Ordinance regulating the erection and maintenance of telegraph and other poles in the Borough of Darlington providing for their inspection and providing for the levy and collection of an annual license fee on telegraph and other poles, and telegraph and other wires in the said Borough.
Sec. 1. Be it ordained and enacted by the Town Council of the Borough of Darlington, and it is hereby ordained and enacted by authority of the same, that from and after the passage of this ordinance, it shall be unlawful for any corporation, company or person to erect any pole or poles on any of the streets, lanes, alleys, highways or public grounds of the Borough of Darlington, without first obtaining a license from the Burgess to do so, and without first paying to the Borough Treasurer for the use of the Borough a license fee of $1.00 for each and every pole so to be erected.
Sec. 2. Any corporation, company or person desiring a license to erect poles as aforesaid shall file with the Burgess the receipt of the Borough Treasurer for the license fee above mentioned, and a written application setting forth the name of the corporate company or person desiring the license; the number of poles proposed to be erected under the license, the size and character of same, the purpose for what they are intended, the depth for which it is proposed to put said poles in the ground, the time when they are to be erected and the name of street, lane, alley, highway or part of public ground on which it is proposed to erect same.
Sec. 3. What upon filing the said application, if the erection of the said poles is in harmony with the ordinances of the said Borough, the Burgess shall issue to the said corporation, company or person so applying, a license containing on its face the facts set out in the application, and authorizing the said corporation, company or person to erect the described poles at the time and in the place and manner, and for the purposes therein mentioned.
Sec. 4. What the Burgess shall file a copy of the said license in his office and deliver a copy thereof to such persons as the Council may designate whose duty it shall be to see that the said poles are erected strictly in accordance with the said license.
Sec. 5. What all telegraph, telephone, electric light or other companies and persons owning, erecting, maintaining, using or permitting to stand upon the streets, lanes, alleys, highways, or public grounds of the Borough of Darlington, any pole or poles shall pay to the said Borough an annual license fee of $1.00 for each and every pole so owned erected, maintained, used or permitted to stand upon such street, lane alley, highway or public ground.
Sec. 6. All such corporations, companies or persons so owning, erecting, maintaining, using or permitting poles to stand upon any of the streets, lanes, alleys or public grounds of the said Borough, shall also pay an annual license fee to the said Borough of $2.50 per mile for each and every mile of wire erected and maintained on said poles.
Sec. 7. Any corporation, company or person having poles erected, maintained, used or permitted to stand upon any such streets, lanes, alleys, highways or public grounds, renting or allowing the use of their poles above mentioned to any corporations, companies, or persons, shall pay into the Borough Treasury annually $1.00 addition for each pole of the company so rented or used, and $2.50 a mile for each and every mile of wire erected and maintained on said poles by the corporation, company or person so rented or used.
Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of the Borough Policeman, upon passage of this ordinance and annually thereafter during the month of April of each year to make a thorough count of the telegraph, telephone, electric light and other poles now erected or hereafter to be erected within the limits of the said Borough, together with an estimate of the number of miles of wire erected and maintained on said poles by the corporation, company or person within the limits of the said Borough, and to make a report thereof to the Town Council under his oath of office, at its first regular meeting in the month of May.
Sec. 9. Immediately upon the report of the Borough Policeman of the number of poles owned, erected, maintained, used or permitted to stand upon the streets etc., of the Borough of Darlington, and its approval by the Town Council; it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Town Council to notify all corporations, companies and persons of the amount of their annual license fee due and payable under their ordinance.
Sec. 10. That such annual license fee shall be due and payable to the Borough Treasurer on the first day of June of each year. If not paid by the first day of July ten percent shall be added. All remaining unpaid July first shall be certified by the Borough Treasurer to the Borough Solicitor who shall proceed to collect the same by action of (assumpsit) or otherwise as shall be provided by the law.
Sec. 11. The High Constable shall inspect all poles used to carry wires upon street, alleys, lanes and highways of the Borough, by any corporation, company or person and the High Constable aided by the Policeman under his charge shall see that said poles and wires are kept in a good and safe condition, and if the High Constable or Policeman shall find any defect in the condition of the said poles or wires he or they shall report the same to the Burgess forthwith.
Sec. 12. The Burgess on receiving notice of any defect in the condition of the electric wires or poles within the limit of the Borough shall notify the owner or the manager of the corporation or the person owning the wires of poles, to report the same immediately, and put them in a safe and trustworthy condition, and if the same owner or manager of the corporation or person owning the wires or poles fail to do so with the dispatch which the case requires, the Burgess shall instruct the High Constable to remove the danger, if any existing by reason of defect wires or poles, and the cost of such removal together with the penalty of twenty per cent, shall be defrayed by the corporation, company or person owning poles or wires.
Sec. 13. Any pole now erected or hereafter to be erected in said Borough by any corporation, company or person, shall be removed and placed at a place to be indicated by the Town Council, whenever in its opinions said removal shall be necessary for the best interests of the Borough.
Sec. 14. Any corporation, company or person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall on conviction thereof before the Burgess or any Justice of the Peace, forfeit and pay for the use of the said Borough a fine of not less than $10.00, nor more than $100.00 to be collected as similar fines are now by the law collected.
Sec. 15. All resolutions, ordinances or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Ordained and enacted into a law this 25th day of March, A D. 1903. Attest: John Harvey, President
- A. Dillley, Secretary Approved April Seventeenth, 1903.
- W. H. Anderson, Burgess