Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 599

FORMERLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 544

AS AMENDED BY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1 AND

HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 17 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE REMOVAL OF SNOW ON PUBLIC ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (three-fourths of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend Chapter 5, Title 17 of the Delaware Code, by adding a new section thereto as follows:

"§521. Snow removal in non-municipal residential communities.

(a) For purposes of this section:

(1) 'Department' shall mean the Department of Transportation.

(2) 'Organization' shall mean a civic association, neighborhood alliance, homeowners maintenance corporation, homeowners maintenance association, or other similar entity, charged with or assuming the duties of maintaining the public areas within a residential development or community not within the boundaries of a municipality.

(2) 'Snowstorm' shall mean a snowstorm event whose accumulation within the relevant county exceeds four (4) inches, as determined by the Department.

(3) 'Streets' shall mean those streets within a residential development or community which have been accepted for perpetual maintenance by the Department.

(b) An organization may contract for snow removal services for snowstorms impacting the streets within its development or community, and be partially reimbursed for the costs of such services, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The reimbursement shall be in an amount not to exceed 75% of the actual contracted cost of said services, but in any event shall not exceed 75% of an annual cost analysis determination made by the Department in its implementing regulations under subsection (c) of this section. The regulatory cost determination shall include, but not be limited to, the Department's cost of purchasing similar services under its own contracts.

(2) The organization's contracts with contractors providing these services must include provisions for proof of insurance and compliance with all relevant State license requirements, including, but not limited to, the provisions of Chapter 21 of Title 30.

(3) The selection of contractors for services shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter 69 of Title 29.

(2) to obtain economies of scale, an organization may enter into written agreements with other organizations to obtain joint snow removal contracts for purposes of this section; and

(c) The Department shall be responsible for the implementation and administration of this section through the adoption and publication of rules, regulations and/or procedures deemed necessary for these purposes."

Section 2, This Act shall become effective July 1, 1996.

Section 3. The Department of Transportation shall continue to implement its current snow removal policy for those non-municipal residential communities south of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal notwithstanding the passage of this Act.

Approved August 1. 1996