By Peter Elacqua
Staff Writer
COLTS NECK – The Township Committee has adopted an ordinance that will require an individual to obtain a permit before he opens a Colts Neck street or works on a sidewalk.
The ordinance states it will be illegal “for any person, company, firm, corporation or other legal entity to perform any excavation work, dig up, excavate, tunnel, undermine, or in any manner break up a street or to make or cause to be made any excavation in or under the surface of any street for any purpose or to place, deposit or leave upon any street any earth or other excavated material, obstructing or tending to interfere with the free use of the street, or dig up, break, or excavate or undermine or in any way affect any other public improvement without first obtaining a street opening permit from the township planner.”
Applicants seeking a permit will be asked to provide the property owner’s name and address, the name of the street where the opening is to be made and the street number, if any, of the abutting property, the township tax map block and lot number of the property for the benefit of which the opening is to be made, the nature of the surface in which the opening is to be made, the character and purpose of the work proposed, proof of insurance with evidence of a comprehensive general liability insurance policy naming the township as an additional insured, the time when the work is to be commenced and completed, and the name and address of the workman or contractor who is to perform the work.
Construction plans and details showing the extent of the proposed excavation work, among other information, must also be provided, according to the ordinance.
In other business, the committee awarded a bid for phase two of Colts Neck’s 2016 capital road improvement plan to P&A Construction, Rahway, in the amount of $821,149. Phase two will consist of improvements to Deborah Drive, Heritage Lane, Lindy Lane, Mulberry Lane, Shadowbrook Drive, Stone Hill Road and Twin Lakes Drive.
And, officials accepted the 2015 municipal audit and reported that the auditor did not uncover any problems with regard to the township’s finances. As a result, committee members said that no corrective action in regard to Colts Neck’s finances is required.