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The Public Works Department (the "Department") may exempt its contractors or the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) from particular requirements in §§ 52.01 through 52.06 when substantial compliance has been assured through the town's contracting system, or, in the case of NCDOT, where the need for state infrastructure on town roads, or a joint undertaking by the town and NCDOT, or the use of state controlled areas of the public way makes the application of such requirements unreasonable.
(Ord. 17-12, passed 9-18-2017)
Except in the event of an emergency, it shall be unlawful to do work in the PROW or maintain facilities in the PROW without the required authorizations/permits that may be necessary. In the event of an emergency, a person may do such work as is necessary to address the emergency, but only the emergency. Application shall immediately be made for necessary authorizations from the town, notwithstanding that work may have started or have been completed and all necessary fees shall be paid.
(Ord. 17-12, passed 9-18-2017)
An application must be filed with the Department for any work other than normal maintenance on or associated with any pole or other support structure, including modification, change or replacement of equipment that would be different in size, weight or appearance than the existing equipment that is not otherwise exempt under this chapter. The following information shall be submitted in an application for an encroachment permit.
(A) Contact information for the user of the public right-of-way and contractors performing the work. Include all contractor's/trade's/professional licenses held and license numbers.
(B) Description of the work to be performed, including the specific location or the requested make ready work.
(C) Construction drawings demonstrating compliance with the Town of Carthage Engineering Specifications and Standard Details, the NCDOT Subdivision Road Manual, and the latest edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and Chapter 100 Development Ordinance.
(D) Description of all existing infrastructure within the proposed work area and any proposed modification, improvement or movement of infrastructure.
(E) Evidence that the owners of other utilities or encroachers near the new work have been notified.
(F) Proposed work schedule.
(G) Insurance. The town may require persons that do work in the PROW and users to provide insurance by a company authorized to do business in the state, including but not limited to: i) workers' compensation coverage for all employees; ii) employers' liability insurance; iii) commercial general liability; and iv) business auto policy. The town may require that the town, its officials, employees and consultants be named as additional insureds on such insurance policies in that case the applicant shall provide a certificate of insurance. If an applicant has previously damaged town property or has not adequately repaired damaged town property during the past three years, the amount of insurance shall be as determined by the town, in part based on the scope of the work and the tenure or term of occupancy.
(H) To facilitate the preparation and submittal of an application in compliance with this chapter, and thereby expedite the review and permitting of an application, a pre-application meeting may be held.
(I) No permitting of unidentified facilities. No permit or authorization shall be granted for new equipment or facilities that is not expressly and individually identified at the time of the application, including the specific location and design characteristics of each facility.
(J) Site visit. A site visit of each facility or proposed location of a new facility may be conducted to determine the physical condition of the facility or proposed location and to identify any issues of concern, non-compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and any safety issues or concerns.
(K) Installations in the PROW shall be located and constructed to create the least visual impact on the immediate surrounding area and the least physical intrusion and impact on the limited space in the PROW. Such facilities/equipment shall not be constructed in a sight triangle or so close to the curb or edge of pavement that a safety hazard is created. (See § 92.02 of this code.)
(L) Riser cable. All riser or other vertically run cable of any kind attached to a pole or other support structure shall be protected with non-conductive, non-degradable material shall be of a color that matches the color of the pole or other support structure as closely as is reasonably possible.
(M) New and replacement poles or support structures that are not substantial modifications or routine maintenance. An application for a new or replacement pole or support structure must include detailed design criteria, including material composition, aesthetic appearance and a structural adequacy analysis with calculations which must be able to be independently verified using the information submitted by the applicant.
(1) New and replacement installations shall be consistent throughout the town limits;
(2) When feasible and in lieu of installing new poles, new installations shall precipitate replacing an existing distribution pole, secondary pole or streetlight with a pole that meets the standards set forth in this section;
(3) Installations shall be on non-conductive poles;
(4) All wireless facilities and base stations (including radios, network equipment and batteries) shall be: i) enclosed in a pedestal cabinet near the pole; ii) in a pole-mounted cabinet; or iii) under a pole-mounted shroud; and
(5) Equipment installations shall be on poles that meet or exceed current NESC standards and wind and ice loading requirements of the latest edition of TIA 222.
(Ord. 17-12, passed 9-18-2017)
(A) To facilitate the application process and to mitigate application-related costs for applicants, depending upon the scope of the proposed work and its impact, both visual and physical as determined by the Department, applications for small/micro wireless facilities may be submitted in groups of up to 25 facilities in a single application.
(B) No taxpayer subsidization. Taxpayers may not directly or indirectly subsidize applicant's costs.
(C) Maximum permitted height.
(1) On wireless support structures. Utility poles and town utility poles the maximum permitted height is 50 feet above ground level.
(2) Small wireless facilities may extend ten feet above the height of the utility pole, town utility pole or wireless support facility on which they are collocated.
(3) In the R-20, R-10 and R-HD zoning districts, in areas where the existing utilities are installed underground the maximum height is 40 feet above ground level.
(4) On blocks where decorative light or utility poles are installed, collocations may only occur on decorative poles if feasible. New poles shall be of the same design and materials as the decorative poles. (See § 52.03 for information on encroachment on town utility poles.)
(D) Absent a showing by clear and convincing evidence of the need for a greater lateral distance between poles or other support structures in the PROW, the minimum lateral distance between poles or other support structures as measured in any direction shall be 100 feet. This minimum lateral distance shall not be applicable to poles or support structures that support lines or cables crossing a street.
(E) Compliance with NESC and NEC. All electronic attachments to poles or other structures in the PROW shall always be in compliance with the edition of the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) and the National Electrical Code (NEC) in effect at the later of:
(1) The time the facility was constructed;
(2) The time of the last modification of equipment on the pole or other support structure; or
(3) The edition in effect at the time of the current application.
(F) Service date. Applicants shall attest that small wireless facilitates be activated and placed in service no later than one year from the date the permit is issued.
(G) Abandonment.
(1) Wireless services providers are required to remove an abandoned wireless facility within 180 days of abandonment. Should the wireless services provider fail to timely remove the abandoned wireless facility, the town may cause such wireless facility to be removed and may recover the actual cost of such removal, including legal fees, if any, from the wireless services provider. For the purposes of this section, a wireless facility shall be deemed abandoned at the earlier of the date that the wireless services provider indicates that it is abandoning such facility or the date that is 180 days after the date that such wireless facility ceases to transmit a signal, unless the wireless services provider gives the town reasonable evidence that it is diligently working to place such wireless facility back in service.
(2) This section applies to rights-of-way controlled by the North Carolina Deptartment of Transportation.
(Ord. 17-12, passed 9-18-2017)
(A) Failure to acquire a permit or notify the Department of work in the right-of-way may result in a stop work order. The stop work order shall be in writing and state the conditions under which work may be resumed.
(B) The violation of a stop work order issued pursuant to this section shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable under G.S. §14-4 and may be subject to a civil penalty in the amount of $100 per day. Civil penalties authorized by this section may be assessed against the user on whose behalf work is being performed and against the contractor or subcontractor who is performing such work.
(C) If a user, contractor, or sub-contractor has received a stop work order within the last three months, the user is required to post a bond for up to 125% of the estimated cost of the work.
(D) All of the other provisions of § 10.99 of this code apply to violations of this chapter.
(Ord. 17-12, passed 9-18-2017)
(A) The department shall charge such fees as are authorized by the Town Board in the adopted fee schedule.
(B) The Town Board of Commissioners may grant non-exclusive licenses to use the rights-of-way or other town properties.
(C) The Town Board of Commissioners may enter into agreements governing pole attachments, other attachments, and/or the use of other town properties for the provision of wireless or communications services, including town-owned properties in town or other rights-of-way.
(Ord. 17-12, passed 9-18-2017)
The following words and terms in this section shall have the meaning given below unless the context indicates otherwise. These meanings shall apply whether a word is capitalized or not or is singular or plural.
ANTENNA. Communications equipment that transmits, receives, or transmits and receives electromagnetic radio signals used in the provision of all types of wireless communications services.
APPLICATION. A request that is submitted by an applicant to the town for a permit to collocate wireless facilities or to approve the installation, modification, or replacement of a utility pole, including town utility poles, or a wireless support structure.
AUTHORIZATION. Written permission from the town to do work in the PROW or to maintain facilities in the PROW and includes but is not limited to a franchise, a license, a permit, a letter, construction drawing approval. Multiple authorizations may be required for certain activities.
BASE STATION. A station at a specific site authorized to communicate with mobile stations, generally consisting of radio receivers, antennas, coaxial cables, power supplies, and other associated electronics.
COLLOCATION. The placement, installation, maintenance, modification, operation or replacement of wireless facilities on, under, within, or on the surface of the earth adjacent to existing structures, including utility poles, town utility poles, water towers, buildings, and other structures capable of structurally supporting the attachment of wireless facilities.
DEPARTMENT. The Public Works Department of the town.
EMERGENCY. A condition that poses a clear and immediate danger to life or health, or a significant loss of property, or requires immediate repair to restore service to a group of users of such service.
ENCROACHMENT (or WORK) PERMIT. A written authorization allowing a user or applicant to work in the town rights-of-way, including both temporary encroachments, such as construction and permanent encroachments, such as the installation of fixtures.
EXCAVATE. Without limitation any cutting, digging, grading, tunneling, boring, or other alteration of the surface or subsurface material or earth in the public way.
FACILITIES. Poles, pipes, culverts, conduits, ducts, cables, wires, fiber, amplifiers, pedestals, antennae, transmission or receiving equipment, other electronic equipment, electrical conductors, manholes, appliances, signs, poles, pavement structures, irrigation systems, landscaping, monument signs, monument mailboxes and any other similar equipment, for public or private use.
MAKE READY WORK. Any modification or replacement of a town utility pole necessary for the town utility pole to support a small wireless facility in compliance with applicable safety requirements, including the National Electrical Safety Code, that is performed in preparation for a collocation installation.
MICRO WIRELESS FACILITY. A small wireless facility that is no larger in dimension than 24 inches in length, 15 inches in width, and 12 inches in height and that has an exterior antenna, if any, no longer than 11 inches.
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE. Activities associated with regular and general upkeep of transmission equipment, including the replacement of existing wireless facilities with wireless facilities of the same size.
PERSON. An individual, association, firm, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, corporation, government, utility, or other organized entity able to contract for the activities described in this chapter, whether for profit or not for profit. The term does not include the town.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY (PROW). The area that is used as, or offered, dedicated, or reserved for use as a public street, highway, alley, trail, sidewalk, curb, gutter, bike lane, bridge, roundabout, tunnel, causeway, or shoulder, that is in the town or in an area proposed for annexation to the town. The area also includes, without limitation, drainage areas and dedicated areas without surface improvements that are adjacent to improved areas, and areas where no roads or other improvements have been constructed but which are dedicated for one or more of the above uses. The public way encompasses the surface of the ground, and the area above and below the ground. Sometimes referred to as town right-of-way.
SMALL WIRELESS FACILITY.
(1) A wireless facility that meets both of the following qualifications:
(a) Each antenna is located inside an enclosure of no more than six cubic feet in volume or, in the case of an antenna that has exposed elements, the antenna and all its exposed elements, if enclosed, could fit within an enclosure of no more than six cubic feet.
(b) All other wireless equipment associated with the facility has a cumulative volume of no more than 28 cubic feet.
(2) For purposes of this section, the following types of ancillary equipment are not included in the calculation of equipment volume: electric meters, concealment elements, telecommunications demarcation boxes, ground-based enclosures, grounding equipment power transfer switches, cut-off switches, vertical cable runs for the connection of power and other services, or other support structures.
SUBSTANTIAL MODIFICATION. The mounting of a proposed wireless facility on a wireless support structure that substantially changes the physical dimensions of the support structure. A mounting is presumed to be a substantial modification if it meets any one or more of the criteria listed below.
(1) Increasing the existing vertical height of the structure by the greater of:
(a) More than 10%; or
(b) The height of one additional antenna array with separation from the nearest existing antenna not to exceed 20 feet.
(2) Except where necessary to shelter the antenna from inclement weather or to connect the antenna to the tower via cable, adding an appurtenance to the body of a wireless support structure that protrudes horizontally from the edge of the wireless support structure the greater of: i) more than 20 feet; or ii) more than the width of the wireless support structure at the level of the appurtenance, increasing the square footage of the existing equipment compound by more than 2,500 square feet.
TOWN UTILITY POLE. A pole owned by a town in the town right-of-way that provides lighting, traffic control, or a similar function.
USER. A person that proposes to place facilities in the public way, places such facilities, or owns or maintains such facilities.
UTILITY POLE. A structure not owned by the town that is designed for and used to carry lines, cables, wires, lighting facilities or small wireless facilities for telephone, cable television, or electricity, or to provide lighting or wireless services.
(Ord. 17-12, passed 9-18-2017)