§ 10:7. Switch tracks.

(a)

Permission required. No railroad, person, firm or corporation shall establish, construct, maintain or operate a switch track in any public property in the city-parish without permission from the council, upon proper application by special ordinance.

(b)

Application. All applications for such permission shall be made in writing to the council and shall be accompanied by blueprints, in quadruplicate, showing the proposed location of the track measurement, etc., and also all existing tracks, if any and by whom claimed and to what railroad it is connected. Such measurement shall be made along the centerline between rails from the point of frog to the property line. Two (2) of the blueprints shall be kept by the director of public works.

(c)

Blueprint specifications. Every railroad shall file with the director of public works a blueprint, drawn to a scale of not more than one hundred (100) feet to the inch, showing each switch track connected to its railroad which serves a private individual, firm or corporation and which track is located in, on or through public property in the city-parish. These prints are to contain all data specified in subsection (b).

(d)

Approval; restoration of surrounding area. The plans and specifications for the construction of new switch tracks or relaying of existing switch tracks in public property in the city-parish shall be approved by the director of public works. All sidewalks, pavements and other public property torn up, damaged or disturbed in constructing, relaying or removing switch tracks, shall be restored to their original good condition by the grantee of the switch track, who shall likewise conform in all respects to the provisions of all other ordinances relative to the manner of making and restoring cuts in roadways and sidewalk pavements.

(e)

Permittee to maintain adjoining systems during occupancy. Every grantee of a switch track privilege shall, during the term of the privilege, maintain in good order and condition all portions of water, sewerage and drainage system which lie beneath or in close proximity to the track maintained or operated by the grantee. The grantee shall likewise, during the term of the privilege, maintain in good order and condition all pavements between the rails of the switch track and for a distance of eighteen (18) inches on the outside of the rails. The city-parish shall not be liable or responsible for any damages resulting from any disturbance or obstacle in the use or location of these tracks from any causes whatsoever. The city-parish shall be indemnified by the grantee of the switch track for any personal or property damage to itself or others, or the public, which may result from the negligent use, location of unsafe condition of the utilities or the operation thereof.

(f)

Deposit required. Every grantee seeking a switch track privilege through or over public property shall deposit with the city-parish a sum equal to fifty dollars ($50.00) per lineal foot of the switch track located on public property but in no event to be less than five hundred dollars ($500.00); the deposit shall be held in escrow by the city-parish to guarantee the faithful performance of all the obligations of the grantees of such privilege set forth in the ordinance granting the privilege as well as those obligations set forth in this chapter, and such deposit shall be retained by the city-parish as long as the switch track is in use and until it is removed to the satisfaction of the director of public works. Should all or any portion of such fund be expended by the city-parish as provided in the ordinance granting the switch track privileges or under the provisions of this chapter, the grantee shall immediately, upon notice from the city-parish, replace such funds so expended, and if it fails to so do within thirty (30) days, the switch track privilege may be revoked by the city-parish. Such deposit shall remain with the city-parish as long as the switch track is in operation and if its use is discontinued, until it is removed by the grantee and the public property restored as provided in subsection (g).

(g)

Discontinuance of use. If the grantee of any switch track privilege discontinues the use thereof, it shall notify the director of public works and then such grantee shall remove the switch track from the public property on which it is located and restore the location satisfactory to the city-parish, and if the grantee fails to do so, it shall then be the duty of the director of public works to have the switch track removed from public property and restore the location in question to a satisfactory condition, the cost of such removal and restoration be borne by the grantee or grantees, and all or any portion thereof may be taken from the deposit made in connection with the granting of such switch track privilege.

(h)

Penalty. Any person, including any railroad company, violating any of the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or to imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days, or both, at the discretion of the court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that in case of a railroad or other corporation found violating the provisions of this section, any or all of the employees of such railroad or other corporation responsible for such violation shall be deemed guilty of the violation of this section.

(City Code 1951, Title 10, §§ 7—14; Parish Code 1962, Title 10, §§ 7—14)