(A) It shall be unlawful for a person to make an excavation or opening in any street or alley right-of-way in the borough without first having obtained a permit from the borough. For purposes of this subchapter, the term “street” shall include the paved cartway, the shoulder and any portion of the right-of-way. The permit shall be issued by the Secretary upon submission of a completed application and payment of a permit fee, which fee shall be for the use of the borough to cover the cost of issuance of the permit and of the supervision and inspections required under this subchapter. The permit fee shall be established by resolution of Borough Council from time to time.
(B) The permit fee includes up to five hours of engineering and inspection time. The borough reserves the right to establish an escrow account for engineering and inspection fees required due to the size, nature or complexity of the street openings or excavations, which, in the opinion of the Borough Engineer, would necessitate engineering and inspection fees beyond the five hours of engineering and inspection time included in said permit fee. The borough shall notify the permit holder of the amount to be placed in escrow within ten days of the date of receipt of the application or issuance of the permit, whichever is later. The amount to be placed in escrow shall be supported by a written estimate of time required by the Borough Engineer and the amount shall be based upon the current rates charged by the Borough Engineer to the borough as set forth in the borough Fee Resolution, which resolution may be amended by resolution enacted by Borough Council from time to time. Permit holder shall place such amount in escrow within five days after written notice from the borough. In the event permit holder fails to place such amount in escrow as provided hereunder it shall result in the suspension or revocation of the permit until such time as the amount it placed in escrow.
(C) When such additional engineering and inspection fees are incurred, the Borough Engineer shall provide a written invoice detailing the specific project, time spent, the hourly rate per employee and a description and date of services performed. The borough shall provide a copy of such invoice to the permit holder, who may dispute such invoice in accordance with those dispute provisions set forth in § 503 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended. In the event the permit holder does not dispute said invoice within 45 days of the date of invoice, the borough shall withdraw the fees due from said escrow account.
(D) If the escrow account is reduced to 25% percent or less of the initial escrow account and the Borough Engineer determines that the work that remains to be completed will require engineering and inspection fees in excess of those remaining in the escrow account, the Borough Engineer shall prepare a supplemental estimate of engineering and inspection fees that will be required through the completion of the excavation and the borough may require the permit holder to remit such additional amount into escrow. In the event the permit holder fails to remit funds into escrow within ten business days of receipt of notice to do so, the borough may suspend or revoke the permit issued until such time as the funds are deposited into escrow.
(E) If any funds remain in escrow upon completion of the work contemplated by the permit, the borough shall return such funds remaining to the permit holder within 30 days of the date of the final invoice from the Borough Engineer for services provided pursuant to such permit. If the funds in escrow are not sufficient to pay the final invoice from the Borough Engineer, such balance shall be invoiced to the permit holder and shall be due within 45 days, subject to the dispute provisions set forth above. Should the permit holder fail to pay for such invoice within the time frame provided herein, the borough shall be authorized to recover such fees from the financial guarantee provided for below.
(F) The permit holder shall deposit with the borough financial security as provided below, as a guarantee that the permit holder will fill the excavation, restore the surface of the street disturbed by the work done under the permit and pay any additional engineering and inspection fees beyond those included in the permit fee, as required hereunder.
(1) Cash deposits. Any person applying for a permit under this subchapter may deposit a sum in cash as financial security. The amount of the cash deposit shall be set by the formula attached to Ord. 2019-2, which formula may be amended by Borough Council by resolution from time to time with input from the Borough Engineer. Upon completion of the work covered by the permit and upon satisfactory inspection by the Borough Engineer, one- half of such cash deposit shall be promptly refunded by the borough to the permit holder. The balance of the cash deposit shall be held by the borough for a period of one year from the date of the expiration of the permit.
(2) Surety bond. The applicant may provide to the borough a surety bond naming the borough as beneficiary in an amount equal to the difference between any cash deposit given and the guarantee amount set in accordance with division (A) above. The borough may accept a “blanket” surety bond from utilities who intend to apply for multiple openings and excavations within the borough on an annual basis. Such “blanket” surety bond shall be in an amount, in the opinion of the borough, sufficient to guarantee the filling of excavations and restoration of the surface of streets for all openings or excavations made within the borough in any annual period. The required surety bond shall:
(a) Be with a surety company satisfactory to the borough.
(b) Be with a surety company authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth.
(c) Be satisfactory to the Borough Solicitor in form and substance.
(d) Be conditioned upon the permit holder’s compliance with this subchapter and further conditioned upon filling, restoring and placing in good and safe condition, as near as to the condition prior to disturbance by the permit holder, and to the satisfaction of the Borough Engineer.
(e) Be for a term that commences on the date of the permit and ends upon the expiration of one year from the date of expiration of the permit.
(2006 Code, §§ 21-101, 21-102, 21-103) (Ord. 2006-2, passed 4-3-2006, §§ 1, 2, 3; Ord. 2019-2, passed 2-12-2019) Penalty, see § 94.999