(a) “Public right-of-way” means only the area of real property in which the city has a dedicated or acquired right-of-way interest in the real property. It shall include the area on, below or above the present and future streets, alleys, avenues, roads, highways, parkways or boulevards dedicated or acquired as right-of-way. The term does not include the airwaves above a right-of-way with regard to wireless telecommunications or other nonwire telecommunications or broadcast service, easements obtained by utilities or private easements in platted subdivisions or tracts.
(b) “Occupant” means any person, firm, corporation, association, utility, or entity, which enters upon the right-of-way of the City, or in any manner establishes a physical presence on, upon, in or over the right-of-way of the City, for the purpose of installing, construction, maintaining or operating lines, conduits, wires, fiber optic wires, cables, pipes, pipelines, poles, towers, vaults or appliances, or related facilities or appurtenances thereto.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
(a) No person, firm, corporation, association, utility, or entity, shall enter upon the right-of-way of the City, or in any manner establish a physical presence on, upon, in or over the right-of-way of the City, for the purpose of installing, construction, maintaining or operating lines, conduits, wires, fiber optic wires, cables, pipes, pipelines, poles, towers, vaults or appliances, or related facilities or appurtenances thereto, without the express written permission of the City. The permission of the City may be granted by a franchise agreement pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 12-2001 et seq. or by such other agreement as the governing body determines best protects the public interest in the right-of- way.
(b) Nothing in this article shall be interpreted as granting an occupant the authority to construct, maintain or operate any facility or related appurtenance on property owned by a city outside of the public right-of-way.
(c) The city shall process each valid and administratively complete application for use of the right-of-way within 45 days.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
The authority of a provider to use and occupy the public right-of-way shall always be subject and subordinate to the reasonable public health, safety and welfare requirements and regulations of the city.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
(a) The city shall have the authority to prohibit the use or occupation of a specific portion of public right-of way due to a reasonable public interest necessitated by public health, safety and welfare so long as the authority is exercised in a competitively neutral manner and is not unreasonable or discriminatory. A reasonable public interest shall include the following: (1) The prohibition is based upon a recommendation of the city engineer, is related to public health, safety and welfare and is nondiscriminatory among providers, including incumbent providers; (2) the provider has rejected a reasonable, competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory justification offered by the city for requiring an alternate method or alternate route that will result in neither unreasonable additional installation expense nor a diminution of service quality; (3) the city reasonably determines, after affording the provider reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard, that a denial is necessary to protect the public health and safety and is imposed on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis; or (4) the specific portion of the public right-of-way for which the provider seeks use and occupancy is environmentally sensitive as defined by state or federal law or lies within a previously designated historic district as defined by local, state or federal law.
(b) If the city denies a request to use or occupy a specific portion of the public right-of-way, the requester shall be served a notice of such denial by first class mail. The notice shall indicate that the requester shall have 10 days from the date of receipt of the notice to request a public hearing by the city governing body concerning the denial. Failure to make a timely request for a hearing shall constitute a waiver of the person’s right to contest the denial before the governing body. The hearing shall be held by the governing body within 30 days after the filing of the request therefore, and the potential occupant shall be advised by the city of the time and place of the hearing. Following the public hearing, if the city governing body denies a potential occupant’s request to use or occupy a specific portion of the public right-of-way, such determination may be appealed to district court.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
Any occupant of the public right-of-way shall comply with the provisions of Standards and Guides for Traffic Controls for Street and Highway Construction, Maintenance, Utility, and Incident Management Operations Part VI of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), published by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, 2009 Edition, Revision 1 and 2, dated May 14, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
The occupant shall maintain with the city current point of contact information and provide notice of a transfer within a reasonable period of time.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
If there is an emergency necessitating response work or repair, any person, firm, corporation, association, utility, or entity which has been granted permission to occupy the public right-of-way may begin that repair or emergency response work or take any action required under the circumstances, provided that the person, firm, corporation, association, utility, or entity notifies the city promptly after beginning the work and timely thereafter meets any permit or other requirement had there not been such an emergency.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
Any occupant of the public right-of-way is hereby required to repair all damage to a public right-of-way caused by the activities of that occupant, or of any agent affiliate, employee, or subcontractor of that occupant, while occupying, installing, repairing or maintaining facilities in a public right-of-way and to return the right-of-way, to its functional equivalence before the damage pursuant to the reasonable requirements and specifications of the city. If the occupant fails to make the repairs required by the city, the city may affect those repairs and charge the occupant the cost of those repairs.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
Whenever requested by the city, in order to accomplish construction and maintenance activities directly related to improvements for the health, safety and welfare of the public, an occupant promptly shall remove its facilities from the public right-of-way or shall relocate or adjust its facilities within the public right-of-way at no cost to the political subdivision. Such relocation or adjustment shall be completed as soon as reasonably possible within the time set forth in any request by the city for such relocation or adjustment. Any damages suffered by the city or its contractors as a result of such occupant’s failure to timely relocate or adjust its facilities shall be borne by such occupant.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
The following fees shall be assessed against occupants of the public right-of-way:
(a) A permit fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100);
(b) An inspection fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100);
(c) Repair and restoration costs associated with repairing and restoring the public right-of-way because of damage caused by the provider, its assigns, contractors and/or subcontractors in the right-of-way; and
(d) A performance bond, in a form acceptable to the city, from a surety licensed to conduct surety business in the state of Kansas, insuring appropriate and timely performance in the construction and maintenance of facilities located in the public right-of-way.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
(a) Occupants shall indemnify and hold the city and its officers and employees harmless against any and all claims, lawsuits, judgments, costs, liens, losses, expenses, fees (including reasonable attorney fees and costs of defense), proceedings, actions, demands, causes of action, liability and suits of any kind and nature, including personal or bodily injury (including death), property damage or other harm for which recovery of damages is sought, to the extent that it is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be caused by the negligence of the occupant, any agent, officer, director, representative, employee, affiliate or subcontractor of the provider, or their respective officers, agents, employees, directors or representatives, while installing, repairing or maintaining facilities in a public right-of-way.
(b) The indemnity provided by this subsection does not apply to any liability resulting from the negligence of the city, its officers, employees, contractors or subcontractors. If an occupant and the city are found jointly liable by a court of competent jurisdiction, liability shall be apportioned comparatively in accordance with the laws of this state without, however, waiving any governmental immunity available to the city under state law and without waiving any defenses of the parties under state or federal law.
(c) This section is solely for the benefit of the city and occupant and does not create or grant any rights, contractual or otherwise, to any other person or entity.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
An occupant shall promptly advise the other in writing of any known claim or demand against the provider or the city related to or arising out of the occupant’s activities in a public right-of-way.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)
Any person, firm, corporation, association, utility, or entity, or agent, contractor or subcontractor thereof, violating any provision of this article, shall be guilty of a municipal offense, and shall upon conviction be subject to a maximum fine of $500.00. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(Ord. 1774, Code 2018)