Section 407-880-5 - SEPARATE CHARGESPole owners must charge attaching entities separately for the following expenses and investments:
A.Make-Ready Work. An additional attaching entity or an existing attaching entity placing an additional attachment must be charged reasonable expenses incurred in surveying existing joint-use utility poles or in performing make-ready work. The attaching entity requiring additional space on an existing joint-use utility pole is presumed to be the attaching entity which must incur or be charged for the cost of all make-ready work, unless the other attaching entities otherwise agree.1.Municipal Exemptiona.Definitions. The following definitions are applicable to Section 5(A)(1) of this Chapter: i.Make Ready Work. "Make-ready work" means the rearrangement or transfer of existing facilities, replacement of a pole, complete removal of any pole replaced or any other changes required to make space available for an additional attachment to a shared-use pole.ii. Municipality. "Municipality" means a town, city, plantation, county, regional council of governments, quasi-municipal corporation or district as defined in 30-A M.R.S. §2351, regional municipal utility district established according to 30-A M.R.S. §2203(9) or a corporation wholly or partially owned by an entity specified in this Subsection. iii.Unserved or Underserved Area. "Unserved or underserved area" has the same meaning as in 35-A M.R.S §9202(5).b. Exemption. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for the purpose of safeguarding access to infrastructure essential to public health, safety and welfare, an owner of a joint-use utility pole and each attaching entity to that pole is responsible for that owner's or entity's own expenses for make-ready work to accommodate a municipality's attaching its facilities to that joint-use utility pole: i. For a governmental purpose consistent with the police power of the municipality; orii. For the purpose of providing broadband service to an unserved or underserved area.B.Tree Trimming; Brush Control. Joint-use entities occupying the same joint-use utility poles as the pole owner must be charged forty percent of expenses borne by the pole owner for tree trimming and brush control, multiplied by the ratio of joint-use entity attachments to joint-use utility poles occupied by pole owners in the same municipality or municipalities served by the joint-use entity. Pole owners that are telephone utilities must not charge electric utilities, and electric utilities must not charge pole owners that are telephone utilities or other joint-use entities, for tree trimming or brush control unless the attaching entity demonstrates a benefit to another attaching entity from either the tree trimming or brush control that it has performed and establishes a reasonable quantification of that benefit.C.Excess Height1.Solely Assigned; Excess Height. When an existing or a proposed attaching entity requires additional space which is not available on that joint-use utility pole, and the joint-use utility pole must be replaced by a taller joint-use utility pole, the existing or proposed attaching entity causing the need for replacement must pay for (i) the difference between the cost for the taller joint-use utility pole and supporting equipment such as guys and anchors and the cost for a new 35-foot joint-use utility pole and supporting equipment in the same location, plus (ii) a reasonable estimate of the net book value of the joint-use utility pole and supporting equipment, if any, which has been replaced.2.Mutual Assignment. When a joint-use utility pole taller than 35 feet is required to provide minimum clearances, or when more space for attachments than is available on a 35-foot joint-use utility pole is required by two or more attaching entities, the cost (i) of the additional height of the excess height joint-use utility pole and supporting equipment and (ii) the reasonable estimate of the net book value of replaced joint-use utility pole and supporting equipment, if any, must be shared equally among the users requiring the replacement.65-407 C.M.R. ch. 880, § 5