(A) Placement of facilities. All facilities placed by an owner in public streets within the county shall be so located as to minimize interference with the proper use of public streets and other public ways and places, and to minimize interference with the rights or reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin any of these public streets.
(B) Obstructions in public streets.
(1) A person who places or maintains an obstruction in, on, over, under, or through a county public street shall promptly shift, adjust, accommodate, or remove the obstruction on reasonable notice from the County Commissioners.
(2) If a person fails or refuses to shift, adjust, accommodate, or remove an obstruction after reasonable notice, the Department may shift, adjust, accommodate, or remove the obstruction and the Director may charge the person having or maintaining the obstruction for the cost of performing the work.
(3) Any opening or obstruction in the public streets made by an owner in the course of its operation shall be guarded and protected at all times by the placement of adequate barriers, fences or boardings, the bounds of which, during periods of dusk and darkness, shall be clearly designated by warning lights.
(C) Restoration.
(1) In case of any disturbance of pavement, sidewalk, driveway, or other surfacing, or any public or private property, the owner or permittee shall, in a manner acceptable to the County Commissioners, replace, repair, and restore all paving, sidewalk, driveway, or surface of any public street or alley disturbed, or public or private property, in as good condition as before said work was commenced.
(2) Such restoration shall be at the owner’s or permittee’s cost and expense, except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law.
(3) In the event that the owner or permittee fails to complete any work required for the repair, protection, or restoration of the public ways or private property, or any other work required by law or ordinance, within the time specified by and to the reasonable satisfaction of the County Commissioners, the County Commissioners, following notice and an opportunity to cure, may cause such work to be done. In such a case, the owner or permittee shall reimburse the County Commissioners the cost thereof within 30 days after receipt of an itemized list of such costs, or the County Commissioners may recover such costs through any bond or other security instrument provided by the owner or permittee, except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law.
(D) Relocation of facilities.
(1) In the event that at any time the Commissioners shall lawfully elect to alter or change the grade or line of any public street, water main or sewer mains, an owner, upon reasonable notice by the Commissioners, shall remove, re-lay, and relocate its facilities so as to conform to the new grade or line, at its own expense, except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law.
(2) An owner shall, upon the request of any person holding a building moving permit, temporarily raise or lower its facilities to permit the moving of buildings. The expense of such temporary removal, raising, or lowering of facilities shall be paid by the person requesting the same, and the owner shall have the authority to require such payment in advance, except in the case where the County Commissioners make the request, in which case no such payment shall be required, except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law. An owner shall be given not less than 48 hours advance notice to arrange for such temporary wire changes.
(E) Compliance with applicable laws and standards.
(1) All excavations, construction, maintenance, and other work related to a facility in a public street, including work by the County Commissioners in its capacity as a utility, shall be performed in accordance with all applicable law and regulations and with §§ 92.001, 92.015 through 92.030, 92.045 through 92.054, and 92.065 through 92.067, including, where applicable, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, as amended; the National Electrical Safety Code, prepared by the National Bureau of Standards; and the National Electrical Code of the National Board of Fire Underwriters.
(2) All of an owner’s facilities shall be installed in accordance with good engineering practices, and maintained in a safe, suitable, and substantial condition in good order and repair.
(3) All safety practices required by law shall be used during construction, maintenance, and repair of an owner’s facilities.
(4) An owner or permittee shall at all times employ ordinary care and shall use commonly accepted methods and devices for preventing failures and accidents that are likely to cause damage, injury, or nuisance to the public.
(F) Coordination of excavations.
(1) On the first day of October, each utility shall prepare and submit to the Department a plan, in a format specified by the Department, that shows all reasonably foreseeable excavations in the paved portion of the public streets anticipated to be done in the next three years, or a statement that no excavations are proposed. The utility shall report to the Department promptly any changes in the plan as soon as those changes become reasonably foreseeable. The Department shall make the specified format available to utilities no less than 60 days before the date the plan is due.
(2) The Department may disclose information contained in a three-year plan to another utility only on a need-to-know basis in order to facilitate coordination and avoid unnecessary excavation. If a utility clearly and appropriately identifies information contained in the plan as proprietary, a trade secret, or otherwise protected from disclosure, then to the maximum extent permissible under federal, state, and local laws applicable to public records, the Department may not disclose that information to the public. If the Department determines that information is not clearly or appropriately identified, the Department shall notify the utility that the Department intends to disclose the requested information unless ordered otherwise by a court.
(3) The Department shall review the three-year plans submitted by utilities and identify conflicts and opportunities for coordination of excavations in the paved public streets. Each applicant shall coordinate, to the extent practicable, with each potentially affected owner and permittee to minimize disruption in the public streets.
(4) If utilities propose to excavate in the same paved public streets within a three-year period, the Department shall issue permits for the work in a manner that maximizes coordination and minimizes the total period of construction.
(5) If electric or telephone utilities are to be placed underground in a new subdivision, the lead utility shall give written notice to known utilities in the area within which the property is located. Such notice shall be given at least 48 hours before commencement of trenching construction.
(6) The County Commissioners may require joint use of the property, structures, and appurtenances of each utility located in the public streets, alleys, and public places, insofar as such joint use may be reasonable and practicable, adheres to good engineering practices, and does not conflict with applicable federal and state law. This provision shall not affect any right of any utility to charge for the use of its facilities pursuant to applicable law.
(2004 Code, § 92-5) (Ord. 08-11, passed 12-18-2008)