[Amended 9-29-2009 by Ord. No. 09-18]
No person shall dig, disturb, excavate or open any street in the Borough without a permit.
[Amended 11-26-1974 by Ord. No. 74-37; 4-11-1989 by Ord. No. 89-14; 9-29-2009 by Ord. No. 09-18; 10-1-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-27]
A.
Fees, escrows, and deposits for permits shall be as follows:
(1)
The fee for a road opening permit shall be $300.
(2)
The fee for road opening inspections shall be $350, which shall cover up to a maximum of four inspections, one hour in duration. Additional inspections shall require a fee of $75 per inspection of one hour.
(3)
Applicants for a road opening permit shall provide a refundable cash escrow in the sum of $2,500 together with an escrow charge of $5 per square foot of disturbed area in excess of 100 square feet.
(4)
Applicants shall also pay nonrefundable maintenance fees as follows:
(a)
For roads that have been resurfaced within five years prior to the date of application, a charge of $20 per square foot of disturbed area with a minimum payment in the amount of $100.
(b)
For roads not surfaced within five years prior to the date of application, a charge of $10 per square foot of disturbed area with a minimum charge of $50.
B.
All permits shall be countersigned by the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works and the Borough Engineer. A preconstruction meeting may be required by the Superintendent of Public Works and/or the Borough Engineer. A preconstruction meeting shall be required for all excavations involving more than 100 linear feet.
A.
In case of emergency, any person may make an excavation in or open the surface of any street without first having obtained a permit therefor, provided that such person shall have first obtained oral emergency approval from the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works. Such person shall make application for a permit within two business days after the occurrence of such emergency. For the purpose of this section, "emergency" shall mean a condition or circumstance which involves immediate danger to life or property or both or which involves a possibility of interruption or curtailment of any service furnished to the public by a public utility.
B.
No permit shall be issued between the first day of December and the first day of April of the next succeeding year, hereinafter referred to as the "winter period," unless the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works shall have determined the existence of an emergency.
During the winter period, all trenches shall be backfilled with stone dust, screening or other suitable pervious material. If the opening is in bituminous concrete, asphalt or in pavement of equal quality, a base course of five inches of two-and-one-half-inch stone, dust bound, and a surface course of two inches of 3/4 bituminous concrete shall be placed in the trenches. No shale, rock or frozen dirt shall be placed in the trenches.
During the remaining period of the year, all trenches shall be backfilled with sand or gravel or pervious material free from foreign matter such as debris, stumps, roots or sod. The backfilling shall be performed in layers of not more than two feet in depth, each layer to be thoroughly tamped prior to the backfilling of the next layer.
[Amended 6-11-1985 by Ord. No. 85-15]
The road surface shall be properly restored within a reasonable time after the opening has been made in accordance with the paving specifications set forth in § 383-25 of this chapter. Whenever deemed necessary by the Borough Engineer for reasons of health, safety or welfare of the residents of the Borough of Paramus, said paving shall cover from curb to curb.
No excavations shall be left unguarded, and proper precautions shall be taken to safeguard persons using the street affected by the opening. All refuse and material must be removed within 48 hours.
Upon completion of the work involved in such street opening, a request for inspection shall be made to the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works. If the inspection discloses that the street has been properly restored, he shall issue a certificate of proper restoration and cause the same to filed with the Borough Clerk.
The person receiving the permit shall be responsible for the proper maintenance of that portion of the street over which the permit has been issued, including continued backfilling to compensate for settlement, for a period of one year from the date of the certification of the proper restoration of the street by the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works. The permittee shall assume all liability for damages resulting therefrom or in any way connected therewith.
[Amended 9-29-2009 by Ord. No. 09-18; 10-1-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-27]
A.
In the event an applicant fails to restore the street in compliance with the requirements of this article and in a manner that complies with § 383-25 of the Borough Code within such time as is deemed reasonable by the Borough Engineer, the Department of Public Works may, upon three days' notice to the applicant, undertake the required restoration. The cost of the restoration or construction shall be deducted from the escrow sum paid by the applicant in accordance with § 383-2.
[Amended 9-29-2009 by Ord. No. 09-18]
The escrow or remainder thereof shall be returned to the applicant upon the issuance of a certificate of proper restoration as provided in § 383-8.
[Amended 11-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-23]
In the event that any provision of this article shall conflict with the provision of any statute (state or federal) or with any rule or regulation of the State Board of Public Utility Commissioners or the Federal Power Commission, such provision, to the extent of such conflict, shall not apply.
[Amended 4-2-2019 by Ord. No. 19-07; 10-1-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-27]
Each public utility desiring to obtain permits pursuant to this article shall file each year with the Clerk a bond, which may be the bond of such corporation solely, in the sum of $50,000, conditioned upon compliance with the applicable provisions of this article.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 22-14, entitled "Penalty," which immediately followed this section, was deleted 11-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-23.