[Adopted 4-16-1987 by Ord. No. 87-6; amended in its entirety 10-19-1995 by Ord. No. 95-10 (Ch. 53 of the 1974 Township Code)]
No person, company, firm or corporation shall remove, excavate, dig or in any way disturb any public street within the Township of Oxford for any purpose without first obtaining a road-opening permit from Oxford Township. The term "street," as used herein, shall mean any publicly owned street, road or right-of-way over which the public travels, including dedicated but unaccepted subdivision streets, and all of the land between street lines, whether improved or unimproved.
A. 
The application for a road-opening permit shall be made on a form obtained from the Township Clerk.
B. 
Applications, together with the application fee, shall be submitted to the Township Clerk and reviewed by the Township Engineer and Police Chief. The Township Clerk shall issue a permit when the provisions of this article have been complied with.
The fee for a road-opening permit shall be $50.
The applicant shall be responsible to reimburse the Township for all sums paid to the Township Engineer and such other Township professionals for the services rendered by said Engineer and other Township professionals in connection with the permit application. The application shall be accompanied by an escrow payment in the sum of $400, to be applied on account of payment to the Township Engineer and other professionals. Any unused portion of said escrow shall be returned to the applicant at the conclusion of the application process.
A. 
The application shall be accompanied by two copies of a diagram or plan depicting the excavation or other activity for which the permit is sought and all proposed traffic control devices, barricades, signage and lighting.
B. 
No road-opening permit shall issue until the Township Engineer shall approve the applicant's diagram or plan depicting the excavation or other activity for which the permit is sought and all signage or other traffic control devices deemed necessary by the Township Engineer.
[Added 7-18-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-11]
A. 
Notice of pending paving; time restriction on excavation. When the Township shall improve or pave any street, the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works shall first give notice by delivering it personally, or by posting notice on the premises, and by regular mail to all persons owning property abutting on the street, about to be paved or improved, and to all public utilities and authorities operating in the Township, and all such persons, utilities and authorities shall make all connections, as well as any repairs thereto, which would necessitate excavation of the street, within 45 days from the giving of such notice. The time shall be extended if permission is requested, in writing, and approved by the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works.
B. 
Opening newly-paved street: restrictions. No permit shall be issued to any person given notice under § 12.1A hereof, which would allow an excavation or opening in a paved or improved street surface, less than five years old, unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate to the Township Committee that public health or safety requires that the proposed work be permitted, or unless an emergency condition exists.
C. 
Opening newly-paved street: penalty charge. If by special permission of the Township Committee, a permit is issued to open any paved or improved street surface less than five years old, a payment shall be made for the opening, except that the payment shall be waived in the event the work is of an emergency nature. The payment shall be equal to 2% of the cost of restoring the opening for each unelapsed month, or fraction thereof, for the five-year restriction period.
A. 
All signage and other traffic control devices shall be placed on self-supporting structures and shall not be affixed to trees, utility poles or traffic devices which are the property of the Township. All signing and other traffic control devices shall conform to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, current edition. All signing and other traffic control devices shall be kept clean and distinct and free from grease, dust or other blurring matter so as to be plainly visible at all times of day and night. No signing or other traffic control devices shall be permitted to be obscured by trees or parked vehicles.
B. 
All excavations shall be kept properly barricaded at all times and, during the hours of darkness, shall be provided with reflective material or warning lights.
C. 
Lighting, as required, shall be activated from 1/2 hour before sunset to 1/2 hour after sunrise and at any other time when there is not sufficient light to see persons and vehicles for a distance of at least 500 feet.
A. 
The Chief of Police or his designee may, in the exercise of his reasonable discretion, require the contractor to supply one or more flagmen on the job site.
B. 
Flagmen, when used in construction work areas, shall be equipped with the following:
(1) 
An orange cap and vest which shall be reflectorized, except during warm weather, when orange tee shirts may be substituted, provided that they are reflectorized.
(2) 
A red flag, measuring at least 24 x 24 inches; for night and darkness conditions, lights shall be used in place of said flag.
(3) 
Sign paddles consisting of stop/slow messages, as per the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, current edition. When used at night or in darkness, the stop/slow faces shall be reflectorized.
C. 
In those circumstances wherein N.J.S.A. 39:4-81 requires the flagman to be a traffic or police officer, the applicant shall enter into a police services agreement with the Township, which said agreement shall make provision for the Township to provide the services of uniformed traffic or police officers to the applicant at the cost to the applicant of a sum equal to 1.5 times the hourly rate for each uniformed traffic or police officer providing traffic control services, the sum of $6 per hour administration fee, and the sum of $10 per hour for each police vehicle used for providing traffic control.
All work shall be done in such a manner as to cause a minimum of interference with travel on the street affected. No street shall be closed to traffic unless such closing is approved by the Chief of Police or his designee. The Chief of Police or his designee shall specify the time and date of the closure and reopening of the roadway, with no deviation permitted. The Police Department and Department of Public Works shall be informed of all street closings at least 24 hours in advance, except that, where work is of an emergency nature, notice shall be given to the Police Department and Department of Public Works when work commences.
A. 
All trenches shall be backfilled by depositing therein select backfill (Type 5, Class A) in layers of not more than six inches in depth, each thoroughly rammed or tamped.
B. 
All pavement surfaces are to be replaced in accordance with the specifications of this Township governing new construction of such pavements but shall be a minimum of five inches of bituminous stabilized base course and two inches of fine aggregate bituminous concrete surface course.
C. 
After the ditch has been properly compacted, a two-inch temporary cold patch of blacktop pavement is to be applied to bring the existing ditch to the level of the adjoining pavement. Approximately two weeks thereafter, the cold-patch layer and five inches of the backfill material is to be removed, the edges of the adjoining pavement cleaned and seven inches of hot bituminous concrete pavement laid in its place and thoroughly rolled. Where the existing road is only surface-treated, the entire area of the ditch shall then be surface-treated with asphaltic oil and stone and the final application rolled with a six-ton roller. Where required by the Township Road Supervisor, permanently paved roads shall be cut with a saw before the final pavement is applied in order to give a proper bind and a neat appearance.
The work of backfilling and installing the temporary pavement shall be made within 24 hours after the completion of the work for which the opening was made. The backfilling and replacement of the subbase and the installing of the permanent pavement shall be completed within 30 days after starting, except that the Township Engineer, in his discretion, may make exceptions to the above time limits if, in his opinion, it is impractical to complete the work within the above-mentioned time.
No person shall position, store or park any construction equipment on any street after working hours, except with approval by the Chief of Police of his designee.
The application shall be accompanied by a certificate of insurance demonstrating that the applicant is the owner of a general liability insurance policy providing not less than $2,000,000 coverage for personal injury or death and $30,000 coverage for property damage. By making application for a road-opening permit, the permit holder agrees to save harmless the Township of Oxford, its officers, agents and servants from and against any loss, injury or damage resulting from the negligence or fault of the permit holder, its agents, servants and/or assigns or any injury or damage proximately related to any activity undertaken pursuant to the road-opening permit.
A. 
Prior to the issuance of the road-opening permit, the applicant shall provide the Township with a performance guaranty in favor of the Township in an amount equal to the estimated cost of completing the activity authorized by the road-opening permit, including restoration.
B. 
The form of the performance guaranty shall be as approved by the Township Attorney, and the amount of the guaranty shall be as determined by the Township Engineer.
C. 
Upon completion of all activity undertaken pursuant to the road-opening permit and satisfactory restoration, as certified by the Township Engineer, the permit holder shall be released from all liability pursuant to the performance guaranty.
[Amended 8-5-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-07; 9-16-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-05]
A. 
The Township Engineer shall have the power to grant such exceptions from the requirements of this chapter as may be reasonable if the literal enforcement of one or more provisions of this chapter is impracticable, unnecessary given the scope and nature of the proposed activity or will extract undue hardship.
B. 
All fees and escrow requirements may be waived by the Township Committee for water tap construction for any property whose arsenic levels exceed the state-approved standard. This Subsection B shall expire on December 31, 2009, unless otherwise extended by resolution of the Township Committee.
Failure to comply with any of the conditions of the road-opening permit or the terms and conditions of this article, as the case may be, shall be construed as a violation of this article and shall be grounds for the revocation of the road-opening permit.
[Amended 1-7-2009 by Ord. No. 2008-21]
Any person who violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of up to $2,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof, in the discretion of the court.