No person, except the Street Department while acting in its official capacity or a contractor in performing the necessary work on a contract with the City, shall make or cause to be made any excavation in any street, alley, or public highway or grounds in the City for any purpose whatsoever, except for the grading and landscaping of parkings, except in accordance with the following:
1. Permit Required. No excavation shall be commenced without first obtaining a permit therefor signed by the City Inspector. A written application for such permit shall be filed with the City Inspector through the office of the Clerk, on blanks furnished by the City Inspector, and shall contain the following:
A. Name of the person desiring to make such excavation and said person’s place of residence.
B. A statement of the purpose of the excavation.
C. An exact description of the property, by lot and street number, in front of or along which it is desired to excavate.
D. Location and dimensions of street cut.
E. Date of commencement of the work and estimated completion date.
2. Barricades, Fencing and Lighting. The permit holder shall protect the excavation with adequate barricades, fencing, and red warning lights meeting standards specified by the City from the time the work is started until it is completed to the satisfaction of the City Inspector.
3. Backfilling Completed by Permit Holder. In case a permit holder has the proper mechanical equipment for tamping backfills, and obtains permission from the Inspector, said permit holder may do the backfilling and tamping with final inspection by the Inspector. In the event the permit holder does the tamping and backfilling, said permit holder shall be responsible for the maintenance of such for one year.
4. Backfilling; Tight-Sheathed Excavations. Whenever an excavation made in paving is of such nature that tight sheathing is required, the backfill shall be made with dry sand as the sheathing is being removed, and in no case shall any sheathing be pulled above the dry sand backfill before the backfill is completed.
5. Backfilling; Replacement of Unsuitable Materials. Whenever, in the opinion of the Inspector, the excavated materials are unsuitable due to moisture or any other cause, the permit holder shall be required to remove the unsuitable materials and replace and compact the backfill with suitable materials.
6. Restoration of Parkings. Every person making excavations or disturbances in the parking of any street shall preserve and protect all sod, trees, and shrubbery and shall restore such parking to a condition as nearly equivalent to its original condition as is possible and to the satisfaction of the Inspector, and the party holding the permit shall, upon notice by the Inspector, make such restoration or repairs as are ordered by the Inspector within five days after notice to do so by the Inspector, and in case the permit holder fails to make the ordered restoration or repair within such time, the City may make such repair or restoration, without further notice, and the permit holder shall be liable to the City for the cost of such repair or restoration. Whenever any excavation is make in such parkings, all excavated materials, excepting the sod, shall be deposited in the roadway. The permit holder, at the time of making and compacting the backfill, shall replace the sod, if it has been properly excavated and preserved.
7. Restoration of Pavement or Road Surface Following Excavation. All permit holders will be responsible for backfilling excavations according to the provisions of subsections 4, 5, and 6 of this section and replacing the road surface to its original condition, thickness, using the same type of material removed by the excavation. Road surface restorations must pass inspection of the Inspector. If found unsatisfactory, the permit holder will remove and replace within two weeks. If two weeks expires and the removal and replacement of the unsatisfactory road surface have not been made by the permit holder, the Street Superintendent will remove and replace the material at the permit holder’s expense.
8. Increasing Size of Excavation. No person shall increase the size of any excavation, opening it more than 50 percent of the area provided for in the permit or extend the dimensions of the excavation to such extent that the street or alley will be blockaded, without obtaining the permission of the Inspector.
9. Tunneling. Tunneling will be allowed only when permission is given by the Inspector, excepting under curb and gutter, or sidewalks not over five feet, four inches in width, and whenever tunneling is resorted to, it shall be done with the minimum amount of excavation possible. In case any pavement or sidewalk becomes unsupported, due to caving, or any other cause, to the extent that, in the opinion of the Inspector, backfilling and compacting cannot be made in a satisfactory manner, it shall be removed and replaced following backfilling and compacting in its original condition. Pushing or jacking of cast-iron sewer service pipe under roadways will be permitted, providing the cast-iron pipe is left uncovered at each end so that it can be readily ascertained that no excavation was made by tunneling. In case cast-iron pipe is pushed through an existing service sewer, each end of the existing sewer shall be closed against the cast-iron pipe with cement mortar.
10. Billing and Payment of Charges.
A. Any person who makes an excavation within the City shall be billed for the costs of repairing roadways and pavements, and backfilling excavations on the basis of the rates established by the Council and from the measurements of the Street Superintendent.
B. Such bill shall be issued monthly on or before the fifth day of the month following that in which the work was done, and the amount of such bills shall be paid to the Clerk on or before the fifteenth day of the month in which the bill was issued.
C. The unit prices for street repairs and backfilling, as set by the Council, are for work which is paid for on or before the fifteenth day of the month following that in which the work was done.
D. Any person who fails to pay any bill for street repair or backfilling on or before the fifteenth day of the month in which the bill was issued shall be refused any further permits until such bill has been paid.
11. Fee for Permit. Before any permit required by this section is issued, the person who makes the application shall pay a permit fee in an amount set by resolution of the Council to the Clerk, who shall provide a written receipt therefor.
12. Prerequisites for Issuance for Non-Abutting Paving. A permit required by this section for any excavation in the pavement of any street or alley in front of or abutting property not owned by the person employing the applicant for the permit shall be issued only when a release from the owner of such property is filed with the application. In case the applicant is unable to secure said release and the application is refused by the Inspector for this or any other reason, the applicant shall have the right to petition the Council therefor and if it is approved by the Council, the Inspector shall issue the permit in accordance with this section.
13. License and Bond Prerequisites to Issuance. No permit required by this section shall be issued to any person not holding and having a franchise, license, or contract for which satisfactory bonds have been given to protect and hold the City harmless and otherwise to do and perform all such acts, as the ordinances of the City and the provisions of the contract require.
14. Term; Extension. The time stated in the application during which the work is to be done shall be the same time the permit is valid or in force. Any person requiring an extension of time to complete the work shall present the permit to the Superintendent for extension of the completion date, and no extension of time shall be valid unless signed by the Superintendent.
15. Permit to Be Kept on Job. All permits issued under this section must be kept at the place of excavation while the work is being done and exhibited when called for by the City official having the authority to examine the same.
16. Notification. At least 48 hours prior to the commencement of the excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, the person performing the excavation shall contact the Statewide Notification Center and provide the center with the information required under Section 480.4 of the Code of Iowa.