23 M.R.S. §3352: Emergency permits

If the owners, corporations, persons, firms or bridge or water districts comply with the notice given under section 3351, the road commissioner, the commissioner of public works or such officer as the municipal officers may appoint in the absence of a commissioner may, in the case of an emergency, grant and renew permits for digging or making excavations in the driveways of any of the public highways of the municipality for the repairing of gas, water, steam, oil, gasoline, petroleum or any other liquid, or ammonia pipes or conduits or for any other lawful purpose. Every permit must specify the time prescribed by resolution or ordinance or, when no time is prescribed, the road commissioner, the commissioner of public works or such officer as the municipal officers may appoint in the absence of a commissioner shall specify a time during which the excavation may remain open, the place where that excavation may be made and the number of square yards of surface that may be disturbed.