[Adopted 5-11-1992 by Ord. No. 371]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to make any opening or excavation in or under any street,
alley or thoroughfare within the limits of the Borough of Mars unless
and until a permit therefor be secured from the Borough Secretary
for each separate undertaking, such permit and the application therefor
to be in the form prescribed by said Secretary and to contain a statement
that the applicant agrees to the terms of this article. Permits herein
required include, inter alia, a permit to connect with the sanitary
sewer system or to open or to make an excavation in connection therewith.
The police officers of the Borough shall promptly prohibit any work
being done without a proper permit or contrary to the terms hereof.
Entities performing emergency work at the discretion of the Borough
are exempt from complying with the permit and bond requirements of
this article.
The charge for said permit shall, for each separate
undertaking, be $300. The application for the permit and every such
permit shall specify a time when said opening or excavation will remain
open and the place where said opening or excavation will be made,
together with the probable length, width and depth and such further
information as the Borough may require. Any additional surface to
be disturbed and any additional time required may be endorsed on the
permit by the Secretary.
Before receiving said permit, each applicant
shall deposit with the Secretary a cash or security bond, which bond
shall remain on deposit for a period of six months after opening has
been closed, to indemnify the Borough against subsidence or faulty
replacement. At the end of said period, said bond or any remaining
part thereof not expended to correct the condition shall be released
to the applicant. In cases where public utility companies are the
applicants, the Borough may, at its discretion and upon terms fixed
by it, accept a duly executed indemnity bond. For excavations or openings
less than five feet in depth, the amount of the bond shall be based
on a rate of $100 per running foot. For excavations deeper than five
feet, the amount of the bond shall be based on a rate of $200 per
running foot.
It shall be the duty of any person or persons,
firms or corporations to whom a permit is issued or by whom any opening
or excavation is made as aforesaid to provide and maintain proper
and adequate guards, barriers and lights to prevent accidents, and
they shall assume all risks and be liable for all damages by reason
of the openings and excavations and by reason of any failure to properly
fill the hole or trench and maintain the disturbed surface in a safe
condition.
It shall be the duty of any person, firm or
corporation causing an opening or excavation to be made to thoroughly
and completely fill the same, puddling and ramming so as to prevent
any settling thereafter and to replace the surface of the thoroughfare
at the proper grade and with the same surface covering as the part
of the thoroughfare adjoining the opening and to remove all debris
created by said excavation. Said excavations shall be backfilled in
accordance with the following standards:
A.
Eight inches of No. 4 limestone or air-cooled blast
furnace slag base course compacted to 95% maximum density and choked
with crushed base course material.
B.
One-inch crushed slag or stone subbase choke throughout.
C.
Two-inch ID-2 binder.
D.
One-inch ID-2 wearing surface.
E.
Only base course and base choke materials would be
approved in compliance with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Publication 408 and their approved sources of supply or such regulations
and sources as may be in effect at the time of construction.
F.
The applicant shall provide for random on-site sampling
and testing of base and paving materials for each maximum 500 tons
of material when requested by Mars Borough. Such material shall be
tested for compliance with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Publication 408, or such subsequent amendments or latest edition,
and the cost of such sampling and testing is to be done without cost
to the Borough.
If the work in opening or in filling in or maintaining
the surface shall not be promptly or shall be improperly or incompletely
done, the Borough may cause the same to be done in the manner it deems
proper, and the expense thereof, including any overhead expense, shall
be charged to the person, firm or corporation by whom the opening
or excavation was made, together with 25% additional as a penalty.
Any or all parts thereof first paid out of the deposit or bond and
any balance to be collected as like claims and penalties are now by
law collectible. No permit shall be issued to any person, firm or
corporation in default under this section until the costs and penalty
herein provided are paid, and no further permit shall be granted to
any person, firm or corporation unless and until the openings or excavations
already caused by him or it have been properly filled and the surface
maintained as aforesaid.
In no case shall any opening or excavation made
by any person, firm or corporation be considered in the charge or
care of the Borough or any officer or person employed by the Borough,
and no officer or employee is authorized to in any way take or assume
any jurisdiction over any such opening or excavation.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any
of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof,
be punishable for each offense by a maximum fine of $300, to be collected
as fines and penalties are by law collectible, or by imprisonment
for not more than 90 days.
