and for all offenses committed against said water system they shall have the same powers as constables in their respective towns. vested in Board subject to Mayor. City a highway SEC. 23. The City of Waterbury shall be a highway dis- district. trict, and the Board of Aldermen shall have sole and exclusive Control and authority over authority and control over all streets, highways, and bridges streets, etc., (except the bridges over the Naugatuck and Mad Rivers), of Aldermen, and over all parts of streets and highways, now or hereafter approval of existing within the limits of said city, and shall have the sole and exclusive power to lay out, make, or order new highways, streets, and bridges, within the limits of said city, and to alter, repair, and discontinue all highways, streets, and bridges now or hereafter existing within the limits of said city, subject to the approval of the Mayor, as herein before provided. street not damages and occasioned by SEC. 24. No person shall open, within the limits of said city, any public or private way except in the manner herein provided for the laying out of streets and highways. Any Penalty for opening streets person violating this section shall pay a penalty of fifty dol- otherwise than herein provided. lars for each and every day such public or private way shall remain open in violation of this section. Said city shall not Damages, when be liable for any damages sustained upon, or by reason of, legally laid out. any street or highway that shall hereafter be opened unless the same shall have been laid out as herein provided. The Amount of Board of Aldermen shall not be authorized to lay out any high- expense way or street unless at least two-thirds of all the damages oc- layout and grading assessed casioned by such layout, and not less than two-thirds of the upon property estimated expense of bringing said street to the grade adopted can be assessed upon property benefitted by said layout; and When layout if the Bureau of Assessment be unable to find property so benefitted, it shall be the duty of said bureau to report such fact to the Board of Aldermen, and thereupon said layout shall be void and of no effect. Whenever a new street shall be laid out Grade of street, within the limits of said city, the Board of Aldermen shall, established. at the time of adopting such layout, fix and establish the grade of such new street. benefitted. shall be void. when streets. SEC. 25. Whenever any person shall cause any defect in, Obstructions on or place, or cause to be placed, any obstruction on any of the streets of said city, such person shall be held to answer any claim for damages which may be made against said city therefor; and whenever any suit shall be brought against said city for such damages such person may be cited in to defend the same, in which case no judgment shall be rendered against said city until the execution issued upon the judgment against such person shall have been returned unsatisfied, and upon the payment of any such judgment by the city, the judgment against such person shall inure to the benefit of said city; said city shall in no case be liable for any injury occasioned by ice or snow upon the sidewalks of said city, except in cases where there is some structural defect in such walk which is rendered more dangerous by reason of ice or snow thereon. SEC. 26. Said Board of Aldermen shall have power and authority to order the laying out, construction, or alteration of public squares, parks, side or other walks, bridges, sewers, gutters, and drains within said city, and to order the paving, macadamizing, or otherwise improving any public street, pathway, or highway, and the paving of any sidewalk within said city; and may establish building lines beyond which it shall be unlawful to erect any building; but no building line shall be established unless all the damages awarded to the owners of land injured by the establishment of said lines can be balanced by benefits assessed upon property situated upon said street benefitted thereby. SEC. 27. Said Board of Aldermen shall have power to order and make any alterations or changes in the channel or banks of any stream or water course within the limits of said city, for the purpose of widening, changing, enlarging, or deepening the channel of any such stream or water course, whenever it shall deem the same necessary to carry off the water and prevent damage to the streets, walks, squares, public grounds, or any public property in said city; also to take any land that may be necessary for the construction, maintaining, and keeping in repair of any drain or drains, sewers, gutters, or passageways for surface water that it may deem necessary to carry off the surface water from the highways, streets, walks, squares, and public grounds within said city, and to drain such water across or over any land to some stream or water course within said city. SEC. 28. Said Board of Aldermen may, upon the execu- Assessments. tion of any order for the paving, macadamizing, or otherwise improving any public street or highway or sidewalk within said city, other than ordinary repairs, or for the alteration or construction of any other public work authorized by this act (other than the construction of sewers), and for the discontinuance of any highway, including the layout of a new highway in the place thereof, if necessary, assess upon the property which, in the judgment of said Board of Aldermen, is especially benefitted thereby, a proportional and reasonable part of the expense thereof, and shall estimate the particular amount of said expense to be paid by the person owning such property upon such assessment. In making such assessments Amount of it shall be the duty of the Board of Aldermen to assess as benefits such sums as may be assessed for damages, together with not less than two-thirds of the estimated cost of such improvements upon the property which is especially benefitted thereby provided said board can find sufficient benefits accruing to any property benefitted thereby upon which to assess the same. assessment. not inconsistent SEC. 29. The Board of Aldermen of said city shall have Other powers all the powers and duties prescribed by law and not incon- with this act. sistent with this act, concerning brooks, rivers, springs, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, streams, channels and banks of streams and water courses, sewerage and land, in said city and outside' thereof, which the Common Council of the City of Waterbury would have had concerning said subjects in the City of Waterbury and outside thereof, if this act were not passed, and all laws not inconsistent with this act which would be applicable to the action of said Court of Common Council concerning said subjects were this act not passed are hereby made applicable to the action of said Board of Aldermen concerning said subjects. Qualifications. Acting Mayor. Duties. Enforce laws. Make appointments. Make recommendations. Call special meetings. Sign bonds, deeds, contracts. Approve or disapprove votes, etc., in writing. Powers of. Control fire and police forces. MAYOR. SEC. 30. The Mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the city. He shall have been a legal voter and resident of the city for the five years immediately preceding his election, and shall reside in the city during his term of office. Whenever there shall be a vacancy in the office of Mayor, or whenever the Mayor shall be prevented by absence from the city, by illness, or by any other cause, from attending to the duties of his office, the President of the Board of Aldermen, or if said president shall be absent or disabled, the president pro tempore shall act as Mayor, and shall have all of the rights, powers, and duties of said Mayor, except the powers of appointment, until the vacancy is filled, or the Mayor is again able to act. To SEC. 31. It shall be the duty of the Mayor: I. To cause the laws and ordinances to be executed and enforced, and to conserve the peace within said city; he shall be responsible for the good order and efficient government of said city. 2. fill by appointment, by and with the consent of the Board of Aldermen, vacancies in office in all cases in which he is given by law the power to appoint. 3. To communicate to the Board of Aldermen, during the month of January next succeeding his election, and quarterly thereafter, a general statement of the condition of the city in relation to its government, finances, public improvements and affairs, with such recommendations as he may deem proper. 4. To call special meetings of the Board of Aldermen when he may deem it expedient. 5. To sign all bonds and deeds, and all written contracts of the city. 6. To either approve or disapprove, in writing, every vote, resolution, order, or ordinance passed by the Board of Aldermen as hereinbefore provided. SEC. 32. The Mayor shall have power: I. To assume the entire control and direction of the police and fire forces of the city, or either of them, for a period not exceeding five days, at his discretion, in case of emergency, and to exercise all of the powers conferred upon the Department of Public Safety in relation thereto. 2. To exercise, whenever neces- Suppress riots. sary in order to suppress tumults, riots, or unlawful assemblies, within the limits of said city, all the powers given by law to sheriffs in relation to riotous assemblages; and at all times, when necessary, require the aid of any sheriff, deputy Require aid. sheriff, constable, or policeman, or any or all of them together, to assist him in executing the laws within the limits of said city. 3. To make requisition for the several companies of Requisition for militia in said city, or any or either of them, whenever he shall have reason to believe that great opposition will be made to the exercise of his authority, and to exert all the force necessary to enable him to execute the laws within the limits militia. office. of said city. 4. By and with the consent of the Board of Removal from Aldermen, to remove any city official from office, for cause, except as herein otherwise provided. resisting, or SEC. 33. If any person shall hinder, obstruct, resist, or Penalties for abuse the Mayor in the execution of his office, or when ordered refusing to obey Mayor. to render assistance to the Mayor (being of sufficient age and ability) shall refuse or neglect to do so, such offender, being thereof duly convicted, shall pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or shall be imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of the court having cognizance of the offense. SEC. 34. Every commissioned officer and soldier, when called into service by the Mayor as aforesaid, shall have the same pay, and in case of disobedience be subject to the same penalties, as if called into service by the sheriff of the county. Military, pay of when called into service by the Mayor. |