The operator shall agree to assume joint pavement maintenance responsibility with the County (or shared with another producer using the same roadway) for all County roads along a designated haul route from the access point of the surface mining operation to an appropriate State Highway. The County will provide maintenance of the county-maintained roadside drainage ditches, traffic signs, and striping. By May 15 of each year, the operator shall submit to the County an annual evaluation report documenting the structural integrity of the pavement structural section and the PCI of the roads maintained by the operator. The annual report shall be signed and sealed by a civil engineer licensed in the State of California. The report shall contain a proposed action plan for pavement maintenance and pavement improvements to maintain safe and efficient traffic operation on the roads, and a PCI of 70 or more, unless otherwise agreed by the County, as defined by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Method D6433 (Standard Practice for Roads and Parking Lots Pavement Condition Index Survey), for each upcoming year. Within 30 days, the County will review the report and recommend revisions if necessary. Following acceptance of the report by the County, the operator shall secure a County encroachment permit specific to the action plan (at no cost to the operator) and complete the proposed pavement maintenance and improvement activities prior to the submittal of the annual report. Striping may be provided by the County if County striping equipment and material are available. Otherwise striping will be provided by the operator. Once the work is completed, the operator will resubmit the annual evaluation report by November 1st each year, and include the scope and dates that work was completed.
If minor emergency asphalt repairs (work requiring a single County Public Works maintenance pick-up truck with asphalt patching material) are identified within the maintenance areas of the hauling routes after the applicant’s yearly maintenance has been completed, county crews will perform the minor asphalt repair maintenance once in a sixty (60) consecutive day period. The types of asphalt pavement failures requiring repairs include, but are not limited to, cracking, pot holes, depressions, rutting, shoving, upheaval, and raveling and any other pavement damage or failures requiring immediate repair by the County.
If major emergency roadway repairs associated with the permitted activities (work requiring more than a single County Public Works maintenance pick-up truck with asphalt patching material, or minor asphalt repairs occurring in less than the sixty (60) consecutive day period) are identified after the applicant’s yearly maintenance has been completed, the applicant shall obtain a County encroachment permit (at no cost to applicant) and complete the major roadway repairs. If major roadway repairs that are the applicant’s fair share obligation are not completed by the applicant in a timely manner as determined by the County, and the County must make repairs when the public’s safety is considered at risk by the County Engineer, then the applicant will be billed for the County’s major roadway repair work on a time and materials basis. An applicant may coordinate with the County to have the County complete required improvements, and in such case must fully fund the County’s costs to do so. The operator does not assume the liability for the roadway, except for cases where the operator has not fulfilled its maintenance obligations.
If a subsequent mining operation utilizes a road previously required to be improved pursuant to this subsection, then the subsequent operator shall be responsible for compliance with the agreements and requirements of the previous operator.
(§ 1, Ord. 1190, eff. September 5, 1996; as amended by Ord. 1518, eff. February 13, 2020)