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The Mayor shall refer each application for a permit required by Section 864.01 to Council. Council shall forward the application to the Planning Commission and the Fire Department which shall investigate the premises for which such permit is sought and which shall hold a public hearing thereon. The Commission shall send a notice of the hearing by regular mail to all property owners within a 500-foot radius of the property proposed as a drilling site. When the Commission completes its investigation, the application and the report of the Commission shall be forwarded to Council for its consideration. If the same are found to comply in all respects with this chapter, Council shall recommend the granting of the permit; otherwise, it shall recommend rejection of such application. The Mayor shall issue or reject the permit upon the recommendation of Council within ten days of such recommendation.
The applicant shall provide with his, her or its application proof of insurance. Insurance must be to the extent of one million dollars ($1,000,000) per person for general liability and personal injury with an aggregate per incident limit of three million dollars ($3,000,000), and one million dollars ($1,000,000) for property damage to any one person with an aggregate per incident limit of three million dollars ($3,000,000). Such insurance policies shall insure the Village and any person suffering any personal injury or property damage as a result of the drilling or operation of the well. Such policies shall be in full force and effect prior to issuance of a permit and shall continue in effect until the well is plugged or abandoned as hereinafter provided. Current proof of insurance coverage shall always be provided to the Village. Further, the applicant, by submitting an application for a permit under this chapter, shall be considered to agree to hold the Village harmless from any loss, claim demand or cause of action, including reasonable attorney's fees and costs of suit and to indemnify the Village for the same, in the event the same is brought against the Village as a result of any activity engaged in by the applicant or his, her or its contractors in the furtherance of the drilling, operation or abandonment of the gas or oil well in the Village. The Building Department shall retain a file on all insurance policies. The responsible party shall be notified if a policy is not current or in effect.
The owner of the property, the drilling company and the operation company shall be equally liable and responsible for complying with this chapter. The permittee shall observe all Federal, State and Municipal law relative to the drilling and operation of oil and gas wells. The permittee shall also restore to their former condition the streets, sidewalks and other public places which may be disturbed or damaged as a result of the operation and shall clear the area of all litter, machinery, derricks, buildings, oil and other substances erected, used or allowed in the drilling or production operation, except as may be there for the proper drilling or operation of the well, within thirty days after completion of the drilling site. The permittee shall pay to the owner of any building, improvement, goods or chattels located contiguous to the property upon which the well is located, any extra cost of insurance on such building, improvement, goods or chattels which is imposed by reason of the granting of the permit and the operations conducted thereunder.
The effective period of a permit issued under this chapter, and of all rights and privileges granted in or under authority of this chapter, shall not exceed twenty years from the date of issuance of such permit. At the end of such twenty-year period, if the well is still in operation and the permittee is not in violation of any Federal, State or Municipal law relative to the drilling and operation of oil and gas wells, the Mayor shall renew such permit upon the payment of a fee as set forth in Chapter 208 of the Administration Code (the General Fee Schedule).
No permit shall be issued for the drilling of a well except upon ground owned by the applicant or held by the applicant under an oil and gas lease or drilling contract from the owner, giving the owner' s permission to drill the well. Nothing herein contained, nor any permit issued hereunder, shall be deemed to grant any right or license to a permittee to enter upon or occupy in any respect, in drilling or production operations, any land not owned by him except by the written permission of the owner thereof.
When a permit has been issued, the same shall terminate and become inoperative without any action on the part of the Village unless within 180 days from the date of issuance of such permit actual drilling of the well has commenced. The cessation of production of oil or gas from the well after production has commenced, except for mandatory shut-ins by a gas purchaser and except for equipment repair, shall operate to terminate and cancel the permit and in such a case the well shall be condemned or abandoned for all purposes of this chapter and no person shall thereafter drill or operate any such well without the issuance of another permit.
No drilling, tool dressing or any work or labor which causes noise or disturbance, except in an emergency affecting life or property, shall be permitted before the hour of 8:00 a.m. or after the hour of 8:00 p.m. No drilling shall be conducted from February 15 through April 30 of any year.
No person shall plug and/or abandon a gas or oil well without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Mayor, the fee for which shall be as set forth in Chapter 208 of the Administration Code (the General Fee Schedule). Upon granting such permit, the Mayor shall mark notice of such fact upon the map provided at the time of the original permit application. Such plugging and/or abandonment of a gas or oil well shall be in accordance with the laws of the State. Such plugging and/or abandonment shall be done under the supervision of a representative of the State Division of Oil and Gas.
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