No person, other than authorized city employees, shall dig or excavate any hole, ditch, trench or tunnel in or under any street, alley, sidewalk, park or other public property or public easement through private property without first having secured a permit for such excavation. Application shall be made to the building inspector.

(Code 1968, 12-201; Code 1990)

(a)   No permit authorized in this article shall be issued until the applicant has given to the city a good and sufficient bond in the sum of $5,000 conditioned that the applicant will faithfully comply with all the terms and conditions of this article, and will indemnify and hold the city harmless against all costs, expenses, damages and injuries by persons or by the city sustained by reason of the carelessness or negligence of the permit holder. No bond for this purpose shall run for longer than two years without being renewed. The bond shall remain in full force and effect as to each excavation for two years after the same has been made or completed.

(b)   Any utility operating under a franchise or a contractor under contract with the city for municipal improvement shall not be required to give bond as provided in subsection (a).

(c)   Each bond given under this section shall be approved by the city attorney and filed with the city clerk.

(Code 1990)

If the application is approved by the city, the city clerk shall issue a permit upon payment of a fee of $25.00. Each permit issued under the provisions of this section shall cover only one specified excavation.

(Code 1990)

Any person to whom an excavation permit is issued shall enclose all excavations which they make with sufficient barricades and danger signs at all times, and shall maintain sufficient warning lights or flares at nighttime. The holder of an excavation permit shall take all necessary precautions to guard the public against all accidents from the beginning of the work to the completion of the same.

(Code 1968, 12-204:205; Code 1990)

It shall be unlawful for any person, except those having authority from the city or any officer thereof to throw down, interfere with or remove any barriers, barricades, or lights placed in any street to guard and ward the traveling public of any construction work thereon or adjacent thereto.

(Code 1968, 12-208; Code 1990)

(a)   No person shall cut any curb, gutter, pavement, blacktop, sidewalk or excavate any street, alley or other public grounds of the city for any purpose without first obtaining a permit authorizing the same from the building inspector.

(b)   Once the work for which the excavation was made has been completed the city shall restore the pavement, blacktop, sidewalk or other surfacing at the expense of the person from whom the excavation was made.

(c)   In lieu of the city replacing pavement, it may elect to authorize utility companies or contractors to resurface sidewalks with like materials, subject to approval of the city superintendent.

(Code 1968, 12-210; Code 1990)

No person shall change or alter any gutter, storm sewer, drain or drainage structure which has been constructed, or is being lawfully maintained or controlled by the city unless such change or alteration has been authorized or directed by the governing body.

(Code 1968, 12-211; Code 1990)

No person shall walk upon, drive or ride over or across any pavement, sidewalk or incomplete grading which has not been opened for traffic.

(Code 1968, 12-204; Code 1990)

(a)   No person shall occupy any portion of any street, alley or sidewalk for the purpose of temporarily storing building materials without first obtaining a permit for such temporary use from the governing body.

(b)   No person may use any portion of any sidewalk or street right-of- way for the purpose of displaying or offering for sale wares, goods, merchandise or other items. Nothing in this article, however, shall be construed as prohibiting the city governing body from temporarily waiving the prohibition of this subsection in connection with community promotions or community-wide celebrations when such waiver is considered to be in the best interest of the city.

(Code 1968, 12-207, 213; Code 1990)

It shall be unlawful for any person to place, throw or cause to be placed or thrown in or on any street, alley, sidewalk or other public grounds of the city, any glass, tacks, nails, bottles, wire or other dangerous objects that might wound any person or animal, or cut or puncture any pneumatic tire while passing over the same.

(Code 1968, 12-214; Code 1990)

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to deposit or throw any waste oil, fuel oil, kerosene, gasoline or other products of petroleum or any acids into or upon any street or public grounds of the city, or willfully to permit the same to be spilled, dripped or otherwise to come into contact with the surface of any street, alley, or sidewalk within the city.

(Code 1968, 12-218; Code 1990)

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to throw or discharge water into any ditch, street, avenue or alley in the city or to cause any water to stand or form pools or to flow in a stream thereon. This section shall not apply to persons cleaning or flushing such streets, avenues or alleys under the authority of the governing body, nor to members of the fire department.

(Code 1990)

It shall be unlawful for any person to make or cause to be made, any fire upon any of the paved streets, alleys, or street intersections within the city.

(Code 1968, 12-217; Code 1990)

It shall be unlawful to haul over the streets or alleys of this city any loose material of any kind except in a vehicle so constructed or maintained as to prevent the splashing or spilling of any of the substances therein contained upon the streets or alleys.

(Code 1968, 12-216; Code 1990)

It shall be the duty at all times of every person who shall have charge of making an excavation or any obstruction adjacent to or under any sidewalk or street of the city during the course of such work to maintain proper barricades or safety guards and red lights for the protection of the traveling public along the ways adjacent thereto. No such work or excavation shall be allowed to remain over night without sufficient barricades and without being illuminated with lights or flares during the darkness of the night; provided that at all times a fence with at least three strings of good six-inch boards nailed not less than 18 inches apart to posts firmly set in the ground or otherwise firmly secured, such posts not being more than six feet apart with the tops thereof not less than 4 ½ feet from the surface of the sidewalk or street, shall be a minimum barricade and the lights shall be sufficient in number and so placed as to show the full extent of the work or obstruction.

(Code 1968, 12-206)

Any person having received a permit hereunder and having cut any pavement or made any excavation in any street or public way, shall restore the street, sidewalk, alley or public way to as good a condition as the same was previous to the cutting or excavation. Backfilling of ditches must be tamped in and all material taken out and replaced so ditch will not settle. All dirt, stones, or other rubbish shall be removed immediately upon the completion of the work, and the same may be done under the direction and supervision of the street superintendent. Should any such work be done improperly the street superintendent shall have the right to condemn the work and have it corrected to conform with this article.

(Code 1968, 12-203; Code 1990)

It shall be unlawful for any person to leave any excavation, building material, vehicle, stone, brick, dirt or other obstruction in or upon any street, alley or other public place of the city during the nighttime, unless the same be surrounded by barricades and provided with red lights sufficient in number and so located as to notify and guard vehicles or passersby of the extent of such excavation or obstruction. Such red lights shall be lighted before dark and shall be left burning during the entire night.

(Code 1968, 12-204)

It shall be unlawful for any person without authority to cut or break or remove or in any manner displace any curbing, guttering, street crossing, paved streets, avenues or alleys or any sidewalk in the city or to operate or drive any traction engine or heavy vehicle of any kind, whether under their own power or by power furnished from other source or sources, along, upon or across any curbing, crossing, guttering, paved street, avenue or alley or sidewalk within the city without proper planking or protection to prevent injury or destruction of any curbing, crossing, guttering, sidewalk.

(Code 1968, 12-212)

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to throw or deposit any stones, bricks, carcasses, tin cans, garbage, manure or refuse of any kind or description into or upon any street, alley, avenue, or vacant lot or premises within the limits of the city.

(Code 1968, 12-215)

It shall be unlawful for any person to put up or post up any handbill, advertisement, poster or other such writing on any wall, building, fence, post or pole in the city, now his or her own without the permission of the owner or occupant thereof.

(Code 1968, 12-220)