[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Perry 4-7-2014 by L.L. No. 4-2014.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 376.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law repealed former Ch. 305,
Notice of Defects, adopted 10-3-2005 by L.L. No. 1-2005.
Where claims for bodily injury or damage to property are asserted
against the Village arising out of alleged defective conditions of
property owned by or in the care, custody or control of the Village,
adequate notice to the Village of any such conditions, if found to
exist. Whether the Village has received actual or constructive notice
of such alleged defective conditions is often a question of fact which
can lead to uncertainty and possible unwarranted finding of liability
against the Village. To assure that the Village received notice of
an alleged defective condition and is able to respond in a prompt
and reasonable manner, the Village Board considers it important that
such prior notice be in writing. It is the purpose of this chapter
to require that notice of defective conditions of Village property
be given to the Village by prior written notice actually received
by the Village in order to provide for the safety, health, protection
and general welfare of the persons and property in the Village of
Perry.
No civil action shall be maintained against the Village of Perry
or against any improvement district in the Village for damages or
injuries to person or property (including those arising from the operation
of snowmobiles) sustained by reason of any highway, bridge, culvert,
highway marking, sign or device, or any other property owned, operated
or maintained by any improvement district therein, being defective,
out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed unless written notice
of such defective, unsafe, dangerous, or obstructed condition of such
highway, bridge, culvert, highway marking, sign or device, or any
other property owned, operated or maintained by the Village, or any
property owned, operated or maintained by an improvement district,
was actually given to the Clerk/Treasurer of the Village of Perry
and that there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable time after
the giving of such notice to repair or remove the defect, danger or
obstruction complained of; and no such action shall be maintained
for damages or injuries to person or property sustained solely in
the consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any highway,
bridge, culvert or any other property owned by the Village or any
property owned by any improvement district in the Village unless written
notice thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given
to the Clerk/Treasurer of the Village and there was a failure or neglect
to cause such snow or ice to be removed or to make the place otherwise
reasonably safe within a reasonable time after the receipt of such
required notice.
No civil action shall be maintained against the Village of Perry
for damages or injuries to person or property sustained by reason
of any defect in the sidewalks or bicycle paths of byways of the Village
or in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any of its
sidewalks, bicycle paths or byways unless such sidewalks or bicycle
paths of byways have been constructed or maintained by the Village
pursuant to statute, nor shall any action be maintained for damages
or injuries to person or property sustained by reason of such defect
or inconsequence of such existence of snow or ice unless written notice
thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given to the
Clerk/Treasurer of the Village and there was a failure or neglect
to remedy such defect, to remove such snow or ice, cause it to be
removed, or to make the place otherwise reasonably safe within a reasonable
time after receipt of such notice.
All written notices shall be received by the Clerk/Treasurer
pursuant to this chapter, and he/she shall take any and all corrective
action within "five business days" with respect thereto as soon as
practicable. A "business day" shall refer to any twenty-four-hour
day from Monday through Friday, excluding weekends and public holidays.
The Clerk/Treasurer of the Village shall maintain an index record,
in a separate book, of all written notices which the Village Clerk/Treasurer
shall receive of the existence of a defective, unsafe, dangerous or
obstructed condition in or upon, or of an accumulation of ice and
snow upon, any Village highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, bicycle
path or byway, or any other property owned by the Village or by an
improvement district, which record shall state the date of the actual
receipt of the notice, the nature and location of the condition stated
to exist, and the name and address from whom the notice is received.
The record of such notice shall be preserved for a period of five
years from the date it is received. The Village Clerk/Treasurer, by
receipt of such notice, shall immediately and in writing notify the
Superintendent of Public Works of the Village of the receipt of such
notice.
The use of the SeeClickFix program or any other electronic means,
such as but not limited to email, Facebook, phone, or other electronic
media, which includes the submission of any attachments, photographs
or documentation, does not constitute a valid notice of claim nor
valid prior written notice as established under both New York State
law and this chapter.
This chapter shall supersede, in its application to the incorporated
Village of Perry, § 6-628 of the New York State Village
Law.
If any part or provision of this chapter, or the application
thereof, to any person or circumstance be adjudged invalid by any
court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in
its operation to the part, provision or application directly involved
in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered,
and shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this
chapter, or application thereof to other persons or circumstances,
and the Village Board of the Village of Perry hereby declares that
it would have passed this chapter or the remainder thereof, had such
invalid application or invalid provision been apparent.
All ordinances, local laws and parts thereof inconsistent with this chapter are hereby repealed, including but not limited to Chapter 305 of the Village Code.
This chapter shall take effect immediately upon filing in the
office of the Secretary of State in accordance with § 27
of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York.
