Fiscal Note
If the ordinance is adopted, penalties will be able to be imposed on such delays to add incentives for public utilities to comply with the City’s existing ordinance and reduce such project exposure in the future. Revenue received from any penalties is expected to be minimal (a couple of thousand dollars a year) and will go to into the general fund to support general City operations. Costs to implement the ordinance change are expected to be covered by existing resources. Should delays lead to costs that cannot be recovered from the utility or covered by adopted project budgets, budget amendments may be necessary in the future. No appropriation is required at this time.
Title
Amending Sections 10.05(1)(a), (15), (16), (20) and Section 1.08(3)(a) of the Madison General Ordinances to update the right-of-way occupancy facility relocation requirements.
Body
DRAFTER'S ANALYSIS: This ordinance updates the right-of-way occupancy ordinance and corresponding bond schedule to give the City greater enforcement tools to better address a registrant’s failure to timely relocate facilities.
Under state law, the City is limited in its ability to regulate public utility use of the municipal right-of-ways, and any such regulation is subject to review by the Public Service Commission. Any regulation or penalty imposed upon public utilities must be reasonable and nondiscriminatory. The City may not recover more than the actual costs to the City of regulating utility use of the right-of-ways. Among the City’s powers is the ability to require a public utility to relocate its facilities during public improvement projects. Most public utilities work closely with the City and timely coordinate their work to ensure that the City’s project is not delayed. However, over the last several years, certain public utilities have expressed a pattern of not timely complying with relocation schedules associated with major public works projects, despite verbal agreements abo...
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