[Adopted 10-4-1965 (Ch. 163, Art. IV, of the 1977 Code)]
All maintenance and repair of public streets,
sidewalks, curbs and other public ways shall be under the supervision
of the Superintendent of Public Works or the Borough Engineer.
It shall be unlawful to construct or lay any
pavement on any public street, sidewalk, curb or other public way,
or to repair the same, without first having secured a permit therefor.
Applications for such permits shall be made to the Borough Clerk and
shall state the location of the intended work, the extent thereof
and the person or firm who is to do the actual work.
All such construction, maintenance and repair
shall be made in conformity with the specifications laid down or approved
from time to time by the Borough Council.
[Added 3-23-1977 by Ord. No. 1977-13; amended 12-11-2017 by Ord. No.
2017-32; 9-23-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-19]
A.
The maintenance, repair and reconstruction of sidewalks and curbs
(Any combination curb and gutter shall be maintained, repaired or
reconstructed so that the abutting landowner shall be responsible
for the curb portion only and the Borough of South River shall be
responsible for the street gutter portion.) shall be the responsibility
of the abutting landowners and shall be repaired, altered, relaid
or maintained at the expense of the abutting landowners as provided
by the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:65-14.
B.
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of South River shall, by resolution,
cause notice to be served upon abutting landowners or occupants of
said lands requiring the necessary specified work to said curb or
sidewalk to be performed by the said owners or occupants within a
period of not less than 30 days from the date of such notice. The
Mayor and Council may, at its discretion, due to inclement weather,
extend said period for a longer period than 30 days, provided that
said period shall not exceed 90 days.
C.
The Mayor and Council shall, whenever the abutting lands are unoccupied
and the owner in title cannot be found within the Borough of South
River, mail such notice, postage prepaid, to said owner's post
office address, and, in the event the said address cannot be ascertained,
the governing body shall insert a notice for four weeks, once in each
week, in a newspaper published within the Borough of South River.
D.
The Mayor and Council, upon expiration of the period of notice, shall,
in the event that the owner or occupant has not complied with the
requirements of said notice, file with the Borough Chief Financial
Officer due proof of service of publication of the aforesaid notice,
and the Mayor and Council shall, after the filing of said notice with
the Borough Chief Financial Officer, order the necessary work to be
performed in accordance with said notice and may cause the same to
be paid for from the funds of the Borough of South River.
E.
The Director of Public Works or his duly designated representative
shall certify to the Borough Chief Finance Office and Borough Tax
Collector the cost of the performance of said work, and, upon the
filing of the said certificate by the Director of Public Works or
his duly designated representative, the Borough Tax Collector shall
thereafter cause a lien to be placed upon said abutting lands wherein
said work was performed.
F.
The Tax Collector shall collect the moneys so expended, including costs of publication of the notice required in Subsection C hereof as well as other costs provided for by the statutes of the State of New Jersey, in the same manner as assessments for local improvements as provided by the statutes of the State of New Jersey, and said lien shall bear interest at the same rate as an assessment for local improvements. The Tax Collector may, with the consent of the Mayor and Council, institute a suit in the courts of the State of New Jersey for the collection of the amount of said lien from the owner of said lands, as disclosed on the tax assessment list of the Borough of South River at the time of the performance of said work.
G.
The Tax Collector shall credit all moneys from the performance of
said work to an account to be established by the Tax Collector for
performance of said work, as set forth in this section, by the Borough.
H.
The Director of Public Works shall have the authority under the provisions
of this section to designate subordinate employees in his department
as representatives in performing the duties required of the Director
in the administering of the provisions of this section, and the Director
may further designate employees within the Department of Public Works
for the purpose of inspecting streets and sidewalks. The Director
of Public Works, prior to the performance of any work on any curb
or sidewalk by the abutting landowner, shall ascertain through his
representatives the conditions affecting said existing sidewalks and
curbs on the land. The Director thereafter shall notify the governing
body of the condition existing and the work to be performed by the
abutting landowner prior to the governing body serving notice on said
landowner or occupant of said lands.
I.
For all newly constructed homes, a certificate of occupancy will
not be issued until:
(1)
Sidewalks are installed in the public right-of-way along all portions
of the property that front a public road in accordance with the Borough
Code; or
(2)
A bond in an amount not to exceed the reasonable estimate for the
cost of sidewalk installation as determined by the Construction Official
is posted with the Building Department by the property owner. Said
bond amount will be refunded upon installation of the sidewalks and
approval of same by the Borough Construction Official.
(a)
If the property owner does not install sidewalks in accordance
with the Borough Code within six months of posting of the bond, the
Borough shall have the right to install sidewalks at the property
owner's expense pursuant to the procedure set forth in N.J.S.A.
40:65-14.
(b)
The bond shall be applied to the Borough's installation
costs. If the Borough's installation costs exceed the amount
of the bond, the property owner will be responsible for the additional
cost.
(c)
If said additional cost is not paid by the property owner within
30 days of receipt of an invoice by the Borough, the unpaid amount
will be forwarded to the Borough Tax Collector and will be added to
the next tax bill as a municipal lien pursuant to the procedure set
forth in N.J.S.A. 40:65-14.
(d)
If the Borough's installation costs are less than the bond
amount, the excess balance shall be refunded to the property owner
within 30 days of completion of work.
