Agenda - Public Works Committee - 11/16/1999

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PW CASE # 4 CONSIDER RIGHT-OF-WAY ORDINANCE By: Steve Jankowski, City Engineer Background: With multiple telecommunication providers on the horizon, the City may be dealing with many entities desiring to utilize the City right-of-way for their facilities. The purpose of this case is to introduce an ordinance regulating the use of City right-of-way. It is based upon a model ordinance developed in cooperation between the City Engineers Association of Minnesota and the League of Minnesota Cities. The intended purpose of the model is to give cities a uniform set of regulations to help them govern the use of their rights-of-way. It is intended to provide a single set of regulations that cities can apply to all right-of-way users, including telecommunications companies. The ordinance conforms to the provisions of the new telecommunications right-of-way legislation adopted into law as Minn. Session Laws 1997, Chapter 123. In particular, the ordinance implements a city's authority to manage its right-of- ways and to recover its actual costs incurred in managing excavations and/or obstruction within the right-of-way. The ordinance addresses the terms and conditions under which utilities may locate their facilities in our rights-of-way, as defined by the law. Most notable elements of the ordinance are as follows: Registration with the City so we know who to contact; · Permitting requirements and fees so we will be reimbursed for staff time, mapping, and supporting costs when working around their facilities; · Restoration requirements the encourage coordinating with our annual reconstruction program, and avoid digging up recently constructed streets; · Installation requirements that define restoration, minimize disruption, and impose penalties for projects not completed in a reasonable time; · Mapping requirements to standardize the information reported, and to provide location information necessary for management of the right-of-way. Recommendation: Staff recommends the introduction of this ordinance. Committee Action: Motion to recommend City Council introduce Ordinance #99- amending Section 4.10 (Right-of-way Management) of the City Code to manage and administer the use of the public right-of-way in the public interest, and to provide for the issuance and regulation of right-of-way permits. Reviewed by: City Administrator City Attorney Director of Public Works Public Works Supervisor PW: 11/16/99