1. Excavation Permit Fee. An excavation permit fee shall be charged to every person who makes application to excavate in the right-of-way. The excavation permit fee shall be determined by the Building Inspector and shall be in an amount sufficient to recover the following costs:
A. The City cost component, the disruptive cost component, and the inspection cost component; and
B. The mapping cost component, which is the cost of creating and maintaining information on a mapping system.
Such fee shall, in part, be based on the size of the area to be excavated or impacted by the excavation; the duration that the area will be unavailable for public use; the amount of vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic that is disrupted thereby; and such other factors as the Building Inspector shall deem appropriate.
2. Obstruction Permit Fee. An obstruction permit fee shall be charged to every person who makes application to undertake activities in the right-of-way which will result in the obstruction of vehicular or pedestrian traffic. The obstruction permit fee shall be determined by the Building Inspector and shall be in an amount sufficient to recover the following costs:
A. The City cost component, the disruptive cost component, and the inspection cost component; and
B. The mapping cost component, which is the cost of creating and maintaining information on a mapping system.
Such fee shall, in part, be based on the size of the area to be obstructed or impacted by the obstruction; the duration that the area will be unavailable for public use; the amount of vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic that is disrupted thereby; and such other factors as the Building Inspector shall deem appropriate.
3. Computation of Inspection Cost Component. A schedule of fees for inspection services shall be developed by the Building Inspector to recover the costs incurred by the department in having its inspectors conduct inspections of street restoration work undertaken in connection with excavation permits issued to permittees. The base fee for an inspection shall be expressed in such schedule as a per-square-foot fee for the area to be excavated or obstructed or impacted by excavation or obstruction. The fee for a follow-up inspection, conducted to obtain or confirm compliance with a specification, regulation, permit condition or Building Inspector’s order, after a permittee is informed of a violation thereof, shall be expressed in such schedule as hourly rates which are to be based on the salary, benefit, and overhead costs to the City of the inspectors providing follow-up inspection services. Follow-up inspection services shall be charged to permittees on the basis of the number of hours of inspector time spent providing follow-up inspection services with respect to work performed in connection with each permit, multiplied by the applicable hourly rates in the schedule.
4. Payment of Permit Fees. Permit fees, computed as provided in this section by the Building Inspector, shall be paid by the permittee prior to issuance of the excavation or obstruction permit, unless in the discretion of the Building Inspector permission is given to pay such fee within 30 days after billing therefor by the City.
5. Plan Review Fee. A plan review fee shall be charged to any person or permit applicant who submits plans and specifications for review by the City as required by Section 141.23 of this chapter. The plan review fee is intended to recover the salary, benefit, and overhead costs to the City of the City employees reviewing such plans and specifications, and shall be based on the size of the area proposed to be excavated. The plan review fee shall be in the amount set in the schedule of fees adopted by the City Council by resolution.
6. Payment of Plan Review Fee. If the plans and specifications are submitted for review and approval prior to application for an excavation permit, the plan review fee shall be paid prior to the Building Inspector’s approval of such plans and specifications or prior to the City’s acceptance of the permit application. If the plans and specifications are submitted for review as part of an application for an excavation permit, the plan review fee shall be paid prior to issuance of the permit.
7. Schedule of Fees. The permit fees to be paid in each instance shall be determined by the Building Inspector by reference to a schedule of permit fees, which shall be developed in conformance with the requirements of Chapter 480A of the Code of Iowa and shall be updated as needed prior to each construction season. The fees required by this chapter shall be set by resolution of the City Council and are listed in the Schedule of Civil Penalties and Fees in the Appendix of this Code of Ordinances.
8. Franchise Fees. In accordance with Section 480A.6 and Chapter 477A, Code of Iowa; if the City collects a City franchise fee from an entity under an existing or future franchise, it shall not also collect any permit fee under this chapter.