall extend a minimum of 12 inches beyond the trench opening on all sides of the excavation.
(4) 
The next six inches shall be backfilled with bituminous stockpile mix to bring the trench to street grade and shall extend a minimum of 12 inches on either side of the trench opening. The permittee shall be held responsible for maintenance of any settlement which occurs within one year or until the Borough completes the final restoration. Periodic inspections will be made by the Borough.
The designated Borough Official, with the assistance of employees of the Borough and with materials and equipment belonging to the Borough, may at any time do such work in connection with any excavation, digging or drilling as the permit holder should have done, such as placing barricades, refilling holes, replacing street surfaces and the like. The designated Borough Official may act with or without prior authorization of the permit holder and in either case the permit holder shall be liable for the actual cost of such work plus an additional charge of 10% thereof. Such amount shall be collectible from the permit holder or his surety in the same manner as any debt to the Borough might be recovered.
[Amended 3-7-1988 by Ord. No. 351; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The fees for issuing permits for all openings prescribed by this article shall be as set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person or persons, firm or firms, corporation or corporations who shall do or perform any act or thing which is prohibited by this article, or who shall do or perform any act or thing, permitted or regulated hereby, in a manner that does not fully conform with the provisions hereof, shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and committed to the Borough correctional facility for a period not exceeding 10 days or to the county correctional facility for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.
This article shall be effective immediately upon its final enactment, but is not intended to be applicable in respect of any street which is now or thereafter becomes a part of the Pennsylvania State Highway System and which is regulated as regards the subject matter of this article by state law or Pennsylvania Department of Transportation regulations.