ARTICLE VII - STREETS AND SIDEWALKS

Text relating to Ilion Laws has been copied from the pdf provided by the Village and pasted here. This was done to make the text searchable.

ARTICLE VII, Streets and Sidewalks

C-39. Office of Street Commissioners abolished; Mayor and Trustees assume duties.

The office of Street Commissioner is hereby abolished, and all powers and duties of the Street Commissioners as defined and set forth in this Charter shall be discharged by the Mayor and Trustees of the village, and said Mayor and Trustees of said village shall have all the powers and duties of the Street Commissioners and the Board of Street Commissioners as set forth in said Charter.

C-40. Powers and duties.

The Board of Trustees shall have, within said village, all the duties of Commissioners of Highways of towns except as herein otherwise provided. Said Board shall have control of the construction, improvement, grading, repair and cleaning of streets, highways, avenues, gutters, drains, sidewalks and crosswalks in said village, of the sprinkling of streets and of the paving and macadamizing of streets and of the purchase of supplies and materials therefore. And said village shall be a separate road district so far as relates to highways, roads or streets therein, and the same, except the bridges therein, shall be exempted from the jurisdiction, care, control and management of the Commissioners of Highways of the Town of German Flatts.

C-41. Establishment of grades; sidewalks; repair by village.

The Board of Trustees shall have full power to establish and alter the grades of all streets, roads, alleys, sidewalks and crosswalks in said village and to cause said streets, roads, alleys, sidewalks and crosswalks to be worked in conformity to such grades as it shall prescribe and establish. It shall also have the power to cause the sidewalks on any street or highway or alley or other public place in said village to be graded, graveled, flagged, planked or repaired and to prescribe and determine the width and manner of doing the same, the materials to be used and their quality and shall give the owner or occupant, if a resident in said village, of the real estate fronting thereon a reasonable time, to be determined by the Board of Trustees, to construct or repair the same, under the direction of said Board or its Superintendent of Streets, appointed as herein prescribed, and a notice shall be served on such owner or occupant, if a resident, specifying the width, materials and the time within which such sidewalk shall be completed. Upon the failure of said owner or occupant to construct or repair such sidewalk in the manner and within the time specified in such notice, or if he is not a resident of said village, the Board of Trustees shall direct the Superintendent to construct or repair the same under its directions; and the expenses of constructing or repairing the same shall be a lien on such real estate and may be collected by a suit, by and in the name of the corporation, or may be assessed and collected in the same manner as assessments for opening streets or other village taxes are collected by the Collector, under the warrant of the Board of Trustees.

C-42. Drains and ditches.

of Streets and fix his compensation; and he shall hold office during the pleasure of the Board of Trustees, and he shall be removable by it at any time; and it may appoint another in his place from time to time.

C-44. Budget for street work.

Said Board of Trustees shall, on or before the first day of May in every year, make an estimate for such sum as, in its judgment, will be necessary and sufficient for defraying the expenses of making, grading, improving, repairing, macadamizing, paving, sprinkling and cleansing the streets, highways, lanes, crosswalks, sidewalks, drains and ditches in said village and for the purchase of material, tools, machinery and implements proper and necessary for the doing of the work and for payment of services and labor in connection therewith; and the Board of Trustees shall include such amount in its next annual budget and levy and collect the same in the same manner as other village taxes.

C-45. Expenditure of highway taxes.

All the sums raised by tax as hereinafter provided shall be paid to the Treasurer of the village as other taxes are required to be paid, and the fund so constituted shall be kept by the Treasurer separate and apart as a Highway Fund and shall be paid out by the Treasurer on the warrant of the Board of Trustees as such. The Board of Trustees shall have the power and it shall be its duty to audit and allow or reject all accounts and charges for work done or material furnished upon its order for the purposes of carrying into effect the powers and duties hereby conferred upon and required of it.

C-46. Street openings and alterations.

The Board of Trustees, on the petition of twelve (12) or a majority of the resident freeholders owning real estate on any road or street or proposed road or street in said village and liable to be assessed for the damages and expenses of laying out, opening, widening or altering any such road or street or proposed road or street, may lay out, open, widen or alter any such road or proposed road or street; but, before coming to a determination upon such petition, it shall cause at least eight (8) days' notice to be given to the owners and occupants, who are not applicants, of such lands as it is contemplated to appropriate for any such laying out, opening, widening or altering, who reside in such village, by serving such notice personally or by leaving the same at the dwelling or place of business of such residents and also by posting such notice in three (3) public places in said village or by publishing the same in a newspaper in said village. Such notice shall briefly specify the object of such petition and shall designate the time and place at which the Board of Trustees will meet for the purpose of hearing arguments or suggestions in favor of or opposed to the objects of such petition. At that or any adjourned or regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, it may make such order in relation thereto as it shall deem met, and it is hereby authorized and empowered to carry such order into effect. The damages caused by such laying out, opening, widening or altering shall be arranged and liquidated as follows, viz.: Three (3) Commissioners to be appointed by the Supreme Court or by the County Court of Herkimer County, on application of the Board of Trustees, shall, when required by the Board of Trustees, estimate the damages resulting to each of the owners and occupants of such lands as it is contemplated to appropriate in respect to his said real estate and also the benefits resulting to each of such persons; and if such benefits in the aggregate exceed the damages, such Commissioners shall apportion the damages among the several owners and occupants in proportion to the benefits resulting to them respectively, as near as may be. If the damages of such owners and occupants in the aggregate exceed the aggregate of benefits, then the Commissioners shall assess each owner and occupant an amount equal to the benefits resulting to him, and the excess of damages shall be included in the next annual tax to be raised from the whole village.

C-47. Damages and assessments.

The Commissioners shall file with the Treasurer of the village a statement showing the amount to be paid to persons to whom they shall award damages and also showing the amount assessed upon those who are benefited, as provided in the preceding section.

C-48. Appeal; hearing; lien.

Any person aggrieved may, within ten (10) days after any assessment of damages and apportionment by the Commissioners aforesaid shall be filed with the Clerk of the village, appeal from such assessment or apportionment to the Board of Trustees, who, after the expiration of said ten (10) days, shall appoint a time and place, not less than six (6) days or more than ten (10) days thereafter, for the hearing of all appeals in said matter, of which the appellant shall notify the Commissioners; and the Trustees, after hearing, may affirm or modify the assessment or apportionment or may refer the same back to the Commissioners for reexamination and reassessment or apportionment, but the Board of Trustees shall not lessen the amount to be received for damages nor increase the amount to be paid for benefits by any person not a party to the appeal unless six (6) days' notice of a hearing shall have been served on such person in the manner above mentioned for laying out or altering roads and streets; and all taxes, assessments and apportionments of damages, when finally completed and filed with the Treasurer, shall be a lien on the lands charged therewith.