§ 402. The city shall have power to ascertain, establish, and settle the boundaries of all public waters, streets, alleys, parks, squares, open spaces, and other public grounds, and to direct the City Clerk to record the same. Whenever any person shall propose to dedicate a new street, or part of a new street, he shall submit the plan thereof to the Commissioner of Public Works for his approval, before the same is presented to the Common Council. The Commissioner of Public Works shall report the plan, with his opinion, to the Common Council before the proposed street, or part of a street, shall be accepted.

Thus amended by L. 1901, c. 228, Sec. 13.

The amendment only specified “Commissioner," instead of "Board" of Public Works.

$403. The city shall cause the streets, alleys, parks, squares, open spaces, and other public grounds, canals, slips, wharves, or docks in the city, or any part thereof, which have been laid out, but not recorded or sufficiently described or which have been used for twenty years but not recorded, to be ascertained, described, and recorded in a book to be kept by the City Clerk.

§ 404. Buffalo River, within the city, is a public highway, but any bridge heretofore built, and now existing over the same, and any swing or draw bridge hereafter built over the same, within the city, by authority of the Common Council, is a lawful structure.

Thus amended by L. 1895, c. 805, Sec. 30.

L. 1870, c. 519, Title IX, Sec. 15, from which the above is derived, read as follows: "Buffalo River, within the city, is a public highway. L. 1884, c. 201, added the words "and any swing or draw bridge heretofore or hereafter built over the same, within the city, by authority of the Common Council of said City, is a lawful structure. The changes made by the present Charter appear from comparison of the section as now printed, with the quotations just given. As enacted in 1891 this section had a clause at the end that "nothing herein contained shall be construed to repeal or in any manner affect Chapter 345 of the Laws of 1886, or any act amendatory thereof." This reference to L. 1886, c. 345 is an error, as that act has nothing to do with the Buffalo Charter. Probably L. 1888, c. 345, the Grade Crossing Act, was intended. The amendment of 1895 repealed this last clause, putting the section into its present form.

§ 405. The city may widen, straighten, enlarge, clear from obstruction, dredge, deepen, embank, and dyke the Buffalo River, Cazenovia Creek, the Black Rock Harbor, the lake, the basins, slips, and waters in the city, and may put and maintain in navigable condition all of said waters in the city except Cazenovia Creek, and may construct new drainage channels to abate floods, and prevent the overflow of the waters of the said Buffalo River and Cazenovia Creek, or either of them. The expense or any part of the expense of any work or improvement mentioned in this section, may be paid out of the general fund or by local assessments as the Common Council shall determine, provided, however, that not more than one third of the expense of doing any of the work or making any of the foregoing improvements, when done or made for the purpose of abating floods, and preventing the overflow of the waters of the Buffalo River and Cazenovia Creek, or either of them, shall be paid out of the general fund, and the remainder of such expense shall be defrayed by local assessment. Nothing in this act shall be construed to allow the city of Buffalo to have, use, or exercise any control over the canals, basins, harbors, slips, or other works belonging to the state within the limits of the city.

Thus amended by L. 1900, c. 571, Sec. 1.

The amendment added the mention of Cazenovia Creek, the power to embank and dyke, and the power to construct new drainage channels to abate floods with the limitation of cost to be borne by the general fund.

§ 406. When the city shall alter the recorded grade of any street or alley, the owner of any house or lot fronting thereon may, within one year thereafter, claim damages by reason of such alteration. Upon presentation of such claim, the Board of Aldermen shall refer it to the Board of Assessors. The board shall hear the claimant, and award such damages as shall be just. In case the board shall award damages to any person, it shall assess the same upon the real estate benefited by the

alteration. The amount so assessed shall, when collected, be paid to such claimant.

$407. No work or improvement specified in this act, except those mentioned in section three hundred and ninety-seven, the expense of which shall be estimated to exceed five hundred dollars, shall be ordered, unless by the vote of two thirds of all the members elected to each Board composing the Common Council, after publication in six successive numbers of the official paper of the city, of the intention to order such work or improvement.

Thus amended by L. 1892, c. 246.

Before this amendment publication of notice was required in one other daily paper in addition to the official paper.

§ 408. The city shall not enter into a contract with any person for the doing or making of any work or improvement at a price exceeding five hundred dollars, until it shall have caused a notice to be published in the official paper and two other daily papers of the city twice a week for two weeks, inviting sealed proposals to do the work or make improvement, pursuant to the plan, specifications, or other proper description of the work or improvement to be specified in the notice, and shall not enter into a contract for the doing or making of any such work or improvement for a price exceeding five hundred dollars, until the assessment therefor has been confirmed, and has been delivered to the Treasurer. Except that the Common Council may order any street cleaned, sprinkled, or watered in addition to such work already contracted for by the city, and the city may enter into a contract therefor upon a petition of the majority of the resident owners upon said street, without publishing such notice, and before the assessment therefor has been confirmed. The city shall include in the plans, specifications and quantities of the improvement of any street by paving or otherwise, which shall be hereafter ordered, the specifications and quantities of work and material neces

sary to be done and furnished for the purpose of making connections with the pavement or grade in all streets crossing the one in which such improvement is to be made, and for connecting the termination of such improvement with the work and grade on such street. The expense of the labor and materials of the connections shall be included in the assessment ordered to defray the expense of the improvement, and shall be assessed upon the property benefited thereby.

$409. In case an assessment shall prove to be insufficient to defray the expense of the work or improvement for which it was made, the Common Council shall determine the amount of such deficiency, and may direct the Board of Assessors to apportion the same ratably upon the assessments in the assessment-roll. The Board shall make an assessment-roll accordingly.

§ 410. All work provided for in this title, after having been ordered by the Common Council, shall be executed under the direction of the Commissioner of Public Works. Thus amended by L. 1894, c. 289, Sec. 5, and L. 1901, c. 228, Sec. 14.

The amendment of 1894 struck out provisions for requiring property owners to lay sidewalks. This subject is since covered by Section 288. The amendment of 1901 specifies "Commissioner" instead of "Board" of Public Works.

TITLE XIX.

LIGHT.

§ 411. The city may light the streets or contract for the lighting of them, and may purchase, construct, maintain, and regulate works to provide the city and its inhabitants with light.

§ 412. The Common Council shall prescribe the boundaries of the lamp district, and may, from time to time, and after the publication in five successive numbers

of the official paper of the intention so to do, alter or enlarge the same. No such extension shall be made except upon a petition of a majority of persons owning property and residing within the limits of the proposed extension, or in the absence of such petition, by a three-fourths vote of each Board of the Common Council.

§ 413. When the lamp district shall be extended, the expense of the extension, including the cost of the pipes, lamp-posts, and lamps, shall be paid out of the general fund of the city.

Thus amended by L. 1904, c. 67, Sec. 1.

Before this amendment the cost was raised by assessment. $414. The Common Council shall cause to be raised yearly a sufficient amount of money to defray the expense of lighting and maintaining the lamp district, and keeping the pipes, lamp-posts, lamps, and other fixtures in repair, and in extending the lamp district, and such expense shall be included in the general tax, and paid out of the general fund of the city.

Thus amended by L. 1904, c. 67, Sec. 2.

Before this amendment one half of the cost of lighting was set out on the bills for the general city tax as a special item under the heading of “lamp tax.

§ 415. The streets or parts of streets of the city which are or may hereafter be lighted by electric light, shall be deemed a part of the lamp district, and the expense of such electric lighting shall be included in the amount raised to defray the expense of lighting and maintaining the lamp district.

§ 416. The city may contract with any person or corporation to furnish the materials and labor necessary to be used and done in making all extensions of the lamp district, and for lighting the public buildings and the streets of the city, and keeping the lamps in repair, for such time as the Common Council shall designate, not exceeding five years for any one contract. Sections four hundred and seven and four hundred and eight of this act