[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Maplewood 12-16-1975
as Ord. No. 1456. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 239.
Permission and consent be and the same is hereby granted to New Jersey
Bell Telephone Company, is successors and assigns to erect, construct, reconstruct,
remove, inspect, maintain and operate its communications facilities, including
underground conduits, subways, cables and related appurtenances, aerial and
buried cables, wires and related appurtenances, poles, posts, guys, pedestals,
manholes and all other related appurtenances, in, through, upon, along, over,
under and across all of the various streets, roads, avenues, highways, bridges
and waterways and parts thereof throughout their entire length and to effect
necessary street openings and lateral connections to curb poles, property
lines and other facilities in this township for its local and through lines
and communications facilities in connection with the transaction of its business.
All of the various streets, roads, avenues, highways, bridges and waterways
and parts thereof throughout their entire length in this township are hereby
designated and prescribed for the uses and purposes of said company as aforementioned.
All poles, posts or pedestals hereafter to be erected, constructed,
reconstructed, maintained and operated shall be located and placed back of
and adjacent to the curblines where shown by official maps of this township
and within eighteen (18) inches thereof, or as may be mutually agreed to by
both parties, and at the points or places now occupied by the poles, posts
or pedestals of said company, its successors and assigns and where there are
no curblines at other convenient points or places upon the streets, roads,
avenues and highways as may be mutually agreed to by both parties.
A.
Underground conduits shall be placed below the surface
of said streets, roads, avenues and highways and parts thereof and, with the
exception of lateral township to curb poles and property lines and other facilities,
said conduits generally shall not be constructed more than ten (10) feet from
the curbline, unless obstructions make it necessary to deviate from such course
or unless the parties mutually agree to another location. All underground
conduits shall be placed at least eighteen (18) inches below the surface.
B.
All manholes shall be located at such points along the
line of the subways or underground conduits as may be necessary or convenient
for placing, maintaining and operating the cables and other conductors and
appurtenances which said company may from time to time place in said subways
or underground conduits and shall be so constructed as to conform to the cross-sectional
and longitudinal grade of the surface so as not to interfere with the safety
or convenience of persons or vehicles.
C.
Said company may bury its cables and associated equipment,
fixtures and appurtenances within the right-of-way of the various streets,
roads, avenues and highways and parts thereof and at such locations as shall
be mutually agreed upon by the parties in this township for its local and
through lines and communications facilities.
A.
Before proceeding with any of the work for which permission
and consent is required under this ordinance, said company shall file with
the Mayor and Committee of this township a map or plan showing the location
and size of any such facilities, which map or plan shall be first approved
by said Mayor and Committee or their authorized representatives.
B.
Prior to the opening or excavating of any streets, roads,
avenues and highways and parts thereof for the purpose of laying, maintaining
and operating its underground systems, after the approval of the map and plan
as aforementioned, said company shall first obtain a permit for such opening
or excavation upon payment of such reasonable fee therefor as may be required
to cover the costs of administration and inspection and as provided by any
ordinance regulating openings and excavations of streets.
The surface of the streets, roads, avenues and highways and any pavement
or flagging taken up or soil and/or planting disturbed by said company in
building its lines shall be restored to as good condition as it was before
the commencement of work thereon. No highways shall be encumbered for a longer
period than shall be necessary to execute the work. Such restoration shall
be subject to the approval of the township after an inspection by its authorized
representative upon completion of the work.
Except as provided in § A337-4 of this ordinance, said company shall be exempt from any fee which may be required by any ordinance regulating the openings and excavations of streets within said township.
Wherever the curbline shall be established on streets where one does
not exist or where an established curbline shall be relocated in order to
widen an existing street or highway, said company shall change the location
of its poles, pedestals and related appurtenances at its own expense so that
the same shall be back of and adjacent to the new curbline so established,
upon receipt of notice from the municipal officials that the curbline has
been so established, so long as the township has acted with reasonable care
in establishing the new curbline and providing notice thereof.
Upon any of the streets, roads, avenues and highways in this township
now or hereafter occupied by the poles, posts or pedestals of said New Jersey
Bell Telephone Company, its successors and assigns or any other companies
or corporations having legal authority to erect and maintain poles, posts
or pedestals, the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company and such other companies
or corporations may use the same poles, posts or pedestals, provided that
they can agree so to do.
Said telephone company shall provide, free of charge, to this township
as long as this ordinance continues in effect space on its poles, so long
as said poles are occupied by said company, and space in its main subways
[not exceeding one (1) clear duct of standard size] to accommodate the wires
or electrical conductors required for signal control in connection with its
police patrol, fire alarm telegraph signal systems and traffic signal control
systems, but not to include circuits for the supply of electrical energy for
the traffic or other signals; provided, however, that such use by the municipality
shall not interfere with the equipment or operation of said company, and said
township shall indemnify and save harmless said telephone company from all
claims or suits for damages arising from the attachment to its poles or the
location in its main subways of any such crossarms, wires or electrical conductors
used by this township. Before proceeding with the attachment of its wires
to the poles or the placing of its electrical conductors in the main subways
or manholes of said company, either by itself or by a person, firm or corporation
engaged to perform such work, this township shall give said company thirty
(30) days' notice in writing. All such work shall be performed under
the supervision of said company. If any or all of the said streets or highways
are later taken over by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Essex
or the State of New Jersey Department of Transportation, then such Board of
Chosen Freeholders or the Department of Transportation may use the same clear
duct of standard size referred to for their respective police patrol, fire
alarm telegraph and traffic signal control systems in conjunction with the
township's use thereof for similar purposes, but only after making such
satisfactory arrangements as may be necessary with the township and the telephone
company for the full protection of each other's interests.
Said company shall indemnify the Township Committee of Maplewood against,
and assume all liability and damages which may at any time arise from, any
injuries to persons or property in the performance of any work done under
this ordinance or from the neglect of the company or its employees to comply
with the provisions of any ordinance of the township relative to the use of
streets or any other public places, and said company shall maintain lights
and barriers in and around excavations and protect the public using said streets
to the satisfaction of the Township Committee or its employees.
The company agrees to provide the Township of Maplewood with seven (7)
telephones free of rental or maintenance charges. These free telephones shall
be used only by the employees of the township and shall be located in such
public buildings or offices on the line or lines of said company in the Township
of Maplewood as shall be designated by the Township Committee, service thereon
to be of the same character as provided for regular subscribers, and no tolls
or charges shall be imposed by the company for the use of the telephones to
be placed at the office of the Township Committee on business of the township
for connections with any of the offices located on any of the lines owned,
leased or controlled by the company within the limits of Essex County.
Following final passage of this ordinance and acceptance by said company,
the permission and consent granted herein shall continue and be in force for
a period of fifty (50) years from the date of its approval by the New Jersey
Board of Public Utilities Commission, as required by law. Throughout the full
term of this ordinance, said company, its successors and assigns shall furnish
safe, adequate and proper service within this township and keep and maintain
its property and equipment in such condition as to enable it to do so.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to grant unto said New Jersey
Bell Telephone Company, its successors and assigns an exclusive right or to
prevent the granting of permission and consent to other companies for like
purposes on any of the streets, roads, avenues or highways of this township.
The term "township," as used in this ordinance, shall be held to apply
to and include any form of municipality or government into which this township
or any part thereof may at any time hereafter be changed, annexed or merged,
and the term "township" or any other term herein used in referring to the
governing body of this township shall be held to apply to and include the
governing body of such other form of municipality.
The permission and consent hereby granted shall apply to and cover all
existing communications facilities and related appurtenances heretofore erected,
constructed, reconstructed, maintained and operated by New Jersey Bell Telephone
Company or its predecessors.
Said company shall pay the expenses incurred for advertising done in
connection with the passage of this ordinance within thirty (30) days after
the date of its going into effect.
Upon passage of this ordinance in accordance with law, the Township
Clerk shall provide said company with written notice thereof by certified
mail. Said company shall file with the Township Clerk its written acceptance
of said ordinance within thirty (30) days of the receipt of said notice.
Said company shall, within thirty (30) days after the date of receipt
by it from the Township Clerk of notice of the passage and approval of this
ordinance file with the Township Clerk its bond, in the amount to be determined
by the Mayor and Committee, conditioned for the proper restoration of any
street, road, avenue or highway which it may open and excavate in the exercise
of the permission and consent granted by this ordinance.
