[Adopted 5-8-1951 (Ch. 75 of the 1978 Code)]
[Amended 5-23-1978; 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
No person, firm, corporation or public utility shall hereafter tear up, open, dig, or excavate any street, highway, road, avenue or public place or right-of-way, or take up, obstruct or disturb the pavement, curbing, guttering, flagging or other surface laid thereon, or tear up, dig, open, excavate or disturb the subsurface thereof in any way for any purpose whatsoever, in the Township of Mantua, owned, maintained or controlled by the Township of Mantua, without first making application for and receiving a permit therefor signed in the name of the Township of Mantua by the Township's Director of Public Works or his designee.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The permit, when issued, shall be required to be signed by the real party in interest applying therefor, or his or its duly authorized agent, and said permit shall constitute a valid contract between the real party in interest and the Township of Mantua.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The application for the permit and the permit itself shall constitute one instrument, but the permit shall in no case be effective until signed in the name of the Township of Mantua by the Township Director of Public Works or his designee.
[Amended 5-23-1978; 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The Director of Public Works, upon written application therefor, is hereby authorized to and shall issue permits for street, highway, road, avenue or right-of-way openings and excavations, subject to the conditions herein.
A. 
Filing plans; time for completion. The applicant shall file with the Director of Public Works an original written application stating the kind, character and purpose of the proposed excavation or opening, and provide in the application such other information which may be reasonably required to fulfill the requirements of this article. The application shall be accompanied by two copies of a plan showing the extent and location of the work to be done and the time when the same shall be commenced and completed. No permit shall be granted hereunder until the applicant has complied with the provisions of this article. The permit shall state that the application and plan have been filed and shall recite the time within which the work shall be completed. There shall be obtained from the Director of Public Works a permit for each and every excavation or opening.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
B. 
Deposits required. No permit shall be issued unless, at the time of application to the Director of Public Works, there shall be deposited with the Township Clerk a copy of the application, along with such sums as specified in § 350-5 of this article. Such sums have been determined by the Township Committee as reasonably sufficient to cover the cost and expense to the Township of Mantua of supplying the necessary material and labor, or otherwise providing for repairing, repaving, replacing or otherwise restoring such road, highway, street, avenue, public place or right-of-way so opened, dug, taken up, obstructed, excavated or disturbed, and providing against future subsidence thereof.
C. 
Notification; detour plan. The applicant shall not commence any work for which a permit has been issued hereunder without first providing at least 48 hours' written notification to both the Director of Public Works and the Township's Chief of Police of the start of any work. No applicant shall close any portion of any street, highway, road, avenue or public place or right-of-way upon commencement of work without first obtaining approval of any closure from the Township's Engineer and the Township's Chief of Police. No work for which a permit has been issued hereunder shall commence until the applicant shall have obtained approval from both the Township's Engineer and the Township's Chief of Police of a detour plan regarding and relating to the work to be performed and any road closures.
D. 
Insurance. No permit shall be issued unless, at the time of application to the Director of Public Works, there shall be provided with the application a certificate of insurance evidencing that the applicant is carrying liability insurance with a minimum coverage of $1,000,000 for each individual involved in an accident, with $2,000,000 in aggregate for personal injury, and $1,000,000 for property damage. The Township shall be named as an additional insured regarding this coverage, and proof satisfactory to the Township's Solicitor shall be so provided by the applicant.
E. 
Maintenance. By applying for a permit, the applicant agrees that for a period of one year from the date of the release of any performance security deposit hereunder, the applicant will be responsible for the maintenance of such excavation or opening. The Township shall retain 10% of the cash performance security for a period of one year after approval of the work by the Township Committee by resolution as security for maintenance. In lieu of the ten-percent cash holdback, or if a security performance bond has been posted, the applicant shall post a maintenance bond in the ten-percent amount with surety satisfactory to the Township Committee.
[Amended 10-13-1981; 1-23-1990; 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007; 11-18-2024 by Ord. No. O-12-2024]
A. 
Application fees, escrow and security performance deposit.
(1) 
At the time of making application for the permit required hereunder, and prior to obtaining the permit specified herein, application fees, escrow, and a security performance deposit shall be received by the Land Use Office as follows:
(a) 
When the number of openings is four or less:
[1] 
Application fee: $200 (nonrefundable).
[2] 
Escrow fee: $1,000.
[3] 
Cash security bond deposit: $3,000 up to 100 square yards.
(b) 
When the number of openings are five to 12:
[1] 
Application fee: $200 (nonrefundable).
[2] 
Escrow fee: $1,000.
[3] 
Cash security bond deposit: $30/square yard for trench areas greater than 100 yards.
(c) 
When the number of openings exceeds 12, or the trenching is associated with a utility main replacement, the following shall apply:
[1] 
Application fee: $10,000 (nonrefundable).
[2] 
Escrow fee: initial deposit shall be $10,000, when the balance of the escrow falls below $5,000, another deposit of $5,000 shall be required.
[3] 
Cash security bond/performance guaranty deposit: $30/square yard for trench areas greater than 100 yards.
[4] 
A pre-construction meeting will be mandatory with the Township. No work shall occur, nor will the permit be considered valid, until such meeting is held.
[5] 
Roadway restoration for the individual trenches shall be combined into a single roadway repair. The single repair shall encompass all individual openings on the same side of the street. The restoration shall be performed from the curbline (or gutter line) to the center line of the roadway and to the satisfaction of the Township.
[6] 
When the open cut method is utilized, all excavations are to be backfilled with flowable fill.
(2) 
The Township Committee may accept from such applicant in lieu of such cash security performance deposit a bond in an amount and with surety satisfactory to the Township Committee. Such security performance deposit amount shall be held by the Township and disbursed in accordance with the remaining portions of this article.
B. 
Fees. All fees received by the Township shall be deposited with the Township Treasurer within seven days of receipt, and notice shall be given by the Township Clerk to the Director of Public Works that the sums as specified in § 350-5 have been received and are in proper amounts.
C. 
Records. The Township Treasurer shall record all such transactions to protect the Township's financial interest in accordance with the conditions specified herein.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
Upon such notice to the Director of Public Works and under his inspection, the contractor securing the permit hereunder shall, immediately after completing the work necessitating the excavating or opening, refill with material suitable to the Director of Public Works, properly tamped, and restore the excavation or opening with a temporary cover as follows: earth and gravel roads with gravel not less than eight inches thick; all other roads or driveways with four inches of bituminous stabilized base course mix I-2 and all walkways with two inches of bituminous cold patch. This first refilling shall be considered temporary. The applicant shall maintain the area of excavation free from potholes and depressions until the final surface of two inches of I-5 bituminous surface course has been applied and approved. The final surface shall be applied at a time specified by the Township Engineer, and with materials specified by the Township Engineer, and in all cases the opening or excavation shall be replaced in as nearly as possible the same condition as it was at the time of the opening, including all filling, replacing of shoulders of the road where removed, and rolling and tamping to conform to the grade and the balance of said road, and, in so far as concrete pavement is removed, shall be replaced finally with reinforcement of the same materials and in the same manner as originally built.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The applicant shall notify the Township Engineer and Director of Public Works immediately upon the completion of the job. The excavation and the work required to be done shall be inspected by the Township Engineer and the Director of Public Works, and if found satisfactory, the cash security performance deposit or bond of the applicant shall be returned to the applicant, as set forth herein, within 60 days after the date of approval of the work and posting of any maintenance bond, upon approval of the Township Committee by resolution.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
In the event the Township Engineer or Director of Public Works does not approve the replacement, the applicant shall be notified in writing and shall be given a reasonable time to correct the deficiency, and upon the failure to correct said deficiency, the Township Engineer or Director of Public Works shall report the same to the Township Committee, and thereupon the Township shall cause the street, highway, road, avenue, or right-of-way to be properly repaired and any deposit made by the applicant shall be applied to the cost thereof, and if said deposit is insufficient to cover the cost thereof, the applicant shall be held liable therefor, and if the deposit is more than sufficient to cover the cost, the excess shall be returned to the applicant.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
In case of emergency, any person may make an excavation in or tear up the surface of any road without first having obtained from the Township Director of Public Works a permit therefor, in which case the person must make application for such a permit within two working days after the occurrence of such emergency; provided, nevertheless, that said person shall first advise by telephone the office of the Township Director of Public Works of the nature of the emergency.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The applicant shall properly guard the excavation by the erection of suitable barricades and also by displaying warning lights at night. The applicant shall in all cases provide reasonable safeguards by day and night to protect the traveling public. The applicant shall at all times maintain proper and sufficient drainage to prevent the accumulation of water upon the road to ensure an adequate and safe passage for the traveling public and, in this respect, shall carry out, at its own expense, any orders of the Township Engineer or Director of Public Works.
If the excavation is to extend the full width of the road, no more than 1/2 of the road shall be opened at one time, and such half shall be backfilled before the other half is opened so as to permit the free flow of traffic.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
All permits issued under this article shall expire and become void 90 days from the date of issue unless renewed in writing by the Director of Public Works, but the Township shall not lose any of the rights of action, if any it has, against the applicant by reason of granting such renewal.
[Amended 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007
All cuts, breaks, excavations or openings shall be saw cut and conform in size to the application on which the permit is based and shall be performed in neat, even and rectangular sections. All excavation to a depth of four feet or over, and such other excavations as may be required by the Director of Public Works, shall be shored and braced to support the walls of the trench in accordance with applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administrator (OSHA) regulations for the protection of workmen and to prevent the unintentional widening of the trench.
[Added 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The applicant shall at all times adhere to and follow the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) regarding traffic control and, whenever any cut, excavation or opening would be dangerous if left exposed, erect a suitable barricade or railing in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) around the same in such manner as to prevent danger to pedestrians or vehicles and place upon such fence or railing and upon any building materials and appliances suitable and sufficient warning lights during the period of darkness.
[Added 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The applicant shall keep the area of work clear of dirt and debris at all times and shall carry away and dispose of excess dirt, debris and other materials resulting from the work.
[Added 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed as requiring the issuance of a permit for the performance of any work done by the Township, or under a contract with the Township, for the construction of sewers, water mains, streets, sidewalks or curb improvements.
[Added 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
The applicant, in accepting a permit under this article, shall be deemed to have agreed to indemnify and save harmless the Township from and against any and all loss, costs or damages incurred by reason of any damage to any property, injury to any person, or any loss of life resulting from his/her intentional acts or negligence, or the intentional acts or negligence of his/her agents, servants or employees in performing the work covered by the permit, or in the use of the permit for an encroachment/obstruction, or in maintaining such encroachment or obstruction.
[Added 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
A. 
The terms of this article shall not apply to a street in any subdivision approved by either the Township Planning Board or Township Zoning Board prior to acceptance of said street for maintenance by the Township of Mantua.
B. 
The Township Committee may by resolution approve of the waiver of the fees and deposits required hereunder for a duly incorporated, tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation or organization. Such waiver shall be obtained prior to application being made hereunder.
[Amended 4-25-1978; 4-25-1989; 3-27-2007 by Ord. No. O-05-2007]
A. 
Any person, entity or corporation who or which violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by one or more of the following: imprisonment in the county jail or any place provided by the municipality for the detention of prisoners for a term up to but not exceeding 90 days or by a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $2,000 or by a period of community service up to but not exceeding 90 days, or any combination of the above.
B. 
Each day that a violation exists, occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense for the purpose of imposing the penalties referred to above.