[Adopted 9-28-77 as Ord. No. 0-21-77 as Art. I of Ch. 61A of the 1970 Code of the Township of
Winslow]
In and on any public street, highway, avenue or alley in the
Township of Winslow, the grade of which has been lawfully established
or which hereafter may be established, gutters, curbs and sidewalks
shall be set or reset, laid or relaid, altered, repaired, constructed
and maintained at the expense of the abutting property owner as provided
by law.
All gutters, curbs and sidewalks hereafter set, reset, laid,
relaid, altered, repaired or constructed shall be done in compliance
with the regulations of the Department of Public Works of the Township
of Winslow and under the supervision of such officer or employee as
the Chairman of that Department may designate.
Whenever any gutter, curb and/or sidewalk is required to be
set, reset, laid, relaid, repaired or constructed in the Township
of Winslow, application for a permit therefor by the owner of the
abutting lands or his contractor shall first be made to the Department
of Public Works, specifying grade, dimensions, mix materials and the
method of construction or repair to be used. The Chairman of the Department
of Public Works or such officer or agent as he shall designate shall
examine said specifications and register his approval or disapproval
thereof. Upon approval thereof, a permit shall be issued to the applicant
for such construction and/or repairs.
The owner or owners of lots, tracts and parcels of land fronting
or abutting on any public street, highway, avenue or alley in the
Township of Winslow shall, at his, her or their own cost and expense,
set, reset, lay, relay, alter, repair, construct and maintain gutters,
curbs and sidewalks in front of or adjoining the same when notified
to do so by the Chairman of the Department of Public Works, pursuant
to a resolution adopted by the Mayor and Township Committee of the
Township of Winslow.
Wherever the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township of
Winslow shall deem necessary the construction, repair, alteration
or relaying of any gutters, curbs or sidewalks in the Township of
Winslow, it shall, by resolution, specify the improvements to be made.
Upon the adoption of such resolution by the Mayor and Township Committee,
it shall cause a notice, in writing, to be served upon the owners
or occupiers of the lands so designated, requiring the necessary specified
work to said gutters, sidewalks and/or curbs to be done by the owners
or occupiers within a period of not less than thirty (30) nor more
than ninety (90) days from the date of service of such notice.
A.
Service of such notice upon the owners or occupiers of said lands
shall be made as follows:
(1)
If the owners are residents in the Township of Winslow, service of
such notice shall be made either personally or by leaving the same
at their usual place of residence with a member of the family above
the age of fourteen (14) years or by leaving the same at their usual
place of business with a member of their business staff above the
age of fourteen (14) years.
(2)
If such lands are occupied, a copy of such notice may be attached
to the improvements thereon in a conspicuous place.
(3)
If such lands are unoccupied and the owner or owners are not residents
of the Township of Winslow, said notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid,
to his, her or their last known post office address.
(4)
If the owner or owners are nonresidents of the Township of Winslow
and his, her or their post office address cannot be ascertained with
reasonable certainty, then said notice shall be published in a newspaper
circulating in the Township of Winslow at least twice and not less
than forty (40) days before the improvements and/or repairs are made
by the township.
B.
Each such notice shall contain a description of the property affected
thereby sufficiently definite to identify the same; the place, block
and lot by which said property is designated on the Official Tax Map
of the township; the name or names of the owner and/or owners as recorded
in the tax records of the township; and brief description of the required
improvements and/or repairs.
C.
Proof of service of any such notice shall be filed within ten (10)
days thereafter with the Clerk of the Township of Winslow and with
the Collector of Taxes of said township.
If the owners or occupants of such lands shall not comply with
the requirements of such notice, it shall be lawful for the Chairman
of the Department of Public Works to cause the required work to be
done by direction of himself and under his jurisdiction. Upon its
completion, the cost thereof shall be certified by him under oath
to the Township Clerk. The Chairman of the Department of Public Works
shall keep an accurate account of the cost thereof and shall submit
same to the Mayor and Township Committee at a regular meeting. Said
Mayor and Township Committee shall examine such report and the proof
of service of notice requiring said work to be done, and if properly
made and if the Mayor and Township Committee is satisfied of the correctness
thereof, said Mayor and Township Committee shall approve and confirm
such report and direct that it be filed with the Township Clerk and
the Collector of Taxes of the township, who shall record the amount
of such costs as a sidewalk, water and/or curb assessment in the book
in which other assessments of the Township of Winslow are recorded.
Before confirming the report, the Mayor and Township Committee shall
give notice to the owner or owners named therein of the time and place
fixed for examination of the report. The notice shall be served in
the same manner as required for service of notices of assessments
for benefits for local improvements before consideration by the Mayor
and Township Committee. Said costs shall thereupon be and become a
lien upon the abutting lands adjacent to which said work was done
to the extent that assessments for such improvements are liens and
shall bear interest from the date of such certification and confirmation
at the same rate as other unpaid liens held by the Township of Winslow
bear.
The costs of any such improvement, if it becomes a lien as set
forth herein, shall be collected in the manner provided by law for
the collection of other assessments or liens. In addition thereto,
the Township of Winslow, at its option, may maintain an action to
recover the amount thereof against the owner of said lands in any
court or competent jurisdiction.
The Mayor and Township Committee may each year include in its
annual budget or Tax Ordinance an appropriation for gutter, curb and/or
sidewalk repairs in addition to any existing maintenance fund, out
of which appropriation all costs of construction and/or repairs of
gutters, curbs and sidewalks during the year may be charged when it
becomes necessary for the Chairman of the Department of Public Works
to make such repairs and/or construction pursuant hereto. All moneys
recovered by or paid to the township under the provisions of this
Article, other than penalties as hereinafter set forth, shall be credited
to the account out of which such work was paid.
The failure of any applicant, owner, his contractor, servant
or agent to construct or repair such gutters, curbs and/or sidewalks
in accordance with the specifications filed by him for the purpose
of securing a permit under the terms of this Article shall be and
constitute a violation hereof.
Any person violating any provision of this Article shall, upon
conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding five hundred
dollars ($500.) or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not
exceeding ninety (90) days, or both, in the discretion of a court
of competent jurisdiction. Each and every day that such violation
shall continue shall be a further and separate offense under the terms
of this Article, subject to the penalties herein prescribed.
All grades and specifications shall be furnished by the Township
Engineer at the expense of the adjoining landowner.
