(A) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
EMERGENCY. A situation where there is an immediate need to perform repair work on an existing utility service which has been interrupted or damaged, and where the failure to perform such work would result in an immediate danger to life or property.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS. Those items commonly used in the constriction of roads, buildings, landscaping, and the like, including, but not limited to, stone, gravel, soil, mulch, timbers, brick, black, misses, lumber, sod, and the like.
(B) All persons who desire to perform construction operations or other work within the county’s right-of-way shall, prior to start of construction, apply for and receive approval from the Board of Commissioners or its designee. Permit application forms, supplied by the Board of Commissioners office, or the Highway Engineering Department, and related exhibits shall be submitted to the Highway Engineering Department to be reviewed and approved by the appropriate agencies as specified by the County Commissioners.
(C) In the event of an emergency, the repairs of a utility may be undertaken without first receiving a permit. However, in an emergency situation, the entity making the emergency repairs must notify the County Highway Department as soon as possible. In the event of an emergency during non-work hours, a faxed notification must be made to the Board of Commissioners or County Highway Engineer as soon as possible on a county supplied form. A regular permit end fee must be filed with the County Board of Commissioners or Highway Engineering Department within 72 hours of the time the work is begun in an emergency situation. Any work completed as emergency work which does not meet definition of EMERGENCY, as defined in division (A) above, is a violation of this section. Any work completed without a permit, when one is required, is a violation of this section.
(D) Fees for said permits shall be paid by check or money order made payable to the County Treasurer, and shall be submitted with the permit application. Fees for the permits shall be in the following amounts.
(1) For underground constructing, grading, trenching, or excavation parallel to the road, the fee shall be $70 for each 400 feet of continuous construction, or part thereof.
(2) For open cuts across or within the roadway, the fee shall be $5 per foot of excavation with a $100 minimum. In the event the applicant specifies that he or she will be using flowable fill as a backfill material so that density testing is required, the fee will be $3.50 per foot of excavation. This decision must be made prior to the approval of the permit in order for the reduced fee to apply.
(3) For boring or pushes under the roadway, the fee shall be $50 per bore or push, which includes a maximum of two pit excavations. Each pit excavation shall not exceed 500 feet.
(4) For placement of a new pole and/or installation of new overhead pole lines, and/or removal of existing pole lines, the fee shall be $100 for each 1,000 feet of continuous pole line, or fraction of 1,000 feet. A permit is not required when replacing or removing a single pole in an existing location due to damage to the pole, or when installing new lines or making a utility connection on an existing pole line. However, when a permit is not requited, all other applicable sections of this code (including, but not limited to, traffic control) still apply.
(5) For one tap pit less than 100 square feet in area, including up to one bore or push under the road from the tap pit, the fee shall be $50. This permit does not include any cutting of the pavement surface. Pits greater than 100 square feet shall be permitted as an excavation and a bore under division (D)(2) above.
(6) Fees may be waived by the Board of Commissioners or the County Highway Engineer. For construction or utility work in conjunction with a city, county, state, or federal road or infrastructure projects, if the applicant is the respective agency and the project is of benefit to the citizens of the county. A permit shall be filed and approved.
(E) Any applicant, as required by the County Board of Commissioners or County Highway Engineer, shall provide a permit bond running to the Board of Commissioners in an amount designated by the County Commissioners. The bond shall not expire in less than one year. Prior to the release of any permit bond, the Highway Superintendent or County Highway Engineer will require an inspection during and at the completion of construction. The bond shall ensure that the applicant on the permit will complete all permitted work in accordance with the requirements of this section, and any other applicable sections of this subchapter. In the event a permit bond expires, or the bond company cancels the permit bond, all work authorized by any permits already issued using the permit bond have not been completed, and the County Board of Commissioners have not released the bond, then said bond shall become immediately due, and payable to the County Board of Commissioners. Applicants who desire to do so may post an annual or continuous permit bond for utility work in an amount designated by the County Commissioners. An annual or continuous permit bond may not be used for drive or public road approach permits. In the event an annual or continuous permit bond expires, or the bond company cancels the annual or continuous permit bond, all work authorized by any permits already issued using the annual or continuous permit bond have not been completed, and the County Board of Commissioners have not released the bond, then said bond shall become immediately due and payable to the County Commissioners. At the discretion of the Highway Engineer, a maintenance bond may be required from the applicant as a condition of releasing the permit bond. A utility company having a certificate of authority or franchise issued by the State Utility Regulatory Commission, and who has a continuous bond on file with the County Board of Commissioners may use in lieu of the maintenance bond when approved by the County Highway Engineer. All permits issued for cutting of a road shall have a three-year maintenance bond, which cannot be canceled prior to three years from completion of the road cut. If the bond company sends notice that the bond is being canceled at any time prior to three years, the total amount of the bond shall become immediately due and payable to the County Board of Commissioners, and no additional permits will be issued to the applicant.
(F) The recipient of a permit, and/or anyone working within the right-of-way of a county road, shall comply with the following terms.
(1) Construction materials shall conform to the requirements of the Standard Specifications of the Indiana Department of Transportation, and shall be approved by the County Highway Engineer.
(2) Traffic control devices and flaggers shall be used to regulate traffic safety if construction affects the flow of traffic, as set out in the Indiana Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and as required by the County Highway Engineer or the County Commissioners. Traffic will be maintained at all times. If a road closing is approved, in accordance with this subchapter, the permit holder will mark and maintain any detours approved by the County Highway Superintendent or County Highway Engineer, and notify all appropriate agencies of the time and location of the closing a minimum of 48 hours prior to closing.
(3) For utility trench backfill for cuts of the roadway, #53 aggregate shall be placed, and compacted in lifts under the supervision of the County Highway Engineer, or at the discretion of the County Highway Engineer. It shall be tested for density by an independent resting laboratory. Flowable mortar, in accordance with the specifications of the County Engineer, maybe used as an alternate to #53 aggregate.
(4) Pavement shall be restored to a smooth permanent surface, as shown in the county standards, or as required by the County Highway Engineer. The permit holder shall maintain temporary patches in a smooth and safe condition until permanent patching is accomplished. Temporary patching shall not exceed 30 days, except during the period from November 15 through April 15 each year when the materials are not available. During this time period, the applicant may leave a temporary patch in place, but a routine inspection shall be made by the applicant to ensure the temporary patch is in good condition. The applicant maybe granted an extension beyond the 30-day requirement at the Highway Department’s discretion upon request with a justification. Aggregate surfaces shall be restored in kind, and shall be stabilized to prevent loose material which constitute as safety hazards.
(5) The filling of a curb or gutter line of the drainage system of any road, with any material or pipe, is strictly prohibited. Any curb modification shall require a driveway permit.
(6) Tree trimming operations do not require a permit to work in the right-of-way, however they are bound by all of the requirements of this section, and are required to obtain a road obstruction permit if they desire to close a road.
(7) All sod, swale, side, ditches, shoulders, and other improvements within the right-of-way, which is disturbed by any work or construction within the right-of-way, shall be repaired or replaced in a condition equal to or better than they were prior to the work or construction. For materials used in the repair of any disturbed area, the County Highway Engineer, or the County Commissioners, shall approve the method used to make repairs. The proof of the condition of these items prior to work shall be the contractors or the individuals completing the work responsibility.
(8) Anyone who cuts or damages an underdrain tile, storm sewer pipe, or culvert pipe, whether it appears abandoned or not, shall notify the County Highway Engineer immediately upon cutting the tile or pipe. The person cutting the tile or pipe shall then repair the tile or pipe, as directed by the Superintendent or County Highway Engineer. If the tile or pipe is a regulated drain, then immediate notification and repair approval shall also be made to the County Surveyor, or his or her designated representative.
(9) Loading or unloading any equipment on a county road which results in an undue or unsafe restriction of traffic or damage to the pavement is not allowed, and is a violation of this section.
(10) Crossing or traveling on a county road with a tracked vehicle directly in contact with the pavement surface is a violation of this section. Crossing or traveling along the road will be allowed; provided, suitable protection (timbers, tires, and the like) is provided for the pavement. No damage will be allowed to the pavement, structures, grading, drainage, and the like. Failure to use adequate protection, or damage to the pavement, is a violation of this section.
(11) Dragging or depositing mud or soil onto a county road from any site is not allowed, and is a violation of this section. Cleanup of any mud or soil on the road, due to accessing a site, shall be immediately after the material is deposited. A site having a high volume of vehicles accessing a muddy site shall have a full-time cleanup crew, or install cleaning mechanisms in accordance with county approved best management practices.
(12) Allowing erosion of soils from a site onto a county roadway, or into a county roadway drainage system, is a violation of this section. Anyone excavating on a county right-of-way, or adjacent to a county right-of-way, shall protect the county right-of-way from deposit of eroded materials, in accordance with county approved best management practices.
(13) Depositing any construction materials, or the cleaning of any equipment directly or indirectly into any county roadway drainage system, is not allowed and is a violation of this section.
(14) Installation of sprinkler systems within the right-of-way is not allowed. Any sprinkler systems installed within the right-of-way, prior to the date of this subchapter, shall be relocated, at the owner’s expense, within seven calendar days when requested by the County Highway Engineer or Superintendent for road improvements purposes, or due to drainage problems.
(15) An individual or agency who has directed work to be done in the right-of-way shall be jointly and separately liable for all actions taken by his or her contractor or representative.
(16) Failure to stop work for any violation of this section of the code, when so directed by an authorized representative of the County Highway Department, is a violation of this section.
(17) Failures to provide traffic control, to provide a safe work site (safety fencing, shoring, and the like), or comply with the conditions set out in a permit, or as so directed by an authorized representative of the County Highway Department, is a violation of this section.
(18) A permit is not required for surfacing or resurfacing of a driveway; provided, it does not change any drainage flows and does not expand the width of the existing drive. The maintenance of any drive and its associated culverts will remain the responsibility of the applicant or subsequent property owner, and must be maintained by the property owner in a manner which does not interfere with the use of the right-of-way for its dedicated purpose.
(19) Any improvements installed by permit, or without permit, within the public right-of-way are done so at the risk of the property owner or entity installing the improvements. Whenever the County Highway Engineer or Superintendent determines a change is required or maintenance is needed in the improvements, the applicant, subsequent property owner, or entity that owns the improvements must make the changes upon notification, and within a reasonable time limit at the owner’s expenses.
(20) No improvements can be made by any permit applicant which obstructs or impedes an existing farm field entrance, or an existing farm field loading area, without permission from the property owner. It is the applicant’s responsibility to comply with this requirement.
(G) After the application is approved, the County Highway Engineer shall issue a permit. Once work begins, the permit or a photocopy of the permit must be on-site for inspection. The County Highway Engineer shall be notified at least 24 hours in advance of construction, and when construction is complete, in accordance with the procedures of the County Highway Department. An approved permit will expire one year from the date of application, or 60 days prior to the expiration of the permit bond covering the work being applied for, whichever comes first.
(Ord. 1999-01, passed 1-4-1999) Penalty, see § 151.999