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HomeMy WebLinkAbout180 - 10/20/1998 - AMENDING THE CITY CODE RELATING TO RIGHT-OF-WAY CONTRACTORS LICENSES ORDINANCE NO. 180, 1998 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING CHAPTERS 15, 24 AND 26 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS RELATING TO RIGHT-OF-WAY CONTRACTORS LICENSES WHEREAS,the City Engineer has prepared and presented to the Council a program known as the "Choice Streets System" which program is intended to improve the technical standards and regulatory authorities governing the construction and maintenance of streets and related infrastructure in the City; and WHEREAS, the City Engineer has recommended that the current system of licensing concrete, asphalt and utility contractors be replaced with a more comprehensive licensing system involving the establishment of an overall license to be known as a "Right-of-Way Contractors License", which license must be supplemented with an endorsement for the specific type of construction work proposed to be performed by the contractor; and WHEREAS,the proposed new program is designed to fully cover the City's administrative costs in processing the applications and includes a bonding requirement to adequately protect the City; and WHEREAS,the proposed new licensing system would consolidate all licensing provisions into one section of the Code, impose an insurance requirement upon licensed contractors, and provide for the more uniform and coordinated administration of the licensing system; and WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Board and the Transportation Board have recommended the adoption of the program; and WHEREAS, the Council has determined that the passage of this ordinance is in the best interest of the City. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That Chapter 15,Article XIII of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: ARTICLE XIII. RIGHT-OF-WAY CONTRACTORS See. 15-361. License required. It shall be unlawful for any person, company, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, or other association (hereafter referred to as "person")(1)to perform or contract to perform work of any kind in the public right- of-way without first obtaining a license to perform such work,or(2)to perform work in any category described in § 15-365 without first obtaining an endorsement as provided therein for the specific category of work sought to be performed. It shall be unlawful for any person to perform or contract to perform work on any utility which is or will be owned or maintained by the city or which will connect to and become a part of a city-owned or maintained utility, whether located in the public right-of-way or in an easement,without first obtaining a license and endorsement to perform such work. Sec. 15-362. Application and fee for license and endorsement. Applications for a right-of-way contractor's license and endorsement(as provided in § 15-365) shall be made to the City Engineer. The City Engineer is hereby authorized to establish forms for the application and to require any such information and documentation from applicants as may be reasonably necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Article. An application fee shall be established as authorized in Chapter 7.5, Article I of the Code, which fee shall be paid prior to or concurrently with submittal of the application. Sec. 15-363. Bond required. All license applications shall be accompanied by a license and permit bond executed by a reliable surety company with a rating of"A-" or better. The bond certificate provided to the city shall be an original (not a copy). The bond shall be in the amount of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.) with an additional and separate bond in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.)for each license endorsement as provided in § 15-365. All bonds shall be continuous, with a minimum cancellation notice of sixty (60) days. In the event a bond is canceled, the license will be immediately revoked and no further work will be allowed to occur;however the bond, even though canceled, must remain effective through the warranty period associated with all previously completed work items. Sec. 15-364. Insurance required. All license applications shall be accompanied by an original certificate of commercial general liability insurance insuring the contractor and naming the city as an additional insured against any liability arising out of ownership, use, occupancy or construction of the work and all areas appurtenant thereto with a combined single limit of one million dollars ($1,000,000.). The limits of said insurance shall not, however,be a limit to the liability of the licensee hereunder. Insurance required shall be with companies qualified to do business in the state with a general policy holder's financial rating of not less than `B++" as set forth in the most current edition of "Bests Insurance Reports"and may provide for deductible amounts as the contractor 2 may deem to be reasonable, but in no event greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000.). No such policies shall be cancelable or subject to reduction in coverage limits or other modification except after thirty (30) days prior written notice to the city. However,where cancellation of coverage is due to nonpayment ofthe premium a ten (10) day written notice to the city is required. The contractor shall not do or permit to be done anything which will invalidate the insurance policies referred to in this Section. Policies described above shall be for the mutual and joint benefit and protection of the contractor and the city. Such policies shall contain a provision that the city, although named as an additional insured, shall nevertheless be entitled to recovery under said policies for any loss occasioned to it, its servants, agents, citizens,and employees by reason of negligence of the contractor. Such policies shall be written as primary policies not contributing to and not in excess of coverage which the city may carry. Sec. 15-365. License and endorsements. Any person wishing to perform work,regardless of the nature of the work, shall be required to obtain a right-of-way contractor's license prior to performing the work as provided in § 15-361. Additionally any person wishing to perform work in one of the following categories shall first qualify for, and obtain a license endorsement to perform such work as follows: Endorsements: Asphalt: Required in order to perform asphalt paving,asphalt patching, slurry seal, chip seal, crack seal, and other similar asphalt related work. Utility: Required in order to perform work on any utility which is or will be owned, operated, or maintained by the city or any utility which will connect to and become a part of any city-owned utility. Non-Structural Concrete: Required in order to construct curbs, gutters, sidewalks, cross pans, tricklepans and perform other similar non-structural concrete work. Structural Concrete: Required in order to construct concrete box culverts, inlets,concrete underwalk culverts, bridges, concrete drainage structures, and perform other similar structural concrete work. The City Engineer shall be authorized (1) to determine whether the applicants are qualified to perform the kind of work included under the endorsement(s) being requested, and (2) to issue the license and appropriate endorsement(s) to qualified applicants who fully comply with this Article. 3 Sec. 15-366. Issuance of license and fee. Upon approval of qualifications by the City Engineer, receipt by the city of an original bond certificate and insurance certificate,purchase of the current edition of all applicable city standards and specifications, and payment of the license fee, the applicant will be issued a license and endorsement(s) as applicable. A license fee shall be established as authorized in Chapter 7.5, Article I of the Code, which fee shall be paid prior to or concurrently with issuance of the license. Sec. 15-367. Guarantee of work. Any person licensed to perform work in the public right-of-way shall guarantee the work for a period of two (2)years or as required in the applicable city standards and specifications which apply to the work performed, whichever is longer. This guaranty shall include all repairs required due to defects in materials or workmanship. This guaranty shall also include defects consisting of settling of trenches or other fills or excavations. The determination of the necessity for such repairs shall be made by the City Engineer,which determination shall be final. If,at any time within the period of the guaranty, the licensee shall fail or refuse to make repairs required by the guaranty,then the city may proceed to cause the repairs to be made and to recover the cost by action against the bond of the licensee. Sec. 15-368. Suspension or revocation of license or endorsements. The City Engineer may suspend or revoke any license or endorsement issued under this Article upon determining that the licensee: (1) has failed to abide by the requirements of the Code, including this Article, relating to work done under the license and/or endorsement. (2) is unqualified to perform the work for which the license or endorsement was issued. (3) has demonstrated a careless, dangerous or destructive approach to the work being performed. (4) has violated provisions of the applicable construction or repair standards or specifications. Upon taking action to suspend or revoke a license, the City Engineer shall give written notice to the licensee of such action. Such license shall not be in effect again until duly reinstated by the City Engineer, nor shall any refund of the license fee be 4 made for any length of time for which the license has been suspended or revoked. The licensee may appeal the decision of the City Engineer to the City Manager by filing a notice of such appeal with the City Clerk within ten(10)days after the notice is mailed to the licensee. In the event of such appeal, the City Manager shall schedule a hearing on the question, and the action taken by the City Manager at the hearing shall be final. See. 15-369. Exceptions. The requirements of this Article shall not apply to: (1) city crews performing work in the public right-of-way; (2) any party contracting with the city to perform work in the public right-of-way; (3) utility companies performing work in the public right-of-way using utility company crews (not including contractors for such utility companies); or (4) individual residential property owners who are working within the public right-of-way abutting such residential property. Section 2. That the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended by adding a new section, to be numbered 24-35, which section reads as follows: Sec. 24-35. License required. It shall be unlawful for any person to perform or contract to perform work of any kind in the public right-of-way without first obtaining a license to perform such work in accordance with the provision of Chapter 15. Article XIII. Section 3. That Chapter 24,Article III,Division 4 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins, consisting of Sections 24-151 through 24-156, is hereby deleted in its entirety. Section 4. That Chapter 26,Article XI of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: 5 ARTICLE XI. UTILITY LINE INSTALLATION Sec. 26-671. License required. It shall be unlawful for any person to perform or contract to perform work on any utility which will be owned or maintained by the city or which will connect to and become a part of a city-owned utility, whether located in the public right-of-way or in an easement,without first obtaining a license to perform such work in accordance with the provisions in Chapter 15, Article XII I. Secs. 26-672-26-710. Reserved. Section 5. That all changes to the Code of the City of Fort Collins caused by reason of this ordinance shall take effect on January 1, 1999. Introduced and considered favorably on first reading and ordered published in summary form this 6th day of October,A.D. 1998,and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day of October _ A.D. 1998. or ATTEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 20th day of Oct er, A. 19988 i ayor ATTEST: City Clerk 6