The Board of Selectmen may order numbers to
be affixed to or painted on the building on any public or private
way, in its discretion. The owner of every house shall comply with
such order within 10 days thereafter.
[Amended 3-5-2018 STM
by Art. 4]
A.
Removal from sidewalks required on all streets. The tenant and, in
case there is no tenant, the owner or any person having the care or
control of any building or lot land bordering on any street or parts
or portions of streets within the limits of the Town shall not allow
any snow or ice to remain upon any sidewalk in front of such lot or
building for 24 consecutive hours but shall cause the same, within
that time, to be reasonably removed from the entire width of such
walks. In the event that snow and ice on a sidewalk have become so
hard that they cannot be removed without the likelihood of damage
to the sidewalk, the person or entity charged with their removal shall,
within the time mentioned herein, cause enough sand or other abrasive
to be put on the sidewalk to make travel thereon reasonably safe and
shall then, as soon thereafter as weather permits, cause said sidewalk
to be thoroughly cleaned.
B.
Throwing or pushing in public way. No person shall shovel, plow,
push or throw snow or ice out into a public way.
C.
Erection and maintenance of gutters and barriers. Every owner of
a building adjoining a street or public way shall erect and maintain
suitable barriers, gutters and conduits or some other suitable measure
to prevent the falling of snow, ice, rainwater and melted snow and
ice from such building upon any person traveling or passing in such
street or way or upon any sidewalk or footway.
A.
Sledding. No person shall course, coast or slide down,
across, in or along any of the streets, sidewalks or public ways of
the Town upon any sled or any other type of implement that could be
put to such a use, except upon such streets or places as the Board
of Selectmen may by public notice designate.
B.
Driving or drawing vehicles upon sidewalks. No person
shall drive, wheel or draw any vehicle upon any sidewalk in the Town,
nor shall any person drive or draw any vehicle propelled by hand power
across any sidewalk where no driveway has been constructed, except
for the removal of snow or at the direction of the Board of Selectmen
or its agents. This subsection does not apply to police officers when
engaged in the lawful performance of their duties, children's carriages
drawn by hand, tricycles, wheelchairs that are pushed or power driven
and three-way scooters and hand carts used for business.
A.
Laying out Town ways for acceptance generally. No
Town way shall be laid out for acceptance without the following minimum
requirements:
(2)
There shall be placed on file with the Board of Selectmen
an approved plan and profile in duplicate. One copy shall be filed
with the Town Clerk when the Board of Selectmen recommends the street
for acceptance and the second copy shall be placed in the Town vault.
(3)
The grade shall be satisfactory to the Director of
Public Works, who in turn shall not approve the same unless he shall
have had a written report from a registered civil engineer that the
grade is proper.
B.
Acceptance of older unaccepted streets and private
ways.
(2)
Any way failing to meet the requirements of Subsection B(1) of this section as to width may be accepted by the Town if so recommended by the Board of Selectmen and if it is determined after investigation that justice warrants such acceptance.
(3)
Before presenting the proposed acceptance to the Town
Meeting, the Board of Selectmen shall, at Town expense, prepare a
proper layout and cause a plan and profile to be filed in the Town
Clerk's office.
(4)
Proper waivers, releases or quitclaim deeds to the
Town shall have been executed by property owners abutting the proposed
Town way, conditioned upon the acceptance of the street by the Town
as a Town way, which shall be recorded in the County Registry of Deeds
upon an affirmative vote by the Town as to the acceptance of that
street.
C.
Acceptance of street with no stormwater or domestic
sewers. Whenever the Board of Selectmen shall recommend for acceptance
a street upon which stormwater or domestic sewers have not been laid,
it shall append to its layout a statement of the Director of Public
Works as to the estimated expense of laying such sewers in such street,
and this estimate shall be forwarded to the Finance Committee. When
the Finance Committee makes its recommendation, whether for or against
the acceptance of such proposed street as a Town way, it shall embody
therein for the benefit of the Town Meeting members the Director of
Public Works' estimate of the cost of installing storm or domestic
sewers in the proposed street.
No person shall disturb the surface of any street,
sidewalk, parkway or other public property for any reason without
the permission of the Board of Selectmen. Application for permission
shall be on a special form furnished by the Town. The permit application
shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information
considered pertinent in the judgment of the Director of Community
Development. A permit fee, as set by the Board of Selectmen, shall
accompany all applications. Prior to the issuance of a permit, the
applicant shall make a deposit in an amount as determined by the Director
of Community Development. The deposit shall be in the form of cash,
certified check or a performance bond. The Board of Selectmen shall
establish regulations governing street openings and curb cuts.
A.
Eligibility requirements. The Town may make temporary
repairs on private ways which meet the following criteria:
(1)
The private way is open to public use (as defined
by continuous unrestricted access by the public for the six years
preceding May 25, 1992).
(2)
The private way serves a public need and necessity
or provides sole access to two or more separate residential lots with
dwellings in continuous existence for six years preceding May 25,
1992.
(3)
The maintenance of the private way is required for
the protection of health and safety of the general public.
(4)
One hundred percent of the abutters on the affected
way petition for the repairs, indemnify the Town for any and all claims
and damages which may result from making such repairs and agree to
pay applicable costs as described herein.
(5)
Abutters agree to provide, at no cost to the Town,
all easements adjacent to and beyond the limits of the way for drainage
and repairs as deemed necessary by the Director of Public Works.
B.
Scope of work.
(1)
The repair shall be limited to minor work, such as
filling, patching, surface treatment and grading or scraping twice
per year.
(2)
All such temporary repair work to be undertaken shall
be limited to that required to make the way reasonably passable and
shall only include the filling of holes and regrading of the surface
of such ways and installation of drainage, if determined to be necessary
by the Director of Public Works and approved by the Town Administrator.
Paving overlays, not more than 1 1/2 inches thick, may be undertaken
only if the Director of Public Works determines that it is the most
cost effective solution and the existing road is already paved.
(3)
Materials used for the repairs shall be similar to
those currently in existence on the subject way, where practicable,
and otherwise shall be similar to those used in comparable locations,
and may include bituminous material when deemed necessary by the Director
of Public Works.
(4)
If drainage work is deemed necessary by the Director
of Public Works, it shall be the responsibility of the abutters to
have the drainage improvements installed prior to any repair activity
or to pay for the cost as provided below.
C.
Cost of repairs.
(1)
Costs incurred by the Town for temporary repairs shall
not exceed $500 per way (except in the case of an overlay, the average
cost of road treatment shall not exceed $15 per linear foot) in any
fiscal year (excluding the cost of Department of Public Works labor
and Department of Public Works equipment).
(2)
The cost of all drainage improvements will be the
sole responsibility of the property owners on the affected way. No
such drainage improvements to be undertaken by the Town shall commence
unless and until a cash deposit, equal in amount to the estimated
cost of such repairs as determined by the Director of Public Works,
is paid to the Town.
D.
Liability.
(1)
The Town shall not be liable for any damage whatsoever
caused by such repairs and MGL c. 84, § 25 shall not apply.
The Town shall require property owners abutting the way and drainage
improvements to indemnify the Town for any and all claims and damages
which may result from making such repairs.
(2)
No such repairs shall be done unless there is a unanimous
agreement by all affected property owners that the work should commence,
and the Town of Adams shall be held harmless from any and all damages
or claims arising out of such repairs. Massachusetts General Laws
c. 84, § 25 shall not apply.
A.
Every owner of property adjoining a public way or
any street publicly maintained or his agents, servants, employees,
contractors and subcontractors shall provide adequate drainage control,
barriers or other suitable measures on said property to prevent damage
to said way or street. “Damage” shall mean the erosion
of the subbase or wearing surfaces and the accumulation of silt or
sediment on the road surface or in drainage structures. “Damage”
shall also mean the accumulation of soil, silt or sediment deposited
on the road surface by construction vehicles or other vehicles entering
or exiting the way or street.
The use of skateboards on Town sidewalks, roadways,
or other Town property is prohibited except where specifically designated.
