§ 74-6. Street and sidewalk excavations and openings.

(a)

Permit required. No person shall make or cause to be made any excavation or opening in any street, alley, highway, sidewalk or other public way within the village without first obtaining a permit at village hall.

(b)

Fee. The fee for a street opening permit shall be as provided in article IV of chapter 18.

(c)

Bond. Before a permit for excavating or opening any street or public right-of-way may be issued, the applicant must execute and deposit with the village clerk an indemnity bond in the sum of $25,000.00, conditioned that he will indemnify and save harmless the village and its officers from all liability for accidents and damage caused by any of the work covered by his permit; that he will fill up and place in good and safe condition all excavations and openings made in the street; that he will replace and restore the pavement over any opening he may make as near as possible to the state and condition in which he found it; that he shall keep and maintain the street or public right-of-way in such condition, normal wear and tear excepted, to the satisfaction of public works supervision for a period of one year; that he will pay all fines imposed upon him for any violation of any rule, regulation or ordinance governing street openings or drain laying adopted by the village board; and that he will repair any damage done to existing improvements during the progress of the excavation in accordance with the ordinances, rules and regulations of the village. Such bond shall also guarantee that if the village shall elect to make the street repair, the person opening the street will pay all costs of making such repair and of maintaining the same for one year. Recovery on such bond for any accident, injury, violation of law, ordinance, rule or regulation shall not exhaust the bond, but it shall cover any and all accidents, injuries or violations during the period of excavation for which it is given. As an alternative to the requirements of this subsection, an annual bond may be given under this section covering all excavation work to be done by the principal for one year beginning January 1, which shall be conditioned as specified in this subsection and in the amount determined by the village board as necessary to adequately protect the public and the village.

(d)

Insurance. In lieu of the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, prior to commencement of excavation work, a permittee shall furnish the supervisor of inspections satisfactory written evidence that he has in force and will maintain during the life of the permit and the period of excavation, commercial general liability insurance of not less than $500,000.00 for each occurrence, $300,000.00 for one accident and property damage insurance of not less than $50,000.00. The village shall be listed as an additional insured on the policy. If the permittee is making more than one excavation at any one time, the insurance coverage required is doubled.

(e)

Regulations governing street and sidewalk openings. Regulations governing street and sidewalk openings are as follows:

(1)

Frozen ground. No opening in the streets or sidewalks for any purpose shall be permitted when the ground is frozen, except where necessary as determined by public works supervision.

(2)

Removal of paving. In opening any street or other public way, all paving or ballasting materials shall be removed with the least possible loss of or injury to surfacing material and, together with the excavated material from trenches, shall be placed so as to cause the least practicable inconvenience to the public and permit free flow of water along gutters.

(3)

Protection of public. Every person shall enclose with sufficient barriers each opening, which he may make in the streets or public right-of-ways of the village. All machinery and equipment shall be locked or otherwise effectively safeguarded from unauthorized use when not being used by the permittee, his agents or employees. All work shall be signed and barricaded as required by the Uniform Manual on Traffic Control (MUTCD) current edition. All signs shall be made with approved reflective material. No "homemade" signs are permitted. Barricades remaining overnight shall have appropriate warning flashers. Except by special permission from public works supervision, no trench shall be excavated more than 250 feet in advance of pipe neither laying, nor left unfilled more than 500 feet where pipe has been laid. All necessary precautions shall be taken to guard the public effectively from accidents or damage to persons or property through the period of the work. Each person making such opening shall be held liable for all damages, including costs incurred by the village in defending any action brought against it for damages, as well as cost of any appeal that may result from the neglect by such person or his employees of any necessary precaution against injury or damage to persons, vehicles or property of any kind.

(4)

Replacing street surface. In opening any street or sidewalk, the paving materials, sand, gravel and earth or other material moved or penetrated and all surface monuments or hubs must be removed and replaced with slurry fill. Upon request, public works supervision may authorize refilling the excavated material. All rubbish shall be immediately removed, leaving the street or sidewalk in acceptable repair, the same to be so maintained for a period of one year. In refilling the opening, the earth must be placed in layers not more than six inches in depth, and each layer tamped or flushed to prevent settling. All trenches shall be sheathed and braced as required by applicable law or regulation. No timber, bracing, lagging, sheathing or other lumber shall be left in any trench without the approval of the village engineer. The village may elect to make the pavement repair for any street or sidewalk opening, in which case the cost of making such repair and of maintaining it for one year shall be charged to the person making the street opening.

(f)

Excavation in new streets. Whenever the village board determines to provide for the permanent improvement or repaving of any street, such determination shall be made not less than 30 days before the work or improvement or repaving shall begin. Immediately after such determination by the village board, the village clerk's office shall notify in writing each person, utility, village department or other agency owning or controlling any sewer, water main, conduit or other utility in or under the street or any real property abutting the street, that all such excavation work in such street must be completed within 30 days. After such permanent improvement or repaving, no permit shall be issued to open, cut or excavate the street for a period of five years after the date of improvement or repaving unless, in the opinion of public works supervision, an emergency exists which makes it absolutely essential that the permit be issued.

(g)

Emergency excavations authorized. In the event of an emergency, any person owning or controlling any sewer, water main, conduit or utility in or under any street and his agents or employees may take immediate proper emergency measures to remedy dangerous conditions for the protection of property, life, health or safety without obtaining an excavation permit; provided, however, that such person shall apply for an excavation permit not later than the end of the succeeding business day and shall not make any permanent repairs without first obtaining an excavation permit under this section.

(h)

Village work excluded. The provisions of this section shall not apply to excavation work under the direction of public works supervision, the village engineer, by village employees or contractors performing work under contract with the village necessitating openings or excavations in village streets.

(i)

Highways closed to travel; penalties for unlawful use. Whenever any highway is impassable or unsafe for travel or during the construction or repair of any highway, and until it is ready for traffic, the authorities in charge of the maintenance or construction thereof may keep it closed by maintaining barriers at each end of the closed portion. The barriers shall be of such material and construction and so placed as to indicate that the highway is closed and shall be lighted at night. All signs and barricades shall follow the MUTCD. Any person who, without lawful authority, removes, takes down, alters the position of, destroys, passes over or beyond any barrier so erected, or travels with any vehicle upon any portion of a highway closed by barriers as provided in this section, or walks or travels in any manner upon the materials placed thereon as part of the repair or construction work, shall be liable to a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than $100.00, or to imprisonment not less than ten nor more than 60 days, on failure to pay, and in addition thereto shall be liable for all damages done to the highway, such damages to be recovered by the village.

(j)

Temporary roads. Temporary roads within the village are prohibited, and no new construction will be allowed to begin on buildings until a proper road is installed. A proper road is defined as one which contains:

(1)

Square backed curbs and gutter (unless rural cross section referred to at section 74-4(d).

(2)

All binder courses of asphalt.

(3)

Bond obtained by the developer to cover the cost of the final asphalt surfaces, which would be applied no sooner than one year following the binder course and only upon the village's approval.

(Ord. No. 880, § I, 9-16-14)