§ 154.312 DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS AND ABANDONED EQUIPMENT.
   (A)   Discontinued operations. A provider who has determined to discontinue its operations in the municipality must either:
      (1)   Provide information satisfactory to the Municipal Manager that the provider’s obligations for its equipment in the right of way under this chapter have been lawfully assumed by another provider; or
      (2)   Submit to the Municipal Manager a proposal and instruments for transferring ownership of its equipment to the municipality. If a provider proceeds under this § 154.312(A)(2), the municipality may, at its option: purchase the equipment; require the provider, at its own expense, to remove it; or require the provider to post a bond in an amount sufficient to reimburse the municipality for reasonably anticipated costs to be incurred in removing the equipment.
   (B)   Abandoned equipment.
      (1)   Equipment of a provider who fails to comply with the discontinued operations provisions of this chapter and which remains unused shall be deemed to be abandoned. Unused equipment means facilities located in the rights of way to which all of the following apply:
         (a)   The facilities have remained unused for a period of two years;
         (b)   The provider is unable present to the municipality a credible plan detailing the procedure by which the provider intends to begin actively using such facilities within the next 12 months;
         (c)   The provider has no potential purchaser or user of the facilities who will be actively using the facilities within the next 12 months; and
         (d)   The availability of such facilities is not required by the provider to adequately and efficiently operate its system.
      (2)   Abandoned equipment is deemed to be a nuisance. The municipality may exercise any remedies or rights it has at law or in equity, including, but not limited to:
         (a)   Abating the nuisance;
         (b)   Taking possession of the equipment and restoring it to a useable condition; or
         (c)   Requiring removal of the equipment by the provider, or the provider’s successor in interest.
   (C)   Removal. Any provider who has unused and abandoned equipment in any right of way shall remove it from that right of way during the next scheduled excavation, or at such different time as designated by the Municipal Manager, unless this requirement is waived by the Municipal Manager. In the event of any conflict with the provisions of this § 154.312 with the federal law known as the Miller Act, being 40 USC 270a - 270f, the provisions of the Miller Act shall control and prevail.
(Ord. 2000-06, passed 7-6-00)