(A) Permit required. No person shall, without first obtaining a permit from the Village Engineer, make any opening in any street, alley, sidewalk, or any public way within the village. No permit shall be granted when the ground is frozen unless the Village Engineer determines such opening is necessary.
(B) Application. Application for a permit shall be made on a form supplied by the Village Engineer. The application shall be accompanied by a signed agreement to save the village harmless from any liability arising from the work or activity covered by the permit, the fee provided in division (C) below, and a written description of the work, including a sketch designating the trench location.
(C) Fee. The permit fee shall be $25 plus actual professional costs with a retainer fee of $400.
(D) Insurance.
(1) Before a permit for excavation or opening shall be issued, the applicant must furnish the Village Administrator/Clerk with a certificate of insurance evidencing that the applicant has in force, and will maintain during the term of the permit, public liability insurance with the following coverages:
(a) Comprehensive motor vehicle liability: $1,500,000 per accident;
(b) Comprehensive general liability bodily insurance: $1,500,000 per accident; and
(c) Property damage combined: $1,000,000 aggregate.
(2) Coverage for damage for comprehensive motor vehicle liability and comprehensive general bodily liability may be furnished through the use of primary liability policies or in combination with an umbrella excess third party liability.
(3) Insurance required under this agreement shall be carried with an insurer authorized to do business in the state by the state’s Insurance Department. The village reserves the right to disapprove any insurance company.
(E) Bond. Before a permit for excavating or opening will be issued, the applicant must execute and deposit with the Village Administrator/Clerk an indemnity bond in the sum of at least $32 per square foot of the proposed opening. Said bond shall be conditioned upon applicant’s filling up and placing in good repair and safe condition all excavations and openings made under the permit, and his or her replacement and restoring of the pavement and/or natural surface as near as can be to the state and condition he or she found it before he or she made such openings and excavations.
(F) Requirements for the protection of the public. Every permittee shall enclose each opening which he or she may make in the streets or public ways of the village with sufficient barricades and barricade lights in order to warn the traveling public.
(G) Excavation, refilling, and repaving requirements. The permittee shall comply with all Village Board rules and regulations governing excavation, refilling, and repaving and shall be responsible for any costs incurred by the village. The permittee shall notify the Director of Public Works when repaving has been completed. In the event caving occurs within one year of the completion of the project, the permittee shall be responsible for restoring the street.
(H) Emergency excavations authorized. In the event of an emergency, any person owning or controlling any sewer, conduit, or utility in or under any street may take immediate proper emergency measures to remedy dangerous conditions for the protection of property, life, health, or safety without obtaining an excavation permit; provided that such person shall immediately notify the Village President or the Police Chief and shall apply for an excavation permit not later than the end of the next succeeding business day.
(I) Village work excluded. The provisions of this section shall not apply to excavation work done under the supervision of the Director of Public Works by village employees or contractors performing work under contract with the village necessitating excavation in village streets.
(J) Limitation on street openings. Except as provided in division (H) above, no opening shall be permitted in any newly constructed or reconstructed street for a period of five years after such construction or reconstruction without the consent of the Village Board. The Village Administrator/Clerk shall provide the public utilities serving the village with a copy of this section and notice of all street construction and reconstruction prior to the commencement of the project.
(Prior Code, § 8.03) (Ord. 1-05, passed 1-13-2005; Ord. 04-2006, passed 10-26-2006) Penalty, see § 95.99