A. Permit Required; Application: It shall be unlawful to make any excavation in or tunnel under any public street, alley, sidewalk or other public place in the City, without having first secured a permit therefor. Applications for such permits shall be made to the City Clerk, and shall specify the intended location and the purpose of the excavation.
B. Restoration: Any person making such excavation shall refill the same properly and shall restore the surface to its condition before the excavation was made, as soon as possible. (1944 Code § 103)
C. Water Or Sewer Line Repairs; Fee: The fee for filling and repairing excavations in the street when made by the citizens of the City for repairs on water or sewer lines to their premises shall be fifty dollars ($50.00). (Ord. 72-34, 1-4-1972; 1997 Code)
D. Leaving Excavations Open: No person shall, in the City, keep or leave open any cellar door or grating of any vault, or shall keep or leave uncovered any other excavation on any highway, thoroughfare or sidewalk, or shall suffer any such door belonging to premises owned by him or her to be in an insecure position or condition, whereby passers-by may be in danger of falling into such cellar, vault or other excavation. (1944 Code § 104)
E. Excavations In Walks; Bridge Required: Whoever in the City shall excavate the walk of any street for building purposes, shall build, or cause to be built, a strong and substantial foot bridge along such excavation, outside of the gutter, adjacent to such excavated portion of the sidewalk; such bridge shall not be less than five feet (5') broad and securely protected by a substantial frame on each side, not less than three feet (3') in height, the boards or rails of which shall not be more than one foot (1') apart, so that foot passengers may pass over it safely and conveniently at all times. (1944 Code § 105)
F. Securing Excavations On Private Property: All holes, depressions, excavations or other dangerous places on private property within the City, that are below the natural or artificial grade of the surrounding or adjacent streets, shall be enclosed with a proper and sufficient fence or wall, and filled up so as to prevent animals and persons from falling into the same. It is hereby made the duty of the Public Works Director and/or Chief Of Police to notify the owners or occupants of the premises on which such dangerous places exist, to sufficiently enclose the same with a fence or wall, or cause the same to be filled within such time as they may deem the exigency of the case demands. (1944 Code § 106; 1997 Code)