[Adopted 1-27-1975 by L.L. No. 1-1975]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Street
Excavation Law of the Village of Suffern."
A.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present
tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular
number, and words in the singular number include the plural number.
The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
B.
APPLICANT
EXCAVATION WORK
PERMITTEE
PERSON
STREET
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
For the purposes of this article, the following terms, phrases, words
and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
Any person making written application to the Superintendent
of Public Works for an excavation permit hereunder.
The excavation and other work permitted under an excavation
permit and required to be performed under this article.
Any person who has been granted and has in full force and
effect an excavation permit issued hereunder.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
Any street, highway, sidewalk, curb, alley, avenue or other
public way or public grounds in the Village.
The Superintendent of Public Works of the Village of Suffern.
It shall be unlawful for any person to dig up, break, excavate,
tunnel, undermine or in any manner break up any street, to make or
cause to be made any excavation in or under the surface of any street
for any purpose or to place, deposit or leave upon any street any
earth or other excavated material obstructing or tending to interfere
with the free use of the street, unless such person shall first have
obtained an excavation permit therefor from the Superintendent of
Public Works as herein provided.
No excavation permit shall be issued unless a written application
for the issuance of an excavation permit is submitted to the Superintendent
of Public Works. The written application shall state the name and
address of the applicant, the nature, location and purpose of the
excavation, the date of commencement and date of completion of the
excavation and other data as may reasonably be required by the Superintendent
of Public Works. The application shall be accompanied by plans showing
the extent of the proposed excavation work, the dimensions and elevations
of both the existing ground prior to said excavation and of the proposed
excavated surfaces, the location of the excavation work and such other
information as may be prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Works.
[Amended 8-20-1980 by L.L. No. 6-1980; 3-12-1990 by L.L. No.
3-1990]
A.
Fees. No permit for a street opening shall be issued by the Superintendent
of Public Works until the applicant therefor shall have first paid
to the Village Clerk, in cash or by check payable to the Village of
Suffern, a deposit to be set by resolution of the Board of Trustees
in the Standard Schedule of Fees.[1]
A.
The amount of deposit shall be retained by the Village for the duration
of the period of maintenance as defined hereinbelow.
B.
Upon failure or default by the permittee of any of the terms, agreements,
covenants and conditions of the permit on the permittee's part
to be done or performed, said deposit may be used by the Village for
any expense incurred by the Village by reason of such failure or default
on the part of the permittee.
C.
After expenses for such failure or default, as determined and certified
by the Superintendent of Public Works, have been paid and deducted
from the amount of the deposit, any balance left after such deductions
shall be refunded to the permittee at the end of the maintenance period.
D.
The period of maintenance shall be considered as a period of two
years after the date of final completion, as determined by the Superintendent
of Public Works, of the work to be done pursuant to the terms of the
permit. The permittee shall be responsible for the entire work and
shall keep every portion of said work in perfect order and repair
during the entire period of maintenance.
The Superintendent of Public Works shall provide each permittee
at the time a permit is issued hereunder a suitable placard plainly
written or printed in English letters at least one inch high with
the following notice: "Village of Suffern Permit No. __________ Expires
__________," and in the first blank space there shall be inserted
the number of said permit, and after the word "expires" shall be stated
the date when said permit expires. It shall be the duty of any permittee
hereunder to keep the placard posted in a conspicuous place at the
site of the excavation work. It shall be unlawful for any person to
exhibit such placard at or about any excavation not covered by such
permit or to misrepresent the number of the permit or the date of
expiration of the permit.
A.
Unless otherwise agreed upon between a public service corporation
and the Village of Suffern, a public service corporation may, in lieu
of the deposit hereinabove specified for street opening, file and
keep on file with the Superintendent of Public Works a bond in the
amount of $5,000 said bond to be approved as to form, amount and sufficiency
of surety by the Village Attorney, and said bond to be retained as
security for the faithful performance by the applicant of all terms,
agreements, covenants and conditions of the permit on the applicant's
part to be done or performed.
B.
A public service corporation may, in lieu of the insurance hereinbefore
specified for street opening, file and keep on file with the Superintendent
of Public Works an agreement, approved as to form by the Village Attorney,
to indemnify and save harmless the Village from claims, suits, actions,
proceedings, losses, injuries, damages and costs of every name and
description arising out of or resulting from an act or omission on
the part of such public service corporation under any permit granted
to it or from any negligence or fault of such public service corporation,
its contractors, agents, servants or employees in connection with
sidewalk, curb or driveway work or repairs or street openings or any
work related thereto and to also defend on behalf of the Village any
such suits, actions or proceedings which may be instituted against
the Village.
The permittee shall take appropriate measures to assure that
during the performance of the excavation work traffic conditions as
nearly normal as practicable shall be maintained at all times so as
to cause as little inconvenience as possible to the occupants of the
abutting property and to the general public, provided that the Superintendent
of Public Works may permit the closing of streets to all traffic for
a period of time prescribed by him if, in his opinion, it is necessary.
The permittee shall route and control traffic including its own vehicles
as directed by the Police Department. The following steps shall be
taken before any street may be closed or restricted to traffic:
A.
The permittee must receive the approval of the Superintendent of
Public Works and the Chief of the Police.
B.
The permittee must notify the Chief of the Fire Department of any
street so closed.
C.
Upon completion of construction work, the permittee shall notify
the Superintendent of Public Works and Chief of Police before traffic
is moved back to its normal flow so that any necessary adjustments
may be made.
The excavation work shall be performed and conducted so as not
to interfere with access to fire stations and fire hydrants.
It shall be unlawful for the permittee to suffer or permit to
remain unguarded at the place of excavation or opening any machinery,
equipment or other device having the characteristics of an attractive
nuisance likely to attract children and hazardous to their safety
or health.
Backfilling in any street opened or excavated pursuant to an
excavation permit issued hereunder shall be compacted to a degree
equivalent to that of the undisturbed ground in which the trench was
dug. Compacting shall be done by mechanical tappers or vibrators,
by rolling in layers or by water settling, as required by the soil
in question and sound engineering practices generally recognized in
the construction industry. The decision as to whether a trench shall
be backfilled by water settling shall be based upon such engineering
practices and shall be made by the Superintendent of Public Works.
A.
The permittee shall restore the surface of all streets broken into
or damaged as a result of the excavation work to its original condition
in accordance with the specifications of the Superintendent of Public
Works. Temporary resurfacing shall be placed by the contractor immediately
after backfilling. The temporary pavement shall be kept in good condition
until the permanent surfacing is placed.
B.
Acceptance of approval of any excavation work by the Superintendent
of Public Works shall not prevent the Village from asserting a claim
against the permittee for incomplete or defective work if discovered
within 24 months from the completion of the excavation work. The Superintendent
of Public Works' presence during the performance of any excavation
work shall not relieve the permittee of its responsibilities hereunder.
A.
If the permittee shall have failed to restore the surface of the
street to its original and proper condition upon the expiration of
the time fixed by such permit or shall otherwise have failed to complete
the excavation work covered by such permit, the Superintendent of
Public Works, if he deems it advisable, shall have the right to do
all work and things necessary to restore the street and to complete
the excavation work. The permittee shall be liable for the actual
cost thereof and 25% of such cost in addition for general overhead
and administrative expenses. The Village shall have a cause of action
for all fees, expenses and amounts paid out and due it for such work
and shall apply, in payment of the amount due it, any funds of the
permittee deposited as herein provided. The Village shall also enforce
its rights under the permittee's bond provided pursuant to this
article.
B.
It shall be the duty of the permittee to guarantee and maintain the
site of the excavation work in the same condition it was prior to
the excavation for two years after restoring it to its original condition.
The Superintendent of Public Works is authorized to require security,
in the form of a bond, letter of credit or cash deposit, in an amount
and form deeded appropriate by him and in a form acceptable to the
Village Attorney.
[Amended 11-7-2011 by L.L. No. 16-2011]
In the event of any emergency in which a sewer, main, conduit
or utility in or under any street breaks, bursts or otherwise is in
such condition as to immediately endanger the property, life, health
or safety of any individual, the person owning or controlling such
sewer, main, conduit or utility, without first applying for and obtaining
an excavation permit hereunder, shall immediately take proper emergency
measures to cure or remedy the dangerous conditions for the protection
of property, life, health and safety of individuals. However, such
person owning or controlling such facility shall apply for an excavation
permit not later than the end of the next succeeding day during which
the Superintendent of Public Works' office is open for business
and shall not proceed with permanent repairs without first obtaining
an excavation permit hereunder.
No permit for street opening shall be issued by the Superintendent
until the applicant therefor shall have first placed on file with
said Superintendent, without cost to the Village, satisfactory evidence
of general liability insurance in the amount of not less than $100,000
for any one person and not less than $300,000 for any one accident
and property damage insurance in the amount of not less than $25,000
for any one accident and $50,000 in the aggregate and satisfactory
evidence that said insurance has been approved as to form, correctness
and adequacy by the Village Attorney to insure the Village and the
applicant against any loss, injury or damage arising out of the granting
of the permit or from any negligence or fault of said applicant, his
agents, servants or employees in connection with said opening or with
any work related thereto. Such insurance shall remain in force throughout
the effective period of the permit as well as any authorized extensions
thereof and shall carry an endorsement to the effect that the insurance
company will give at least 10 days' written notice to the Village
of any modification or cancellation of any such insurance.
The provisions of this article shall not be applicable to any
excavation work under the direction of competent Village authorities
by employees of the Village or by any contractor of the Village performing
work for and on behalf of the Village necessitating openings or excavations.
A.
This article shall not be construed as imposing upon the Village
or any official or employee any liability or responsibility for damages
to any person injured by the performance of any excavation work for
which an excavation permit is issued hereunder, nor shall the Village
or any official or employee thereof be deemed to have assumed any
such liability or responsibility by reason of inspections authorized
hereunder, the issuance of any permit or the approval of any excavation
work.
B.
The permittee agrees in accepting a permit to save harmless the Village
of Suffern, its officers and servants from and against any injury,
loss, damage or legal action resulting from any negligence or fault
of the permittee, its agents or servants in connection with work covered
by the permit
[Added 5-27-1975 by L.L. No. 8-1975]
This article shall not be construed to apply to the installation or replacement of utility service over, under or through public areas by the adjoining property owner or to the construction and repair of sidewalks, whether done voluntarily or by direction of the Village, provided that the limit of the work area does not encroach upon or disturb paved, surfaced or traveled rights-of-way. This exemption shall apply solely to the adjoining property owner, and in the event that the work to be performed shall be performed in whole or in part by a contractor or subcontractor for the benefit of the adjoining property owner, that contractor shall be required to post insurances in accordance with the provisions of § 235-26 of this article to cover the period of time during which service is to be performed. If the work is performed by the adjoining property owner, said property owner shall execute a letter of indemnification holding the Village free and harmless from any and all liabilities. It is the intention of this exemption to permit the adjoining property owner to install or replace utility service in the areas set forth without the requirements of fees and deposits. However, if, in the discretion of the Superintendent of Public Works, the homeowner makes application for the purpose of assisting a contractor in avoiding the provisions of this article, said Superintendent of Public Works shall have the authority to deny the exemption and impose the fees and deposits required hereunder.
[Amended 3-12-1990 by L.L. No. 3-1990]
B.
Whenever any person shall have been notified, in writing, by the
Superintendent of Public Works that he is violating any of the provisions
of this article or is served with a summons or warrant accusing him
thereof, each day that he shall continue such violation after such
notification or service shall constitute a separate offense, punishable
by a like fine or penalty.
