Vallejo Municipal Code Ch. 10.08 Street Excavation

Unless the particular provision or the context otherwise requires, the definitions and general provisions contained in this section shall govern the construction of this chapter:

A. "City" means the city of Vallejo, a municipal corporation, and its duly authorized representatives.

B. "City clerk" means the city clerk of the city of Vallejo.

C. "City council" means the city council which under the City Charter is the governing body of the city of Vallejo.

D. "Director of public works/city engineer," "public works director" or "city engineer" means the director of public works/city engineer of the city, or his duly authorized representative.

E. "Permit holder" means a person who has made application for an excavation permit in form approved by the director of public works and has been granted permission to excavate in the public streets located within the city upon the issuance of the permit.

F. "Person" means any individual, firm, corporation, whether same be a public service or a utility corporation or otherwise, or any public entity other than the city of Vallejo.

G. "Streets" or "public streets" includes avenues, highways, lanes, alleys, crossings or intersections, and courts which have been dedicated and accepted according to law, or which have been in common and undisputed use by the public for a period of not less than five years next preceding the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. They do not include private streets.

H. "Utility company" includes every corporation or person, including public entities, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any utility business for compensation within the city where gas, electric, telephone, telegraph, sanitary and storm sewers, cable television, and other like utility services are performed for or commodities delivered to the public or any portion thereof, but shall not include the city, its departments, divisions and agencies.

I. "Moratorium street" means any street, or portion thereof, that has been reconstructed, resurfaced, or slurry sealed in the preceding five-year period.

J. "Excavator" includes any utilities, common carriers, contractors, companies, subsidiaries, subcontractors, or other entities, public or private, conducting excavation activities within the public right-of-way.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.; Ord. No. 1767 N.C. (2d), § 1, 7-25-2017)

It is unlawful for any person to lay down pipes or conduits in the public streets of the city, or to open or tear up any public street therein, including but not limited to curbs, gutters, sidewalks and landscaping located within the public right-of-way, except upon receiving the prior written approval of the director of public works by issuance of an excavation permit as provided in this chapter.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)

A. Whenever any person desires to open trenches or otherwise excavate in the public streets for the purpose of placing therein main or lateral pipes, conduits, or other equipment and facilities, such person shall make application for and obtain an excavation permit in writing from the director of public works not less than twenty-four hours in advance of the time desired for undertaking such excavation work, except in cases of accident or emergency in which case written notice shall be given within twenty-four hours after any such opening or excavation has been made.

B. The public works director shall have the authority to make suitable arrangements with utility companies, such as the Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the Pacific Telephone & Telephone Co., the Vallejo Flood & Wastewater District, and other utility companies doing business on a regular basis within the city, to provide excavation permits required herein on a weekly or monthly basis if notice on a twenty-four-hour basis creates undue administrative difficulty.

C. The application for the excavation permit shall give the name or names of the streets in which trenches are to be opened or excavation otherwise made, and the name or names of the cross-streets between which such trenches or excavation work is to be undertaken. The director of public works shall have the right to designate the final location of any new utility installation in excess of four hundred feet in length to be made in the public streets.

D. Excavation permits applied for by private property owners or contractors shall be acknowledged in writing by the utility company having maintenance responsibility for the underground facility affected by the proposed excavation work. Also, upon completion of the work, the director of public works shall be notified and the permit shall be signed by the responsible utility company and the director of public works certifying that the work has been completed in a satisfactory manner and is acceptable to them.

E. The city of Vallejo places a five year street pavement moratorium on all streets, or portions thereof, that have been reconstructed, resurfaced, repaved, refinished, or slurry sealed. The current moratorium list can be obtained through the public works department at the central permit counter.

F. Excavations shall not be permitted in a moratorium street without a moratorium waiver from the director of public works.

G. Moratorium waiver requests shall be granted in the sole discretion of the director of public works on evaluation of the benefits and negative impacts to the city and its residents, including but not limited to impacts on public safety, excavation coordination with other entities, and/or whether work involves installation of public access conduit or pipe minimizing future needs for excavation.

H. Excavators working in the public right-of-way shall coordinate planned infrastructure projects to minimize the damage to the public right-of-way caused by multiple excavations in the same area, by providing the city with a two-year plan for work anticipated in the right-of-way.

I. At the beginning of each quarter (January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1) each excavator shall prepare and submit to the city a plan, including street intersections, that shows all major work anticipated within the ensuing twenty-four month period that falls within the public right-of-way. Any excavator that does not propose major work within the ensuing twenty-four month period shall submit a statement that no such major work is anticipated, and shall immediately report any major work to the city as soon as it becomes identified.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.; Ord. No. 1767 N.C. (2d), § 2, 7-25-2017)

Notification of the actual location of any street opening or excavation made for the purpose of what is termed "prospecting" shall given the director of public works within twenty-four hours after such prospecting work has been done, except when such work actually becomes a part of the main trench. "Prospecting" for the purposes of this chapter means probing or drilling into street pavement in search of pipes or other underground facilities to discover leaks or other defects therein.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)

A. As soon as new installation work has been finished, or repairs or replacements, including proper backfill to existing pipes and conduits has been made, and where the city has been requested to repave the trench or resurface the excavated area, notification in writing shall be given to the director of public works and for a period of seventy-two hours after such written notification has been received, the permit holder either directly or through its contractor shall mains proper barricades, lighting, and other warning devices and assume full responsibility for all such excavation work.

B. After receiving written notification as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the director of public works to have the trench or trenches repaved, or the excavation area resurfaced, and the city shall, after the seventy-two hour period has expired, assume responsibility for the affected street area unless there is some defect in the backfilling, in which case, upon notice from the director of public works, the permit holder shall safeguard and maintain the area until the backfilling has been approved by the director of public works.

C. The director of public works shall have discretion to require the permit holder either directly or through its contractor to perform the necessary paving or resurfacing work in accordance with city standard specifications when the workload demands on city personnel preclude their being able to do such work in a timely fashion.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)

When city personnel does repaving or resurfacing work, the cost thereof shall be borne and paid for by the permit holder directly or through its contractor at a cost per square foot of paving as determined by the director of public works, which charge shall reimburse the city for all direct and indirect costs of such work.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)

In addition to the requirement that the permit holder directly or through its contractor pay for street restoration, the applicant for an excavation permit shall pay to the city at the time of making its application the fees prescribed under resolution adopted by the city council for the clerical and administrative work involved in issuance of the permit and inspection by city personnel to insure that the excavation and/or restoration work has been accomplished in a satisfactory manner.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)

A. All utility companies performing excavation work in the public streets shall be exempt from the posting of any performance and guarantee bonds, or certificates of insurance, to assure that the excavation and street restoration work is accomplished in accordance with the terms of the permit issued therefor unless the work is being performed by a private contractor on behalf of the utility company in which case the provisions of subsection B of this section shall be applicable.

B. All private contractors and persons other than utility companies performing excavation and/or street restoration work in the public streets shall post with the director of public works a cash or corporate surety bond to guarantee performance of the street work and correction of defective work for one year after acceptance thereof by the city in an amount equivalent to fifty percent of the actual value of the backfill and paving or resurfacing work being undertaken. The bond shall guarantee replacement and correction of any defective work discovered within one year after acceptance of the work that will become the responsibility of the city to maintain.

C. Contractors who perform excavation and/or street restoration work on a regular basis may post a single twenty-five-thousand-dollar performance and guarantee bond to insure compliance with the terms of excavation permits issued and to cover defective work discovered during the one-year guarantee period. The bond, whether cash or by corporate surety, will be of continuing duration and shall not be released until one year has elapsed after completion of work covered by the most recent excavation permit issued to the contractor.

D. Performance and guarantee bonds shall be issued only by surety companies authorized to do business in the state, and shall be in form approved by the city attorney.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to relieve any person from liability for accident or damages caused by failure or neglect to properly safeguard, light or otherwise protect any openings or excavations in public streets during construction or repair of utility installations or for a period of seventy-two hours after the director of public works has received written notification that such work has been completed, or in cases where backfilling has been found improper or inadequate by the director of public works, until his/her approval has been given to such backfill work.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)

A. Each permit holder under this chapter expressly agrees to indemnify and save the city, its officers, agents and employees, harmless and blameless from and against all losses, claims, damages, actions or causes of action arising directly or indirectly from any acts or omissions of such permit holder, its officers, agents or employees, in the performance of the work authorized under the excavation permit, and nondisclosure by the city of information labeled proprietary or confidential, and the permit shall so expressly state.

B. In consideration of having been granted the right to use and occupy the public streets for the installation and maintenance of public service and/or utilities, conduits, equipment or other facilities, the utility companies owning such facilities existing within the public streets which are under the jurisdiction of the city shall as a condition of receiving an excavation permit, exonerate and relieve the city, its officers, agents and employees, from any claims, actions, causes of action, losses or damages attributable to ordinary negligence by city personnel in the exercise of their duty to maintain, repair and replace city facilities which are likewise located within the public streets, provided that the city has duly notified the designated representatives of the affected utility company or companies of its intention to excavate at a specified location, and the permit shall so expressly state.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.; Ord. No. 1767 N.C. (2d), § 3, 7-25-2017)

Any applicant for an excavation permit or permit holder may file with the city clerk a protest in writing addressed to the city council stating briefly any complaint or objection such person may have to any decision or action taken by the director of public works concerning the issuance of permits, the making of repairs or doing any work under the provisions of this chapter, or the amount of charges being made for paving or resurfacing work or in replacing or repairing defective work performed. In order to be timely, such written protest must be filed within thirty days after the affected person becomes aware or has notice of the decision or action taken by the director of public works. Upon receipt, the city clerk shall place the matter on the agenda of the city council for hearing, and give all interested persons at least ten days' notice in writing of the date, time and place that the city council will hear the matter. At the council meeting when scheduled, or at any subsequent meeting to which the hearing may be continued, the city council shall consider the protest, hear from all interested persons, and make such order in the matter that shall be just and equitable, and the decision of the city council shall be final and conclusive, subject to judicial review in the manner prescribed by law.

(Ord. 570 N.C.(2d) § 2 (part), 1980.)