The commissioner of public works shall have supervision of all
pipes and wires under the streets and public places and of all conduits
and other structures holding, supporting or containing such wires.
Permits to construct and maintain under, upon or over public
way or places, pipes, ducts, conduits, distributing poles, wires,
structures or other appliance or apparatus for the purpose of transmitting
intelligence by electricity or otherwise or for the purpose of transmitting
electricity or gas for light, heat or power may be issued by the city
council upon application filed with the city clerk.
[Ord. of 2-9-1982]
Every petition presented to the city council for a permit under the provisions of section 21-36 shall be accompanied by a plan showing the exact proposed location of each such facility and its relationship to the existing location of other utilities in the immediate area which may be affected by such proposed facility. A copy of such plan shall also be submitted to the commissioner of public services at the time of application.
[Ord. of 4-14-2009]
The fee for an Order for Joint or Identical Pole Location Inspection
shall be $50 and re-inspection shall be $25.
Whenever any permit required by this chapter is granted the
person or corporation to which such permit is granted shall, within
60 days from the date of such permit, file in the office of the city
clerk a written acceptance, without reservation, of the location of
such pipes, wires, distributing poles, ducts, conduits, manholes or
other fixtures and of all the lawful conditions, terms and provisions
contained in the permit and the ordinances of the city and an agreement
to carry out, observe, perform and be subject to the same; and in
default of such written acceptance and agreement, the permit and grant
of location shall be void. Such permit and grant shall likewise be
void and deemed revoked unless within six months after filing of such
acceptance and agreement all pipes, ducts, conduits, manholes and
other fixtures covered thereby shall have been constructed, completed,
and put in operation.
[Ord. of 2-9-1982]
No permit under this article shall be valid until the person
or corporation to which such permit is granted, shall have executed
and filed annually with the city clerk a bond, satisfactory in form
to the city solicitor, in a penal sum of $100,000 for each injury
and $300,000 in the aggregate, to indemnify and save harmless the
city against all loss, cost, damage and expense whatsoever to which
the city may be subjected in consequence of the acts or neglect of
such person or corporation, or his or its officers, agents or employees,
and in any manner arising from or growing out of the use and transmission
of electricity or gas and the transmission of intelligence by electricity
in the exercise of privileges permitted by the city, and the construction,
maintenance, operation., and use of pipes, lines, wires, distributing
poles, cables, conduits, constructions, fixtures and apparatus pursuant
thereto. The bond shall also be conditioned upon the fulfillment of
all agreements with the city, and the compliance with all lawful orders,
conditions and obligations imposed by the city council and the commissioner
of public services, and the performance of all duties required by
law, and by any ordinance of the city.
Whenever the commissioner of public works shall so request,
every person or corporation owning pipes, ducts, conduits, manholes
or electric or other wires under any public way or place, shall within
a reasonable time thereafter, furnish a plan showing the particular
location and usage of all or any part of such facilities, with such
specifications as may be required by the commissioner.
After having first given the person or corporation to whom the
permit for the erection thereof has been granted an opportunity to
be heard, the city council may order that the location in the public
way of any pipe, conduit, manhole, fixture, wire or distributing pole
shall be changed, and may grant a substitute location therefor. Whenever
the location of any pipe, conduit, manhole, fixture, wire, or distributing
pole is so ordered to be changed, such change shall be made in conformity
with the order by and at the expense of the owner within 60 days after
notice, and if not so changed the commissioner of public works may
cause such change to be made and the expense thereof shall be repaid
to the city by the owner.
Every person or corporation operating or leasing any pipes,
wires, ducts, conduits, manholes, electrical structures or appliances
under the surface of any street or way shall comply with all reasonable
rules and requirements of the commissioner of public works, and shall,
at all reasonable times, give to the supervisor of wires access to
such wires, ducts, conduits, manholes, structures, appliances and
apparatus.
All work of installation, changing or repairs shall be done
in a thorough manner and to the satisfaction of the commissioner of
public works.
In every underground conduit one duct not less than three inches
in diameter shall be reserved and maintained, free of charge, for
the use of the fire alarm, police and other telegraph and telephone
signal wires belonging to the city and used exclusively for municipal
purposes.
The surface of a street, way or bridge shall not be disturbed
for the purpose of laying, repairing, changing or removing pipes,
lines, wires, conduits or manholes, or of erecting, altering or removing
distributing poles or other poles or fixtures used for carrying electric
lines or wires without a permit in writing from the commissioner of
public works, indicating the time, manner and place of opening such
street and the time within which such work shall be completed. This
provision shall not however be construed as requiring any permit for
the opening of manholes for the purpose of drawing in, removing or
repairing wires or cables. Whenever a manhole is open the person or
corporation by whose authority the same is done shall place a suitable
metallic guard rail around the opening, with a signal, at least one
foot square, displayed therefrom. Whenever an opening is made in any
public way or bridge for any of the purposes aforesaid, such part
of the public way or bridge shall be promptly restored by the person
or corporation owning or operating the pipes, lines, wires, ducts,
conduits, or manholes, or making such repairs, to a condition satisfactory
to the commissioner of public works, and the portion of the street,
way or bridge so opened shall be kept and maintained in such condition
by such person or corporation for one year thereafter; and if not
immediately so restored, and thereafter kept and maintained, the commissioner
of public works may after 48 hours' notice cause the same to
be done at the expense of such person or corporation.
In laying, repairing or removing pipes, wires, or conduits,
no person or corporation, shall disturb or in any way interfere with
pipes, wires, conduits, manholes or appliances owned by any other
person or corporation.
Whenever pipes, wires, conduits or other structures are regulated
by this article in the judgment of the commissioner of public works,
unsuitable or unsafe, the person or corporation owning or operating
the same shall immediately upon his demand repair or replace the same
to his satisfaction. If not immediately repaired or replaced the commissioner
of public works may cause such repairs or substitutions to be made,
and the expense thereof shall be repaid to the city by the owner.
He may cause abandoned pipes, wires, conduits or other structures
to be removed.
Upon the completion of a conduit in any public way or place
which is designed to support existing overhead structures, the person
or corporation owning, leasing or operating the same shall forthwith
remove from above the surface of such public way or place all wires,
cables and conductors and all poles or structures used in such way
or place to support wires, cables and conductors, except when in the
judgment of the commissioner of public works it is impracticable to
remove such wires, cables, poles, conductors or structures. This section
shall not apply to posts for the support of lamps exclusively or to
poles used exclusively for local distribution from underground wires,
cables or conductors.
