(A) Timing. The work to be done under the excavation permit, and the patching or restoration of the right-of-way as required herein, must be completed within the dates specified in the permit, increased by as many days as work could not be done because of extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the permittee or when work was prohibited as unseasonal or unreasonable under § 91.12.
(B) Patch and restoration. The permittee shall patch its own work. The city may choose either to have the permittee restore the right-of-way or to restore the right-of-way itself.
(1) City restoration. If the city restores the right-of-way, the permittee shall pay the costs thereof within 30 days of billing. If, during the 30 months following such restoration, the pavement settles due to the permittee’s improper backfilling, the permittee shall pay to the city, within 30 days of billing, all costs associated with having to correct the defective work.
(2) Permittee restoration. If the permittee restores the right-of-way itself, it shall, at the time of application for an excavation permit, post a construction performance bond in an amount determined by the city to be sufficient to cover the cost of restoration. If, within 24 months after completion of the restoration of the right-of-way, the Public Works Director determines that the right-of-way has been properly restored, the surety on the construction performance bond shall be released.
(3) Turf establishment specification. Disturbed area in city right-of-way shall be re-seeded in accordance with MNDOT, Standard Specification for Construction, § 2575, and the following:
(a) Topsoil shall be placed to a minimum depth of four inches and hand-raked;
(b) Seed mixture MNDOT No. 65A, or equal, shall be applied at 100 pounds per acre;
(c) Fertilizer analysis 18-18-18 shall be applied at 700 pounds per acre;
(d) Erodible areas shall be covered with wood fiber blanket or Type I mulch;
(e) The season of planting is April 1 to June 1, July 20 to September 20, or dormant seeding between October 20 and November 15;
(f) All water for seed maintenance shall be furnished and applied by the contractor; and
(g) The contractor shall continue watering and maintenance as necessary until a good stand of grass is established and accepted by the city.
(C) Standards.
(1) The permittee shall perform patching or restoration according to the standards and with the materials specified by the Public Works Director. The Public Works Director shall have the authority to prescribe the manner and extent of the restoration, and may do so in written procedures of general application or on a case-by-case basis.
(2) The Public Works Director in exercising this authority shall comply with PUC Standards for right-of-way restoration and shall further be guided by the following considerations:
(a) The number, size, depth, and duration of the excavations, disruptions, or damage to the right-of-way;
(b) The traffic volume carried by the right-of-way, the character of the neighborhood surrounding the right-of-way;
(c) The pre-excavation condition of the right-of-way, the remaining life expectancy of the right-of-way affected by the excavation;
(d) Whether the relative cost of the method of restoration to the permittee is in reasonable balance with the prevention of an accelerated depreciation of the right-of-way that would otherwise result from the excavation, disturbance, or damage to the right-of-way; and
(e) The likelihood that the particular method of restoration would be effective in slowing the depreciation of the right-of-way that would otherwise take place.
(D) Guarantees. By choosing to restore the right-of-way itself, the permittee guarantees its work and shall maintain it for 24 months following its completion. During this 24-month period, it shall, upon notification from the Public Works Director, correct all restoration work to the extent necessary, using the method required by the Public Works Director. Said work shall be completed within ten working days of the receipt of the notice from the Public Works Director, not including days during which work cannot be done because of circumstances constituting force majeure or days when work is prohibited as unseasonal or unreasonable under § 91.12.
(E) Obligation. Construction triggers an obligation of the right-of-way user that the right-of-way restoration be completed according to the conditions set forth in this chapter. The right-of-way user also assumes responsibility for “as built” drawings and for repairing facilities or structures, including rights-of-way that were damaged during facility installation. The obligation is limited to one year for plantings and turf establishment.
(F) Failure to restore.
(1) If the permittee fails to restore the right-of-way in the manner and to the condition required by the Public Works Director, or fails to satisfactorily and timely complete all restoration required by the Public Works Director, the Public Works Director at its option may do such work.
(2) In that event, the permittee shall pay to the city, within 30 days of billing, the cost of restoring the right-of-way. If the permittee fails to pay as required, the city may exercise its rights under the construction performance bond.
(G) Degradation cost in lieu of restoration. In lieu of right-of-way restoration, a right-of-way user may elect to pay a degradation fee; however, the right-of-way user shall remain responsible for patching and the degradation fee shall not include the cost to accomplish these responsibilities.
(H) Site restoration and cleanup.
(1) As the excavation work progresses, all streets shall be thoroughly cleaned of all rubbish, excess earth, rock, and other debris resulting from such work. All cleanup operations at the locations of such excavation shall be accomplished at the expense of the permittee. From time to time, as may be ordered by the Public Works Director, and in any event immediately after completion of said work, the permittee shall, at its own expense, clean up and remove all refuse and unused materials of any kind resulting from said work.
(2) (a) This may be done by the city and the cost thereof charged to the permittee. Whenever it may be necessary for the permittee to excavate through any landscaped area, said area shall be re-established in a like manner after the excavation has been backfilled as required.
(b) All construction and maintenance work shall be done in a manner designed to leave the area clean of earth and debris and in a condition as nearly as possible to that which existed before such work began.
(c) The permittee shall not remove, even temporarily, any existing trees or shrubs without first obtaining the consent of the Public Works Director.
(I) Winter construction.
(1) Between October 1 and May 1, all trenches must be backfilled with gravel and tamped in six-inch lifts or layers to at least one foot back of curb line.
(2) The upper two inches of the trench shall be composed of asphaltic cold materials to be kept at grade at all times between October 1 and May 1 and then restored to permanent resurfacing by June 1.
(2006 Code, § 14.30) (Ord. 137, 3rd Series, passed 4-7-2000)