[Adopted 6-7-1993 by Ord. No. 63]
As used in this article, the following terms
have the meanings indicated:
Any person making written application to the Town Clerk for
a street excavation permit hereunder.
Any cavity, hole or hollow formed by digging, cutting, scooping,
breaking, bulleting, vibrating, tunneling or undermining or any other
method of removal or disturbance of earthen or road material in, under
or adjacent to any street, as defined herein.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind, including but not limited to
public utilities, transportation corporations, privately and publicly
owned water companies, community antenna television companies and
municipal districts.
Any street, highway, sidewalk, alley, avenue or other public
way or other land, park, grounds, property or easement owned by the
Town.[1]
The Town Manager of the Town of Millsboro or his authorized
designee.
[Added 9-3-2019]
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "Town Clerk," which
immediately followed this definition, was repealed 9-3-2019.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
No person shall make any excavation in any street
for any purpose without first obtaining a permit therefor from the
Town Manager as hereinafter provided.
A.
An application, in writing, shall be filed in duplicate
with the Town Manager upon application blanks which he shall prescribe,
which application shall state the nature, location extent and purpose
of the proposed excavation.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
B.
Applications by applicants shall be accompanied by
a performance bond, letter of credit or certified check in the sum
of $2,000, or in any greater or lesser amount as determined by the
Town Manager, and in such form as shall be approved by the Town Solicitor
or, in lieu thereof, by a cash deposit, the amount of which shall
be determined by the Town Manager and which sum is to be deposited
with the town to assure that, after completing the excavation, said
applicant restores the street to the same condition as it was in prior
to the excavation. In the event that the applicant fails to repair,
replace or restore the street in the time provided in the permit,
and the applicant has deposited cash in lieu of a bond, the Town Manager
will assess the damage and use the moneys deposited to repair or replace
the street. In the alternative, the Town Manager may contract with
the applicant to complete, repair, replace or restore the street for
a mutually agreed upon sum. Upon the completion of said excavation,
including restoration, where the applicant has deposited cash in lieu
of a performance bond or letter of credit, the balance of the deposit,
if any, will be returned to the applicant.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
C.
In the event that the town must take action against
a bond or letter of credit to obtain reimbursement, the town shall
be entitled to its costs and legal fees.
D.
Upon compliance with the foregoing requirements, upon
compliance with the requirements of insurance and indemnification
and upon payment of the permit fee, a permit shall be issued in the
name of the Town of Millsboro.
The permit fee as set forth from time to time
by the Town Council shall accompany each application submitted in
accordance with this article. The Town Council, by resolution, shall
from time to time establish and change categories and fees to accompany
the applications.
A.
Before issuance of a permit, the applicant shall file
with the Town Manager a general liability policy or certificate of
insurance issued by an insurance company authorized to issue such
policy in Delaware, naming the Town of Millsboro as an additional
insured, which policy or certificate evidences that the applicant
has procured comprehensive general liability insurance providing coverage
for legal liability and customarily covered expenses for bodily injury
and property damage, including but not limited to liability for bodily
injury and property damage caused by, related to or arising out of
operations performed by the applicant or by the applicant's independent
contractors or arising out of acts or omissions of the applicant in
connection with his general supervision of such operations (contractors'/owners'
protective liability insurance), occurring after operations have been
completed or abandoned (completed operations insurance) and assumed
under contract with the town (contractual liability insurance), which
policy shall be endorsed to delete from the contractual liability
coverage any exclusion for actions on a contract for third-party beneficiary
arising out of a project for a public authority and which policy shall
include coverage for all possible liability. Said policy shall be
in form and content satisfactory to the Town Solicitor and shall provide
that the policy shall not be changed or canceled until the expiration
of 60 days after written notice to the town and that it shall be automatically
renewed upon expiration and continued in force unless the town is
given 60 days' written notice to the contrary. Said policy shall insure
the Town of Millsboro and the applicant and shall cover all operations
relative to the excavation, reconstruction and restoration therefor.
Said policy shall have limits of liability of not less than $1,000,000
for bodily injury to each person and in the aggregate for each accident
and property damage liability of not less than $100,000 for each accident.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
B.
The applicant shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend
the town, its officers and employees from any and all claims for personal
injury, including death or damage to property resulting from, relating
to or arising out of the issuance of a permit to the applicant pursuant
to this article or any actions or activities in relation thereto,
by the applicant or others, excepting only such claims due solely
to the fault or negligence of the town, its officers and employees.
Such indemnification shall not be affected or diminished by insurance
provided by the applicant.
A.
Any person making an excavation covered by this article
shall erect suitable barriers or guards for the protection of persons
using the streets and, in addition thereto, shall set up and maintain
during the hours of darkness sufficient lights or flares or retroreflective
barricades to properly illuminate or delineate the work area and shall
also take all necessary precautions for the protection of property
of the town, public service companies, municipal districts, adjoining
property owners and others which might be endangered by such excavations
or the work incident thereto and shall comply with all directions
given by the Town Manager with respect to such barriers, lights, flares
and protective measures.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
B.
Traffic control; maintenance and protection of traffic.
Traffic is to be maintained at all times during the excavation work.
Adequate signs, barricades and lights necessary to protect the public
shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of the State of
Delaware Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Flagmen to direct
traffic shall be employed continuously during periods when only one-way
traffic is maintained or when equipment is operated back and forth
across the pavement area.
A.
Commencement of work. Work under the permit shall
be commenced within 30 days from the date of the permit and continued
in an expeditious manner unless an extension of this period is approved
by the Town Manager.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
B.
Construction.
(1)
When working in any street, no pavement cuts or trenches
are to be left uncovered or unfilled overnight, except in emergencies,
and in such cases adequate precautions must be exercised to protect
traffic and all persons using the streets.
(2)
When working on any street, contractors must complete
final backfilling of trench the same day of beginning excavation.
(3)
All pipes, mains or conduits crossing street pavements
shall, wherever possible (as determined by the Town Manager), be driven
beneath the street without disturbance to the pavement. The point
of driving shall not be less than five feet from the edge of the pavement.
Such crossover pipes, mains or conduits shall, whenever possible,
be enclosed in sleeves or larger pipes so that repairs or replacements
may be made without further disturbance of the roadway pavement.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
(4)
If the boring method or the driving of crossover pipes
is determined by the Town Manager to be impracticable, the Town Manager
shall determine the manner of placing the pipe by the open-cut method.
Request for such determination is to be made, in writing, to the Town
Manager and may be granted by the Town Manager upon such conditions
as he deems necessary and proper under the circumstances. In no case
will a trench be opened across an entire street. At least one lane
of traffic must be open at all times.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
(5)
All trees, structures and property of the town and
other shall be protected from damage.
C.
Excavation; method and type of closing. Openings in
cement concrete and/or asphalt streets shall have a minimum width
of four feet in conjunction with a minimum trenching width of two
feet.
D.
Restoration of excavation; temporary patching. Upon
completion of the final backfilling if final pavement replacement
is not to be accomplished within 20 days from the day of opening,
the trench shall be brought to within two inches of road level and
then paved with two inches of asphaltic concrete within 10 days of
opening, which shall be placed as a temporary surface in any pavement
opening and shall be maintained to the same grade as adjacent pavement.
E.
Procedure for final backfilling. Backfill material
shall be approved by the Town Manager and shall be placed and compacted
as specified by the Town Manager in six-inch lifts with either vibratory
soil compactors or by other methods suitable to the town.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
F.
Final pavement replacing.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
(1)
Cement concrete. Minimum size replacements in cement
concrete or asphalt on cement concrete base shall be 10 feet by 10
feet by six inches deep with wire reinforcement, or as directed by
the Town Manager. Replacements of concrete shall overlap the trench
five feet from the center line of the trench. In all cases, if the
ten-foot-by-ten-foot replacement is within five feet of a joint, the
replacement must be extended to the joint. Concrete openings shall
be saw cuts, and the mix shall be high early, 4,000 pounds per square
inch test concrete on well-compacted fill, or as directed by the Town
Manager. The patch must be closed to traffic until the concrete is
cured to a strength of at least 2,500 pounds per square inch.
(2)
Asphalt. Trenches will be compacted to a minimum of
95% and to within four inches of the road surface. The existing surface
shall then be cut back or milled a minimum of 10 feet each direction
from the center line of the trench for water and sewer mains and 15
feet each direction for sewer work involving placement of a manhole.
At the discretion of the Town Manager, the contact surfaces, the patched
surfaces and/or adjacent pavement edges shall be painted and sealed
with approved bituminous material before placing the course of asphalt,
which shall be four inches of surface course material placed in a
three-inch layer and a one-inch layer as directed by the Town Manager.
The asphalt shall be rolled with a five- to six-ton roller, and surface
variations in excess of 1/4 inch shall be eliminated or the pavement
relayed.
(3)
If temporary patching is not accomplished, final pavement
must be completed within 10 days of opening. If temporary patching
is accomplished as specified, then final pavement replacing must be
completed within 30 days of temporary patching or within such additional
times as may be authorized by the Town Manager at his discretion upon
application.
G.
Notification. The applicant will be responsible to
notify the Town Manager not less than 24 hours prior to street opening
and closing.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
H.
Expiration date. The permit shall expire 30 days from
the date of issue of the permit unless a different expiration date
has been specified by the Town Manager.
[Amended 9-3-2019]
[Amended 9-3-2019]
The applicant shall notify the Town Manager
when work has been completed, after which an inspection will be made
by the Town Manager, and upon approval of the work, a release will
be granted to the applicant. Until the granting of such a release,
the applicant shall remain liable for guarding and protection as provided
herein.
An application issued pursuant to this article
relates solely to the requirements of this article. Accordingly, each
applicant must also comply with the requirements of all other applicable
governmental laws, regulations and orders of the town, Sussex County,
the State of Delaware and its administrative agencies and the United
States government and its administrative agencies.
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof in a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be fined not less
than $25 nor more than $200 or imprisoned for not more than 30 days,
or both, and shall pay the costs of prosecution. For the purposes
of this article, each day that a violation continues shall be deemed
to be a separate offense.
