1179.04 MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS.
Any person who has a permit to drill for oil and gas within Mayfield Village, which has been issued by any Department of the State of Ohio (“Permit Holder”), and the Landowner(s) of the land upon which the actual well will be drilled and who has leased their land for such purposes (“Surface Owner”), shall adhere to the following regulations:
(a) A copy of the state issued permit shall be filed with the Village Building Commissioner by the Surface Owner or Permit Holder no later than four weeks before the commencement of any operations preparatory to drilling in the Village. Upon receipt by the Building Commissioner, a copy of such permit shall be delivered by the Surface Owner or Permit Holder to all owners and/or occupants of all properties which are adjacent to and/or adjoin the unit where a well is to be drilled with proof of the date of such delivery furnished to the Building Commissioner by the Surface Owner or Permit Holder not less than fourteen business days before commencement of any operations preparatory to drilling in the Village. The Surface Owner or Permit Holder shall check with the Building Commissioner prior to delivery to these adjacent and/or adjoining property owners and occupants to obtain information as to the identity of the individuals to receive the notice and copy of the permit. “Unit”as used in this section shall mean those properties that are identified on the state issued permit as being part of the acreage necessary to drill a gas and oil well. A typical unit comprises twenty acres.
(b) Along with a copy of the state issued permit, a letter shall be filed with the Building Commissioner by the Surface Owner or Permit Holder which identifies all the property owner(s) and occupants of the unit where the well is to be drilled; by name and address, identifying all persons, including but not limited to the Permit Holder, and anyone else who will be responsible for the drilling and operation of the well. The identification shall include, at a minimum, names, address and work telephone numbers that are valid twenty-four hours a day. Any contractors performing gas or oil well drilling work shall comply with the parameters of Chapters 1309 and 1313 including, but not limited to:
(1) Being registered with the Village; and
(2) Obtaining a drilling permit from the Village in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(c) Plans for all wells, tank batteries, including tank dimensions and gas meter types; excavation work (including but not limited to boring pits) and all other site work including final landscaping plans, confirmation of the tracking methods that will be used in drilling and identification of any required tie ins into any existing gas line or lines and/or the construction of any new gas lines, along with material safety data sheets for all materials to be used in the drilling process shall be presented to the Building Commissioner and the Village Engineer not less than four weeks prior to the commencement of any drilling or other operations. These plans shall show the topography of the site and of all vehicular access to and from the site, from any road or street. Up to two weeks shall be allowed by the Village for the review and approval of plans.
(d) Plans showing all buildings on the subject premises, and all buildings within five hundred feet of the well and tank sites, shall be provided. Incomplete or illegible plans will be returned and the two week review process will be restarted once all data is available.
(e) No well may be drilled, or tank batteries located, in any location where emergency vehicles (e.g. fire trucks and ambulances) cannot obtain reasonable access to the site.
(f) Proof of insurance shall be filed with the Building Commissioner and Law Director, prior to the commencement of drilling. The proof of insurance must establish that the Surface Owner and Permit Holder are insured by a solvent insurer, licensed to do business in the State of Ohio, with limits of five million dollars ($5,000,000) per occurrence for personal injury and property damage. The Village shall be named as an additional insured on the policy. The amount of such insurance shall be reviewed by the Building Commissioner every five years and may be adjusted based on inflationary increases. The Village shall be named as an additional insured on the policy.
(g) Emergency contact information for all persons engaged in drilling and operating the well shall be filed with the Building Commissioner and Fire Chief, prior to the commencement of drilling. Such information shall be immediately updated upon any change of circumstance(s).
(h) Drilling operations and site preparation and restoration work shall comply with Chapter 1129 Erosion and Sediment Control.
(i) Within thirty days after drilling operations have been completed, the Permit Holder shall do all of the following:
(1) Remove all bore pits, and all well spoils from the subject property;
(2) Fill all bore pits with clean fill dirt, and restore the grade of the site to its previous elevation;
(3) Seed all disturbed sites with grass or other vegetative ground cover and ensure such ground cover becomes established; and
(4) Notify the Building Commissioner and Village Engineer that the site has been restored pursuant to the terms of subsection (h) and this subsection (i). The Building Commissioner, Village Engineer and any other professional needed by the Village, shall inspect the site within fourteen days of the notification.
(j) At all times relative to the drilling, operation and capping of the well, the well and all tank facilities shall be secured from public access by sufficient fencing and/or vegetation. The sufficiency of the fencing and vegetation shall be determined by the Building Commissioner. Representatives of the Village shall have access to all affected areas during the course of construction and installation, for the purpose of inspection and monitoring purposes. In addition, the Surface Owner or Permit Holder shall do the following:
(1) The Permit Holder or Surface Owner of any parcel upon which an oil or gas well will be located shall be responsible for installation and maintenance of screening and buffering as set forth in this section.
(2) At least fourteen days prior to commencing any oil or gas well drilling operations within the Village and without regard to whether such operation is being performed pursuant to a permit issued under Ohio R.C. 1509.06, the Permit Holder or Surface Owner shall submit to the Building Commissioner a line-of-site plan of sufficient quality and detail as will truly and accurately depict the actual appearance of the well, including storage facilities and all other equipment appurtenant thereto, from the following locations:
A. All adjacent public rights-of-way; and
B. All adjacent parcels not also owned by the Surface Owner or, if owned by the Surface Owner, not used in a common manner and/or as part of a common site development.
The line-of-site plans shall take into consideration the length of any public rights-of-way or property lines abutting the parcel where the well is to be located and, when the distances involved are significant enough to warrant multiple line-of-site renderings along any such lines, the Building Commissioner may in his sole discretion request from the Surface Owner or Permit Holder such additional plans. In the sole discretion of the Building Commissioner, if a topographical map will suffice for purposes of this section, the Building Commissioner may waive the requirement for line-of-sight plans and utilize the topographical map.
(3) The well, including storage facilities and all other equipment appurtenant thereto, shall be fully screened at eye-level view from the locations set forth in subsections (j)(2)A. and B. as follows:
A. The built and natural environments in the area, as well as the topography, shall be taken into account to ensure full screening at eye-level view.
B. Preference in all cases shall be for the sole use of live vegetative growth of species native to the Northeastern Ohio region, or which, once established, will not require further maintenance to sustain them. Species which mature quickly and whose average live spans correlate with the anticipated operational life of the well should be utilized whenever possible. The minimum size of vegetation at initial planting shall be specified.
C. When, owing to any peculiar site conditions present, it is necessary to use non-vegetative means to accomplish full screening, preference shall be given to the use of natural materials to accomplish the screening, although earthen mounding is to be avoided whenever possible. In such instances, live vegetative growth shall be used in conjunction with such other means to the fullest extent possible.
D. In all cases, the preference shall be to place the screening as near to the well site as possible. The precise location of screening shall be determined on a case-by-case basis to maximize the screening and minimize cost to the Surface Owner where practicable.
E. Where an adjacent parcel is not developed nor in the process of being developed, the Surface Owner or Permit Holder may elect to delay the installation of any screening until such development occurs.
(k) At all times relative to the drilling, operation and capping activities of the well, roads and rights-of-way shall be kept clean of all mud, gravel, silt or other related debris. Road cleaning shall be performed as needed to meet this requirement, which may include, but not be limited to: scraping, shoveling, sweeping, or washing. Traffic control shall be administered at the Permit Holder’s expense, if necessary.
(l) In accordance with subsections (i) and (j) hereof, within thirty days after the drilling operations have been completed, the Surface Owner or Permit Holder shall plant sufficient vegetation which, in conjunction with any fencing and natural vegetation, shall effectively and permanently screen all above-ground facilities from all neighbors and from all public and private rights-of-way while such facilities are on the subject premises. Damaged or disturbed pre-existing plantings shall be restored to match the existing surrounding. If drilling operations are completed during winter months not conducive to planting, the Building Commissioner shall establish a date in the future when required plantings shall be completed, not to exceed 180 days. The Building Commissioner, Village Engineer and any other professional needed by the Village shall determine the sufficiency of the screening and vegetation and may order the Surface Owner or Permit Holder to install additional screening or plant more vegetation.
(m) The Permit Holder shall give the Fire Chief and Building Commissioner at least forty-eight hours notice before commencing to drill. The Permit Holder shall also submit a drilling report to the Village at least biweekly from the date preparatory drilling operations begin until the well is fully drilled and operations. The drilling report shall be in a form similar to that attached as Appendix 1.
(n) A cash deposit of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) per well, shall be filed with the Building Commissioner by the Permit Holder or Surface Owner to ensure sufficient securing and screening of facilities, as provided herein, and to ensure the removal of all equipment and the restoration of the site after the well is drilled. The Village shall return the cash deposit upon the restoration of the site after the well has been drilled and all equipment has been removed. The cash deposit shall also be used to ensure payment of any fees which will be incurred by the Village Engineer or any other professional the Village determines it must engage in order to ensure compliance with the code. Upon completion of all involvement by the Village Engineer (or other professional), the Village shall return any funds which remain on deposit.
(o) It shall be a violation of this section for a Surface Owner or Permit Holder to violate the terms and conditions of any state issued permit.
(p) The Building Commissioner or his designee shall, within fourteen business days of receipt of the plans, pursuant to subsection (c) hereof, review said plans and immediately advise the Surface Owner or Permit Holder if anything shown on the plans does not comply with the regulations set forth herein. In the event that any Surface Owner or Permit Holder fails to comply with the regulations herein promulgated, the administrative official responsible for the enforcement hereof (i.e. the Building Commissioner or Fire Chief, as designated), shall provide written notice to the Surface Owner and the Permit Holder within forty-eight hours of the failure to comply. Such service shall be made to the addresses identified in subsection (b) hereof, and if no address has been provided, to any address identified on the permit issued by the State. The notice shall advise the Surface Owner and the Permit Holder that if they wish to appeal the decision of the administrative official, the time for appeal is five days after service of the notice. Incomplete or illegible plan submissions shall cause the time limit for review to be extended by fourteen days from the time all correct data is submitted to the Village.
(q) The Surface Owner or Permit Holder shall be required to comply with Section 905.011 relating to Heavy Equipment.
(Ord. 2009-56. Passed 12-21-09.)