(Milford)– The city of Milford wants to put tighter restrictions on contractors who dig in city-owned easements and rights-of-way.
The city council Monday reviewed a recommendation for the tougher requirements from City Administrator Brian Reed. Reed says his office gets a lot of complaints from the public about contractors not leaving the property in the same condition it was in before they started work.
Under the proposal, contractors would be required to notify any property owners that would be affected by the digging and permit holders would be required to properly restore the disturbed area. Fill material for patching streets would have to be approved by the city.
The city would also have the authority to not issue a permit to any contractor who has left an incomplete job.
The cost of the permits would also increase–from 25 dollars currently to 50. Permits requiring an emergency locate would increase to 100-dollars. Reed says the additional fees would help cover the cost of the city to inspect the work.
Milford Municipal Utilities would also be required to obtain the permits–they are currently exempt. The only entity that would NOT have to go through the process would be the city’s Public Works Department.
Having MMU no longer exempt from the permit requirements didn’t sit well with one council member. Todd Schillinger says the city needs to improve its relations with MMU, saying MMU could interpret this as a “jab”. Reed said MMU is one of the biggest offenders of the policy.
After further discussion, the council directed Reed to fine tune some language in the new regulations being proposed and to bring them back to the next meeting for possible action.
