(A) Placement, location and relocation.
(1) Placement, location and relocation of facilities must comply with the Act, with other applicable law, and with Minn. Rules parts 7819.3100, 7819.5000 and 7819.5100, to the extent the rules do not limit authority otherwise available to cities and counties. By submitting a request for a permit the person recognizes they must conform to the existing ordinances and codes of other units of government related to underground placement regardless of how the application is written or permit granted.
(2) Utility poles and guy anchors, and any other equipment, shall conform to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 standards for crash-worthiness or must be located outside of applicable clear zones. Any installation that does not conform to the state’s Department of Transportation clear zone standards must be approved by the Director and the facility owner shall indemnify and hold harmless the county. All above ground structures shall be placed at or as near as possible to the right-of-way line.
(B) Corridors. The county may assign specific corridors within the right-of-way, or any particular segment thereof as may be necessary, as a best management practice for each type of facility that is, or, pursuant to current technology, the county expects will someday be, located within the right-of-way. All right-of-way or other permits issued by the county involving the installation or replacement of facilities shall designate the proper corridor for the facilities at issue. A typical cross section of the location for utilities may be on file at the Director’s office. This section is not intended to establish “high density corridors”. Any registrant who has facilities in the right-of-way in a position at variance with the corridors established by the county shall, no later than at the time of the next reconstruction or excavation of the area where the facilities are located, move the facilities to the assigned position within the right-of-way, unless this requirement is waived by the county for good cause shown, upon consideration of such factors as the remaining economic life of the facilities, public safety, customer service needs and hardship to the registrant.
(C) Nuisance. Any utility that is found to have been installed after the passage of this chapter, and without a permit, in a county right-of-way shall be deemed to be a nuisance. The county may exercise any remedies or rights it has at law or in equity, including, but not limited to, abating the nuisance or taking possession of the facilities and restoring the right-of-way to a useable condition and requiring payment to the county for the costs involved.
(D) Limitation of space.
(1) To protect health, safety and welfare or when necessary to protect the right-of-way and its current use, the county shall have the power to use best management practices to prohibit or limit the placement and location of new or additional facilities within the right-of-way.
(2) In making such decisions, the county shall strive to the extent possible to accommodate all existing and potential users of the right-of-way, but shall be guided primarily by considerations of the public interest, the public’s need for the particular utility service, the condition of the right-of-way, the time of year with respect to essential utilities, the protection of existing facilities in the right-of-way and future county plans for public improvements and development projects which have been determined to be in the public interest.
(E) Relocation of facilities. A registrant must, promptly and at its own expense, with due regard for seasonal working conditions, permanently remove and relocate its facilities in the right-of-way whenever the Director for good cause requests such removal and relocation, and shall restore the right-of-way consistent with PUC standards, local regulations and MN/DOT standard specifications. The Director may make such request to prevent interference by the company’s equipment or facilities with:
(1) A present or future county use of the right-of-way;
(2) A public improvement undertaken by the county or by a city or town under a cooperative agreement with the county;
(3) A public improvement undertaken by a private landowner, as authorized or required by the county;
(4) When the public health, safety and welfare require it; or
(5) When necessary to prevent interference with the safety and convenience of ordinary travel over the right-of-way.
(F) Relocation notification procedure.
(1) The Director shall notify the utility owner at least six months in advance of the need to relocate existing facilities so the owner can plan the relocation. The Director shall provide a second notification to the owner one month before the owner needs to begin the relocation. The utility owner shall begin relocation of the facilities within one week of the second notification. All utilities shall be relocated within one month. The Director may allow a different schedule if it does not interfere with the county’s project. The utility owner shall diligently work to relocate the facilities within the above schedule.
(2) In the event that emergency work by the county or by a municipality in the county right-of-way requires relocation of a utility, the notification requirements above are waived. The county and utility shall coordinate efforts to minimize delay.
(G) Delay to county project.
(1) The Director shall notify the utility owner if the owner’s progress will not meet the relocation schedule. If the owner does not take action to ensure the relocation will be completed in accordance with the above schedule and the Director feels this delay will have an adverse impact to a county project, then the Director may hire a competent contractor to perform the relocation. In that event, the county may charge the utility owner all costs incurred to relocate the facility.
(2) The county may charge the utility owner for all costs incurred and requested by a contractor working for the county who is delayed because the relocation is not completed in the scheduled time frame and for all costs incurred by the county due to the delay.
(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing, according to the PUC rules, a person shall not be required to remove or relocate its facilities from any right-of-way which has been vacated in favor of a non-governmental entity unless and until the reasonable costs thereof are first paid to the person.
(4) However, this does not exempt the utility company from paying for the value of any taking of said property by occupation without compensation.
(Ord. 06-01, passed 4-4-2006)