A board of underground is hereby established and it shall henceforth be known as the office of underground coordination. The office shall consist of representatives of the following: the department of transportation, the department of streets and sanitation, the department of water management, and the department of planning and development; each public utility that provides utility service within the city and that chooses to participate in the office; and, at the invitation of the commissioner of transportation, other city departments and agencies, other governmental entities, and users of space under the public way. Each represented department shall designate a representative to attend meetings of and assist in the operations of the office. The representative of the department of transportation shall be the chairperson of the office.
The primary purpose of the office shall be to promote efficiency of work in the public way, to reduce the risk of damage to existing underground facilities, and to reduce the inconvenience to the public caused by work in the public way. In order to fulfill this purpose, the office shall do the following:
(a) coordinate the exchange, review and planning of the annual and five-year capital improvement plans and schedules of the office's member agencies, and oversee the resolution of identified construction conflicts;
(b) where determined appropriate by the commissioner of transportation, review design requests, contract plans, proposed vacations and dedications of real property, and applications for permits for construction in or adjacent to the public way, in order to assess the impact of any proposed or contemplated work on existing or contemplated facilities;
(c) assist and coordinate any necessary changes in the plans for any such work, as indicated in its review under subsection (b) of this section;
(d) issue guidelines for the review and examination of plans and construction permits for work in or adjacent to the public way;
(e) advise the commissioner of transportation on the establishment of a fee schedule for the office's services;
(f) establish committees for the performance of its work, including an executive committee consisting of the office's chairperson and representatives of participating public utilities.
(Added Coun. J. 2-9-94, p. 45314; Amend Coun. J. 9-10-97, p. 50512; Amend Coun. J. 12-4-02, p. 99026, § 1.5; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. VIII, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-17-10, p. 106597, Art. IX, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 11-26-13, p. 67481, Art. I, § 6)