[Adopted 7-15-1981 by Ord. No. 1481]
A. 
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms, whenever used in this article, shall respectively be deemed to mean:
OCCUPANT
The owner, tenant, lessee or person in charge of or in control of or in possession of any building or premises or part thereof or of any personal property.
OWNER
The person, firm or corporation having the legal title to lands and premises or to personal property.
PERSON
An individual or individuals or a corporation, partnership or voluntary association.
ROADWAY
That portion of the street lying between the curblines.
SIDEWALKS
The pavement between the curblines and property lines.
STREET
Includes the portion thereof devoted to gutters, curbs and sidewalks.
SUPERINTENDENT
The Superintendent of Streets appointed by the Town of West New York, or such person empowered or authorized by said Town of West New York.
TOWN ENGINEER
A licensed engineer appointed to that position by the governing body or, in the event none has been appointed, then any licensed engineer designated by the Director of the Department of Public Works to perform the duties set forth in this article.
B. 
The singular includes the plural, and the masculine includes the feminine and corporations, partnerships and voluntary associations.
A. 
No person shall make any excavation in or disturb the surface of the roadway of any street, sidewalk, park or public place without first obtaining a written permit therefor.
B. 
No person shall remove, excavate or disturb all or any part of a concrete paver, bluestone or other permanent surface sidewalk or curb without first obtaining a permit therefor.
[Amended 5-18-1988 by Ord. No. 1806]
[Amended 7-15-2009 by Ord. No. 11/09; 4-18-2012 by Ord. No. 8/12; 7-19-2023 by Ord. No. 6/23]
A. 
All permits required by this article shall be in writing and shall be issued by the Town's Building Department. The Building department shall issue the permit if it appears that the applicant has the legal right or privilege granted to him in the use of any street, highway, or public place or in digging up the same for laying down pipes or conduits or for any purpose whatever and that the application and the proposed work described therein comply with this article; provided, however, that said applicant has submitted a detailed plan and surety bond as hereinafter provided. Upon the issuance of any permit, the Police Department shall be immediately notified of such issuance and the character of the work; and, where possible, the permit shall be posted for public display.
B. 
No permit authorized by this article shall be granted except pursuant to an application in writing therefor signed by the person desiring such permit, or his agent. The application, which may be submitted on forms provided by the Town of West New York, shall set forth the location, nature, extent and probable duration of the proposed work and the statutory or other authority pursuant to which it is to be performed.
C. 
No application shall be considered for approval unless the applicant shall attach to it a detailed set of plans, bearing the seal of a licensed architect, engineer or surveyor, showing the width, length and depth of the excavation and the nature of the job. All drawings or plans shall show the location of any sewer, utility or telephone lines and the exact steps which will be taken by the applicant to shore, cover and protect same with sheeting or other suitable materials. Said plans shall be reviewed and approved by the Construction Code Official and, where appropriate, the Town Engineer in order for a permit to be issued.
D. 
Each applicant for a permit to open a public right-of-way, upon the receipt of a permit for such opening as otherwise provided by ordinance of the Town, or other law, shall provide the Town with an adequate corporate surety bond, cash or certified check ("adequate security") to guarantee faithful performance of the work authorized by such permit, for the payment of any necessary repairs occasioned by the opening of the public right-of-way by the Town, prior to such opening. The amount of such adequate assurance shall be equal to the amount of the actual cost of the closing and opening to the permittee. The adequate assurance shall be retained by the Town from the date of posting thereof and shall be returned or otherwise discharged by the Town upon the receipt by the permittee of a certificate of final inspection from the Construction Code Official ("the Code Official"), or the Code Official's designee, or one year from the closing of the opening of the public right-of-way, whichever occurs earlier. (The permittee shall notify the Town of the date of such closing.) The form of such adequate assurance shall be in a form acceptable to the Code Official. If the permittee anticipates requesting more than one permit per year as required by this article, the permittee may furnish one continuing corporate surety bond in such amount as the Code Official deems necessary to guarantee faithful performance. The minimum amount of such bond shall be in relation to the cost of restoring openings to the public rights-of-way to be made by the permittee throughout the year. The Town may elect to waive the requirements of this section insofar as it pertains to a public utility company if such company files with the Township its corporate bond in a form satisfactory to the Township, conditioned upon compliance with the provisions of this article.
E. 
The permit shall state the maximum time allowed for the completion of the excavation and backfilling thereof. Permits shall be renewable upon the terms and conditions prescribed by this article for the issuance of original permits.
F. 
No permit shall be issued until the fee therefor, hereinafter prescribed, shall have been paid to the Town.
G. 
No permit shall be issued to any person given notice under this article, which would allow an excavation or opening in a paved and improved street surface less than 10 years old except as set forth in § 352-24.
[Amended 9-16-2009 by Ord. No. 24/09; 4-18-2012 by Ord. No. 8/12]
The following schedule of fees is hereby fixed, determined and established as being the fees to be paid to the Town of West New York for the issuance of all road opening or street excavation permits. Should any additional costs be incurred by the Town of West New York due to the permittee's operations or negligence, including administrative, engineering, inspection and legal costs, the permittee shall reimburse the Town for all costs incurred. The permittee shall be required to post adequate funds in escrow to reimburse the Town for costs of the Town Engineer's inspection. Any excess moneys shall be remitted to the permittee upon approval and acceptance by the Town Engineer of all final, permanent road restoration work in accordance with the standards set forth herein. All costs shall be paid by the permittee prior to the issuance of a permit by the Town Engineer, as provided herein:
A. 
Application fee: $100.
B. 
Engineering fee of $250, plus an initial deposit of $100 for the first 15 square yards or any part thereof and $10 for every square yard thereafter for inspection fee.
[Amended 8-17-2017 by Ord. No. 19/17]
[Amended 11-21-1990 by Ord. No. 1908; 8-21-1985 by Ord. No. 1684; 11-21-1990 by Ord. No. 1908; 4-18-2012 by Ord. No. 8/12]
A. 
No opening in the paved section of any road shall be less than two feet nor more than six feet in width unless the application shows that width less than two feet or more than six feet is reasonably necessary. No tunneling shall be permitted unless the application shows that there is no other reasonably practicable method of performing the work. Tunneling, where permitted, shall be done under the personal supervision of the Superintendent.
B. 
Whenever possible, excavations shall be made in either side of the roadway and pipes driven from one excavation to the other so as not to disturb the pavement. No boring under the pavement of any road shall be done except under the supervision of the Superintendent.
C. 
Backfilling. When necessary to excavate across the entire roadway of any road or along and in such roadway, the work shall be performed so that a portion of such roadway shall remain open to traffic. No person shall permit any street or road to be closed to travel by reason of any excavation made there in pursuance of this article without written permission from the Town Engineer and approval from the Police Department of West New York.
(1) 
Unless otherwise directed by the Town Engineer, the following specifications shall govern the backfill in excavated trenches: The material to be used in backfilling shall meet the requirements of the NJDOT dense graded aggregate (DGA) unless otherwise specifically permitted by the Town Engineer. The backfill shall be moistened and tamped in twelve-inch layers with a mechanical tamper and made thoroughly compact, firm and unyielding as backfilling progresses. The backfill material shall be brought to eight inches from the finished surface in roadway areas. Eight inches of bituminous stabilized base course shall be placed and compacted so as to provide a smooth surface. A thin tack coat shall be applied to the sides of the existing pavement.
(a) 
After settlement has occurred, as determined by the Town Engineer, the temporary pavement shall be milled six inches beyond the existing pavement on each side for a depth of two inches. The edges shall be kept straight and parallel using a pavement saw or pneumatic cutting. There shall be no varying width in the final repair. A thin coat of tack coat shall be applied to the sides of the existing pavement and a new two-inch hot-mix asphalt (HMA) surface course in accordance with the New Jersey Department of Transportation Standard Specifications for Roads and Bridges (latest version) shall be installed to complete the permanent repair.
(b) 
When the permit requires concrete surface course or as determined by the Town Engineer, the concrete used shall be Class B in accordance with the NJDOT. After settlement has occurred, as determined by the Town Engineer, the temporary pavement shall be removed to the required depth and permanent concrete surface course shall be installed. The edges of the existing pavement shall be neatly cut back to a minimum of six inches with a pavement saw or pneumatic cutting tool to expose the existing reinforcement steel. New steel of the same size as the existing steel shall be wired to the existing steel with a six-inch overlap. A minimum of eight-inches-thick Class B concrete shall be installed to complete the permanent repair.
(2) 
Forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of the backfilling, the Town Engineer shall be notified by the permittee. The permittee shall provide access for the Town Engineer to perform the required inspections. The inspections performed by the Town Engineer do not relieve the permittee’s responsibilities to perform all work in accordance with the provisions of this article.
D. 
The contractor or owner performing construction shall enclose or cover by tarpaulin or other suitable means all sand, gravel and other construction materials stored on the property or any portion of the street or sidewalk whenever the contractor or owner doing construction is not engaged in construction and take all necessary steps to prevent dislodging or washing of construction materials from their stored site onto the sidewalks, streets or adjacent property in the Town of West New York or into any public sanitary or storm sewer or catch basins in the Town of West New York.
E. 
The holder of the permit shall guard the excavation or excavations by the erection of suitable barriers by day and the maintenance of suitable lights by night. The Town Engineer and/or Police Department may require additional security measures as required for public welfare. Under no circumstances shall an open trench remain open overnight. All open trenches shall be temporarily backfilled or sufficiently plated with steel plates anchored to the existing street.
F. 
The holder of the permit must notify the Department of Public Works at least 24 hours prior to close of the trench. The Department of Public Works wishes to inspect all backfilling and concrete base and pavement replacement.
G. 
In the event that the Mayor and Commissioners grant the street opening permit for a street that has been improved or paved within five years, an infrared process, or approved equal, as determined by the Town Engineer, shall be used on all seams to blend in the final repair with the existing pavement.
Any person, firm or entity who obtains a street opening permit shall be legally responsible to the Town of West New York and to any third person for any defect in the nature of the work performed or for any collapse of the excavation or for any injury or property damage to any individual caused by said defective work, and said liability shall be for a period of five years from the expiration date of the surety bond posted in compliance with § 352-20D of this article.
[Added 7-19-2023 by Ord. No. 6/23]
A. 
The Construction Code Official shall notify public utility providers and municipalities annually of planned work on Town roads, streets and sidewalks. Any work to be done on these roads, streets and sidewalks will have to be done before paving has commenced. Such notice shall state that no road, street or sidewalk opening permit shall be issued for openings, cuts or excavations in such Town road, street or sidewalk for a period of 10 years after the date of paving. The notice shall also notify such permittee that applications for road, street and sidewalk opening permits, for work to be done prior to such paving shall be submitted promptly in order that the work covered by the permit may be completed before paving.
B. 
During such ten-year period, no permit shall be issued to open, cut or excavate in such Town road, street or sidewalk unless, in the judgment of the Construction Code Official, an emergency or other condition exists which makes it absolutely essential that the road or street opening permit be issued.
C. 
Upon application for a permit involving street, road and/or sidewalks that have been repaved or otherwise restored in the preceding 10 years, the Town Engineer, in conjunction with the Town's Construction Official, shall determine the cost to repave, or otherwise restore, the sidewalk, road or street (from curb-to-curb and including restoration of signage, pavement marking and all other appurtenances) where the street opening will occur ("repavement fee"). The Town Engineer will convey the amount of the repavement fee to the applicant and prior to issuance of the permit, the applicant will provide payment by cash, certified check or bank draft to the Town Treasurer in that complete amount. The repavement fee will be deposited in an escrow account.
D. 
In the event of an emergency pursuant to § 366-12, an initial estimated repavement fee of $30,000 will be assessed. This initial estimated fee may increase - or decrease - upon final assessment of the application. If the repavement fee is assessed in an amount above the estimate, applicant will be required to immediately pay the difference. All payments shall be by cash, certified check or bank draft to the Town Treasurer in that complete amount. In the event the repavement fee is calculated at an amount less than $30,000, the difference shall be returned to the applicant.
E. 
In lieu of the permittee restoring or repaving the road, street and/or sidewalk, the Town will ensure same is accomplished by procuring a contractor to perform the work in compliance with the requirements of the Local Public Contract Law. In the event the repavement fee is calculated at an amount that is more than the cost to the Town to have performed the resurfacing or repavement, the difference shall be returned to the applicant.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 352-24, Public utilities excepted, was repealed 1-19-2000 by Ord. No. 23/99.