8-5-8: REQUIREMENTS BEFORE RELOCATING FROM EXISTING POLES AND STRUCTURES:
   A.   Construction And Migration Plan Required: Except in emergency situations, such as downed poles, before any utility can move from an existing pole to a new pole or series of poles the lead utility shall:
      1.   Obtain a building permit from the city of Ely building department, pay the appropriate fee (established by the city council by resolution to recover the actual costs of the city engineer and the building official's actual hours incurred in the plan review and any subsequent work on the project, such costs to be equally divided between all utilities with facilities on each of the affected poles), and provide a copy of all plan documents, including, but not limited to, drawings, design specifications, etc., related to the migration from one pole or set of poles to a new pole or set of poles or an alternative installation plan;
      2.   Within fourteen (14) business days or as soon thereafter as is practicable, all utilities affected by the planned migration, shall meet and confer 1 with the city building official and the city engineer, to discuss the installation plans, time requirements, and the necessity for the migration. Each utility will be required to provide a migration plan, including design specifications for placement of other utilities on the poles being migrated to;
      3.   During the meet and confer, all affected utilities shall discuss and each affected utility shall provide to the building official and city engineer, any and all plans, design specifications, and a written plan for their migration from an existing pole to the new pole, or in the alternative, their proposal to either go wireless or underground. Should a utility wish to transition to underground rather than incur the cost to migrate from an existing pole to the newly designed pole, they shall provide their migration plan, along with the applicable fees to the building official and/or city engineer for review and approval;
      4.   Following the meet and confer with the building official and the city engineer, but before construction begins, all affected utilities shall be required to provide their migration plan, including which utility will be responsible for the removal of the pole migrated from and a time line in which this will be accomplished, but in all cases, absent unavoidable emergencies or acts of God, all migration shall be completed by all affected utilities and the "old" pole shall be removed and the surface area in the right of way shall be rehabilitated to a condition similar to the adjoining or abutting areas where the pole is removed from (e.g., if the location is a dirt lot, then the hole shall be filled with appropriate soil) within ninety (90) calendar days of completion of the migration;
      5.   The migration plan for each utility must be accomplished within ninety (90) calendar days from the time the lead utility company notifies the city of Ely the project is completed.
   B.   Denial Of Construction And Migration Plan:
      1.   The city building official and the city engineer must recommend approval of the construction plan and migration plan in order for a building permit to issue. The building official and/or the city engineer shall deny a construction plan or the migration plan if it fails to meet the requirements of this chapter.
      2.   If the city building official and/or the city engineer deny the construction and/or migration plan, the utility may resubmit, within ninety (90) calendar days from the date of denial, an amended or corrected construction and/or migration plan which will be treated as a new plan review, subject to the appropriate plan review fees.
   C.   Appeal Of Denial Of Construction And Migration Plan:
      1.   The utility whose construction and/or migration plan is denied may request a hearing with the planning commission and subsequently with the city council by providing written notification to the city administrator of its desires to be placed on the agenda for the express purpose of appealing the decision of the city building official and/or the city engineer. The city administrator will place the item on the next available agenda for the planning commission and subsequently the city council.
      2.   Except for design requirements as the reason for denial of the construction plan and/or migration plan, the city council's decision shall be final. The city council may, at its sole discretion but subject to the veto of the mayor, override the denial of the city building official and/or city engineer, it may grant an extension of time for the affected utilities to migrate from an existing pole to a new pole outside of the ninety (90) calendar day requirement above, or it may grant a variance addressing issues affecting the location of the placement of the new pole, it may grant a variance to allow an existing pole to remain, or it may grant other relief it deems appropriate.
      3.   Thereafter, the affected utility may appeal to the 7th judicial district court, in and for White Pine County, state of Nevada. Should the affected utility file a cause of action with the 7th judicial district court, in and for White Pine County, state of Nevada, the city is not waiving any of its rights or remedies under the law for enforcement of this chapter. (Ord. 703, 11-17-2016)

 

Notes

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1. The meet and confer may be conducted via telephone and does not require the parties to physically meet in Ely, Nevada.