[Adopted 12-10-1974; amended in its entirety by Ord. No. 1998-20 (Secs. 13-4 and 13-5 of the 1974 Code)]

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

EXCAVATION WORK - Any excavation, removal, replacement, repair, construction, or other disturbance of any portion of the public improvements within a public street or drainage right-of-way. These public improvements include but are not limited to curb, sidewalk, driveway, driveway aprons, drainage structures, and conduits, pavements, base courses, gutters, retaining walls, channels, headwalls, railings, guardrails, or any other public improvement existing within the public right-of-way. For the purpose of this article, that work which is being performed outside the public right-of-way, but which requires storage of materials or operation of equipment within the public right-of-way, in such manner as may cause damage, will be considered "excavation work."

STREET - Any road, highway, public way, public alley, easement or other right-of-way accepted or maintained by the Borough, a public street, as well as any state or county road or highway over which the Borough has acquired jurisdiction by agreement.

It shall be unlawful for any person, company, firm, corporation or other legal entity to perform any excavation work, dig up, excavate, tunnel, undermine, or in any manner break up a street or to make or cause to be made any excavation in or under the surface of any street for any purpose or to place, deposit or leave upon any street any earth or other excavated material, obstructing or tending to interfere with the free use of the street, or dig up, break, excavate or undermine or in any way affect any other public improvement without first obtaining a written excavation permit for so doing from the Borough Clerk.

A. In the event of any emergency in which a sewer, main, conduit or utility in or under any street breaks, bursts or otherwise is in such condition as to immediately endanger the property, life, health, or safety of any individual, the person owning or controlling such sewer, main, conduit, or utility, without first applying for and obtaining an excavation permit hereunder, shall immediately take proper emergency measures to cure or remedy the dangerous conditions for the protection of property, life, health and safety of individuals. However, such person owning or controlling such facility shall apply for an excavation permit not later than the end of the next succeeding day during which the Borough office is open for business and shall not proceed with permanent repairs without first obtaining an excavation permit hereunder.

B. The Borough Clerk shall issue an excavation permit to any person, company, firm, corporation, or other legal entity who performs work under contract to the Borough without fee.

The Borough shall be authorized to refuse the issuance of any permit if it ascertains, after consultation with the Superintendent of Public Works, Borough Engineer or otherwise, that such refusal is in the interest of public safety, public convenience or public health. If a permit is refused, an appeal may be taken to the Borough Council. The Borough Council, after hearing the applicant and such other evidence as may be produced, may either direct the issuance of the permit or sustain the refusal.

A. Excavation permit applications shall be obtained and submitted to the Borough Clerk. The application shall contain the following information:

(1) Name and address of the applicant.

(2) Name of the street where the opening is to be made and the street number, if any, of the abutting property.

(3) The Borough tax map block and lot number of the property for the benefit of which the opening is to be made.

(4) Nature of the surface in which the opening is to be made.

(5) Character and purpose of the work proposed.

(6) Time when the work is to be commenced and completed.

(7) The application shall be accompanied by plans showing the extent of the proposed excavation work, the dimensions and elevation of both the existing ground prior to said excavation and the proposed excavation surfaces, the location of the excavation work and such other information as may be prescribed by the Borough, Public Works Department or Borough Engineer, including complete plan, profile and details of any proposed curb, sidewalk, pavements or other proposed improvements.

(8) The name and address of the workman or contractor who is to perform work.

B. No excavation permit will be issued unless the Chief of Police or a police officer designated by the Chief has reviewed the proposed application and accepted the proposed traffic safety plan or agreed to traffic safety measures during operations.

Each permit shall state the identity and address of the applicant, the name of the street and the location where the excavation or tunnel is to be made, the dimensions of the opening and the period during which the permit shall be valid. The original of each permit shall remain on file with the Clerk.

Accompanying each application shall be the sum of $100, which shall be deemed the fee for the application and the opening, and in addition thereto the sum of $500 for each opening, which shall be deemed a deposit which shall be either refunded or forfeited as hereinafter set forth. The person making the application and who paid the fee shall be responsible and liable for the satisfactory filling in and patching of the excavation. When, and if, the completed work is performed and approved as above stated, then and in such event the applicant shall be entitled to the refund of the five-hundred-dollar deposit. The applicant, however, shall forfeit the deposit of $500 if it becomes necessary for the Borough to restore the street to its preexisting condition should the permittee fail to do so as required by § 398-31. There is also herein established an inspection fee of $250 to be paid by the applicant.

If an individual repair deposit required by § 398-24 exceeds $1,000 or if the aggregate of the repair deposits which any applicant expects to be required to provide within a period of one year exceeds $5,000, or if the applicant be a public utility regulated by the federal government and/or the State of New Jersey, then the Borough may allow the portion of the required repair deposit in the form of a surety bond. If a surety bond is provided in accordance with the requirements of this section, the applicant shall deposit with the Borough Clerk a surety bond in the amount determined by the Superintendent of Public Works and/or Borough Engineer made payable to the Borough of Bradley Beach. The required surety bond must be:

A. With good and sufficient surety.

B. By a surety company authorized to transact business in the State of New Jersey.

C. Satisfactory to the Borough Attorney in the form and substance.

D. Conditioned upon the permittee's compliance with this article and to secure and hold the Borough and its officers harmless against any and all claims, judgments or other costs arising from the excavation and other work covered by the excavation permit or for which the Borough, the Borough Council or any Borough officer may be made liable by reason of any accident or injury to person or property guarding the excavation or for any other injury resulting from the negligence of the permittee, and further conditioned to fill up, restore and place in good and safe condition as near as may be to its original condition and to the satisfaction of the Department of Public Works and/or Code Enforcement Officer all opening and excavation made in streets and to maintain any street where excavation is made in as good condition for the period of 12 months after said work shall have been done, usual wear and tear excepted, as it was in before said work shall have been done. Any settlement of the surface within said one-year period shall be deemed conclusive evidence of defective backfilling by the permittee.

No permit shall be issued until the applicant has furnished the Borough with satisfactory proof that he is insured against injury to persons and damage to property caused by any act or omission of the applicant, his agents, employees or subcontractors done in the course of the work to be performed under the permit. The insurance shall cover all hazards likely to arise in connection with the work, including but not limited to collapse and explosion, and shall also insure against liability arising from completed operations. The limits of the policy of insurance shall be $1,000,000 for injury to any one person, $300,000 for property damage for a single incident. In cases where the character or nature of the proposed excavation work are such as to present an unusual hazard or a higher than normal risk of damage or injury, the Borough Council may require increased amounts of liability and property damage insurance.

All permits issued under this article shall be subject to the following rules and regulations:

A. All excavations shall be kept properly barricaded at all times and during the hours of darkness shall be provided with proper warning lights. This regulation shall not excuse the permittee from taking any other precaution reasonably necessary for the protection of persons or property.

B. All work shall be done in such a manner as to cause a minimum of interference with travel on the street affected. No street shall be closed to traffic unless the closing is approved by the Borough and Chief of Police. The Borough shall be informed of all street closings at least 24 hours in advance, except where the work is of an emergency nature, when notice shall be given when work commences. If road closure is needed, the applicant must comply with Chapter 83, Police, Off-Duty Employment of (Ordinance No. 1998-17).

C. All refuse and material shall be removed within 48 hours.

D. All excavation shall be completely backfilled and compacted by tamping, vibrating, rolling, flushing with water or other suitable means as required by the soil in question and sound construction practices. Where it is determined the excavated material is unsuitable for backfill, the permittee shall supply clean sand, dense graded aggregate, or other suitable pervious material. All backfilling of excavation shall be done in layers. Layers that are hand tamped shall not exceed three inches in thickness; layers that are power tamped shall not exceed six inches in thickness. All excess moisture shall be removed from the site and properly disposed.

E. If tunneling operations are required, the tunnel shall be backfilled with rammed concrete composed of one part cement to 10 parts sand.

F. If blasting is required to be done in the course of any excavation, it shall be done in strict compliance with all applicable state laws and regulations.

[Amended by Ord. No. 2003-19]

The permittee shall restore the surface of all streets broken into or damaged as a result of excavation work in accordance with the following rules, regulations and requirements:

A. Once the excavation work area has been properly backfilled and compacted, the pavement shall be saw cut and removed a minimum of six inches on each side of the excavation to expose undisturbed subgrade. Excavations less than two feet from the curbline will require removal of the existing pavement for the excavation to the curbline. All edges shall be prepared with tack coat.

B. The permittee shall install no less than six inches of bituminous stabilized base course, Stone Mix No. I-2, to the surface of the excavation.

C. All excavations shall be allowed to settle for no less than 90 days and no more than 180 days. During this time period, the permittee shall be responsible for maintaining the surface of the excavation.

D. The permittee shall remove the bituminous stabilized base repair to a depth of 1 1/2 inches below the surface of the existing street by milling. The milling limits should be at least one foot beyond the base repair. The milled area shall be treated with tack coat and paved with a minimum of 1 1/2 inches of bituminous concrete surface course, Stone Mix No. I-5.

E. In streets constructed of cement concrete with a bituminous concrete overlay, pavement shall be replaced with equivalent concrete and bituminous pavement, thickness to match existing. Replacement of the cement concrete with bituminous concrete is not permitted.

F. All materials and workmanship to be in accordance with current NJDOT Standard Specification for Road and Bridge Construction.

G. For streets that have been resurfaced or reconstructed within eight years of the date of the street opening, the seams of the surface pavement repair shall be blended with the existing pavement surface utilizing an infrared pavement restoration process.

A. Transferability. A permit shall apply only to the person to whom it is issued and shall not be transferable.

B. Commencement of work. The work on any opening to be made under the permit provided for in this article shall be commenced within 10 days from the date of the permit and the work prosecuted with due diligence until its completion. If, for any reason, the work is not commenced within the period of 10 days, the applicant shall present the permit to the Superintendent of Public Works, who shall thereupon either return the fee or extend the time for the beginning of the work for another period of 10 days by endorsement of the permit.

C. Possession of permit. A copy of the permit together with a copy of the plan endorsed with the approval of the Borough shall be kept in possession of the person actually performing the work and shall be exhibited on demand to any duly authorized employee of the Borough or police officer.

D. Revocation of permit. The Borough may revoke a permit for any of the following reasons:

(1) Violation of any provision of this article or any other applicable rules, regulations, law or ordinance.

(2) Violation of any condition of the permit issued.

(3) Carrying on work under the permit in a manner which endangers life or property, or which creates any condition which is unhealthy, unsanitary or declared by any provision of this Borough Code to constitute a nuisance. The procedure for revoking a permit shall be the same as that set forth in this Borough Code for the revocation of licenses, except that the initial hearing shall be before the Borough Council. The Council may provide in its decision that the revocation shall not become effective if the permittee corrects the violation within a specified period of time.

E. Modification of permit conditions. In an emergency the Borough Council may authorize special conditions to which the issuance of the permit may be subject, or may decide that any provision of this article shall not apply or shall be altered.

The Superintendent of Public Works and/or Borough Engineer may make any rules and regulations considered necessary for the administration and enforcement of this article, but no regulation shall be inconsistent with, alter or amend any provision of this article, or impose a requirement which is in addition to those expressly or by implication imposed by this article. No regulations shall be effective unless they are approved by resolution of the Borough Council. Copies of all current regulations shall be furnished each permittee at the time of the issuance of the permit.

If the work is not completed within the time specified in the permit or any extension granted by the Borough, if not performed in accordance with the regulations set forth in this article and any other regulations that may be established by the Borough Council, then the Borough may complete the work itself and restore the surface of the street. The cost of completing the work and restoring the street shall be charged to the permittee and may be deducted from his deposit or recovered by an action in any court of competent jurisdiction.

The penalty for violation of any provision of this article where no other penalty of fine or imprisonment is provided shall be as provided in Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty, of this Borough Code. This penalty shall be in addition to any different type of penalty or sanction provided in this chapter.