N.Y. HAY Law § 140 — New York Code / Act HAY / Article 7 / Section 140
General powers and duties of town superintendent
Status: in_force

§ 140. General powers and duties of town superintendent. The town\nsuperintendent shall, subject to the rules and regulations of the\ndepartment of transportation, made and adopted as provided in this\nchapter:\n  1. Have the care and superintendence of the town highways and bridges\nand board walks or renewals thereof on highways less than two rods in\nwidth, in the town, except as otherwise specially provided in relation\nto incorporated villages, cities and other localities.\n  2. Cause such highways and bridges and the board walks or renewals\nthereof on highways less than two rods in width to be kept in repair,\nand free from obstructions caused by snow and give the necessary\ndirections therefor, and inspect the highways and bridges within the\ntown, during the months of April and October of each year, or at such\nother time as the county superintendent may prescribe; and may cause to\nbe constructed and repaired any public roads, walks, places and avenues\non any sand beach separated by more than two miles of water from the\nmain body of his town, or on any island or part of an island in his\ntown, although such roads, walks, places and avenues are narrower than\nthe width of highways required by statute. Within the meaning of this\nsection, or of any provision of this chapter referring to a renewal of a\nboard walk on a highway less than two rods in width, the term "renewal"\nshall include a walk built of other material to replace such board walk.\n  3. Divide the town into as many sections as may be necessary for the\nproper maintenance and repair of the town highways therein, and the\nopening of town highways obstructed by snow.\n  4. Within the limits of appropriations employ such persons as may be\nnecessary for the maintenance and repair of town highways and bridges,\nand the removal of obstructions caused by snow, subject to the approval\nof the town board, and provide for the supervision of such persons.\n  5. Construct and keep in repair sluices and culverts and cause the\nwaterways, bridges and culverts to be kept open.\n  6. Cause loose stones lying in the beaten track of every town highway\nwithin his town to be removed at least three times each year between the\nfirst day of April and the first day of December. Stones so removed\nshall be conveyed to some place from which they shall not work back, or\nbe brought back into the track by road machines or other implements used\nin repairing such highways.\n  7. Cause briers, brush and noxious weeds growing within the bounds of\ntown highways to be cut and removed between July fifteenth and August\nfifteenth, and as many other times as he may deem necessary, in each\nyear.\n  8. Cause such town highways as shall have been laid out, but not\nsufficiently described, and such as shall have been used for twenty\nyears, but not recorded, to be ascertained, described and entered on\nrecord in the town clerk's office.\n  10. Attend public meetings called by the department of transportation,\nheld within the county, after receiving notice thereof from the county\nsuperintendent, and his expenses necessarily incurred thereby shall be a\ntown charge.\n  11. Cause the monuments erected, or to be erected, as the boundaries\nof town highways, to be kept up and renewed so that the extent of such\nhighway boundaries may be publicly known, and erect and establish such\nnew monuments as may be required by the county superintendent.\n  12. As often as the department of transportation shall direct, the\ntown superintendent shall measure all town highways of his town. Such\nmeasurements shall be made either by use of a cyclometer or otherwise as\nthe department of transportation shall direct. He shall ascertain, and\nindicate in his report, the town highways which have been surfaced with\ngravel, those which have been surfaced with crushed stone and those\nwhich have been shaped and crowned. He shall report in triplicate on\nforms to be prescribed and furnished by the department of\ntransportation, the total mileage of all town highways within his town,\nspecifying as above provided, and such report shall be filed with the\ntown clerk, the county superintendent, and the department of\ntransportation, respectively.\n  13. Bring an action in the name of the town, against any person or\ncorporation, to sustain the rights of the public, in and to any town\nhighway in the town, and to enforce the performance of any duty enjoined\nupon any person or corporation in relation thereto, and to recover any\ndamages sustained or suffered, or expenses incurred by such town, in\nconsequence of any act or omission of any such person or corporation, in\nviolation of any law or contract in relation to such highway.\n  14. During the construction or improvement of a town highway, if such\nhighway be closed to the traveling public and another existing highway\nis caused to be used in lieu of the closed highway as provided in\nsection one hundred and four of this chapter, provide, erect and\nmaintain a sufficient number of detour signs so that the temporary route\nor detour shall be clearly indicated throughout its entire length, and\nupon the discontinuance of said temporary route or detour, shall remove\nsaid signs, and the cost of all thereof shall be a town charge to be\nincluded in the money levied and collected in the town for the repair\nand improvement of highways.\n  15. Collect all penalties prescribed by this chapter.\n  16. Report annually on such date as may be prescribed by the\ndepartment of transportation, prior to January first, to the county\nsuperintendent, in relation to the town highways and bridges in his\ntown, containing the matter and in the form to be prescribed by the\ndepartment of transportation.\n  17. Perform such other duties and have such other powers as may be\nimposed or conferred by law, or the rules and regulations of the\ndepartment of transportation, including the powers and duties heretofore\nexercised or performed by highway commissioners.\n  18. Maintain all sidewalks in the town constructed by the state\nadjacent to state highways and all sidewalks in the town constructed by\nthe county adjacent to county roads and, when authorized by the town\nboard, cause the removal of snow therefrom, and the cost thereof shall\nbe paid from the miscellaneous or other town funds.\n  19. Have the power to employ an engineer subject to approval of the\ntown board.\n