CHAPTER 186 An act to amerd. revise and consolidate the charter of the City of Salisbury. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 56. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of aldermen of said city, it is advisable to obtain land or right-of-way therein for the purpose of operating a new street therein, or widening or straightening a street therein, or making culverts or waterways for carrying water out of any street therein, and said board of aldermen and the owner or owners of such land or right-of-way can not agree as to the amount of damages consequent thereupon, as well as to the special advantage which may result to the owner or owners thereof by reason of such opening, widening or straightening of the street or making of such culvert or waterway, said board of aldermen may direct the mayor of said city to issue, and he shall thereupon issue his writ under the seal of said city, commanding the chief of police thereof to summon a jury of six freeholders of said city, unconnected by consanguinity or affinity with any of the persons supposed to be affected by said proposed improvements, in which writ the proposed improvement shall be fully described and the persons who are supposed to be affected thereby shall be named. Such chief of police shall, in obedience to said writ, summon a jury of six freeholders as aforesaid, and direct them to assemble at the mayors office in said city,at a time by such chief of police appointed, not less than twenty nor more than thirty days after the date of such writ. Such chief of police shall also serve notice of time of meeting of the jury upon all the persons who are named in such writ as supposed to be affected by such proposed improvement, at least fifteen days before the date appointed for the meeting of the jury. Such notice shall be in writing and signed by said chief of police and addressed to the person or persons upon whom service thereof is made, and shall state the time appointed for such meeting of the jury, and designate briefly the proposed improvement, and may be issued as a single notice to all persons named in said writ or as a separate notice to every one of them or to any two or more of them. Such notice shall be served upon the person or persons therein named, or his, her or their agent, by reading the same to him, her or them, and if any such person or his, her or their agent can not be found in said city, the mayor of said city shall, upon affidavit thereof made and filed before him by such chief of police, direct such notice to be served by posting a copy of the same at the court-house door in said county of Rowan, for at least fifteen days immediately preceding the time appointed for the meeting of such jury, and upon such direction of the mayor, it shall be the duty of such chief of police to so post the same, and such posting shall, upon the expiration of the time in such order designated, be a sufficient service of such notice and the party shall then be duly notified of such proceedings. Such chief of police shall duly return such writ and all such notices with his return thereon in writing endorsed, together with any such order of the mayor, to said board of aldermen at its next meeting after the time appointed for the meeting of the jury aforesaid. At the time appointed for the meeting of the jury such chief of police, or in case of his inability to do so, another chief of police or deputy chief of police of said city, shall fill any vacancy which has occurred from any cause in the number of persons theretofore summoned as such jury with other competent jurors, and shall cause the jury as then constituted, to assemble at the office of the mayor of said city, when every one of them shall be sworn by such mayor or other competent person to faithfully, truly and impartially assess the damages, if any, which in his judgment will be done to the property of every person named in the writ, and will also assess any special benefit, advantage or enhanced value which will be caused to the property of any person named in the writ. Immediately after the jury shall have been so sworn they shall proceed, accompanied by such chief of police or deputy chief of police, to view the land of every person named in the writ, and shall assess the damages, if any, to every one of the premises which they have viewed, and the special benefit, advantage or enhanced value, if any, which will accrue by reason of said proposed improvement to every one of the premises which they have viewed. Said iury shall forthwith return to said board of aldermen, by filing it with the clerk thereof, a statement in writing, signed by every one of them, or a majority of them in case they can not agree, setting forth distinctly a full itemized report of their proceedings, and stating separately the amounts of damages or special benefits, or both, as the case may be, which they have assessed to every one of the premises so viewed by them. The chief of police in charge of said jury shall keep them together until! they shall have agreed on all matters submitted to them, as aforesaid, and have made and signed their report as aforesaid, or in case of their inability to so agree, or twenty-four hours from the time of their return from reviewing said premises, to said office of the mayor, to which they shali so return in every case immediately for deliberation, and until they have ~~ en signed a report as hereinafter specified, upon any disagreement, if such jury shall be evenly divided so that they are unable to agree on their report, or any part thereof, they shall make and sign a report stating that fact and setting forth such items as a majority of them have agreed upon, if any such there be, And the names of the persons as owners and the particular premises in regard to the damage, special benefit or enhanced value of which they are evenly divided, or in regard to which a majority of them can not agree; which report shall be filed in the same manner as the report hereinbefore provided for. On receipt of any such report showing any disagreement of the jury, said board of aldermen shail, at its next meeting after the filing of such report, direct the mayor of said city to issue, and he shall thereupon issue under the seal of said city, his order to chief of police of said city to at once summon a new jury, qualified for such duty as hereinbefore specified, and of the same number as hereinbefore directed, to be composed of different persons from those who constituted the jury so disagreeing, and such new jury shall proceed immediately, after being duly sworn, as aforesaid, to take into consideration all parts of the report of the former jury, on which that jury was not able to agree, and to view the premises in regard to which such disagreements were had, in the manner hereinbefore directed, and shall make their report in the same manner as hereinbefore provided. Such course shall continue from time to time, until all the matters in such original writ directed to be decided shall have been determined. At the first meeting of said board of aldermen after a complete report or reports upon the matter in said writ ordered to be directed shall have been filed as aforesaid, said board of aldermen shall consider and pass upon such reports. If said board of aldermen shall determine that any item of damages so assessed is excessive, it may reject such report or reports and discontinue the proposed improvement, and in case of such discontinuance, no other proceeding shall within twelve months thereafter be commenced for a similar purpose in relation to any of the premises affected thereby or any part of the same without the written consent of the owner thereof. It shall be competent for said board of aldermen, in passing upon any such report or reports, to decrease or remit any item or items of special benefit, advantage or enhanced value therein contained, if it think proper so to do. If said board of aldermen shall think proper, it shall order such report or reports, or such report or reports so modified by it as to special benefit or advantages or enhanced value, approved, and the lands condemned in said proceedings shall vest in said city, so long as they may be used respectively for the purpose of said improvement, so soon as the amount of damages assessed to them respectively, decreased by the amount of special benefit, advantage and enhanced value so assessed against them respectively, shall have been paid as [or] tendered to the owner or owners of such premises respectively or deposited as hereinbefore provided. In case of an appeal on any item as hereinafter provided, such damages on the premises as to which such appeal is taken, decreased by the amount of special benefits, advantage and enhanced value assessed against the same, shall be deposited with the clerk of the superior court of said county of Rowan, to be disposed of as so assessed, or as upon such appeal adjudged, subject to be reduced by any special benefits, advantages and enhanced value against such premises, assessed as aforesaid, or on such appeal adjudged. Any special benefit, advantage or enhanced value so assessed against any premises, or on appeal adjudged against the same, unless paid or set off by damages assessed thereon, or on appeal adjudged on the same shall, upon such approval of the board of aldermen, in case no appeal is taken upon such assessments of special benefits, advantage or enhanced value or damages, or upon final judgment in case of any such appeal, become and be a lien in favor of said city on said premises on which it has been so assessed or adjudged, as of the time when the board of aldermen passed upon the report regarding the same when said approval was had or appeal taken, and shall be paid to said city in equal installments, one, two and three years respectively, after the completion of such improvement, or in case of appeal and completion of such improvement before final judgment thereon, after such final judgment, and if any such installments shall remain unpaid for thirty days after its maturity all such installments then unpaid shall become due, and the premises so assessed or charged shall be sold for the payment of the same and the expenses of:such sale and costs by the tax collector of said city, under the same rules, regulations, restrictions, rights of redemption, provisions and effects as are prescribed in this charter for sale of real estate for unpaid taxes. Any owner of premises mentioned in any such report who is dissatisfied with the amount of damages assessed therein, as done to said premises, or with any amount of special benefits, advantage or enhanced value therein assessed against the same, or said board of aldermen, if dissatisfied with any item in said report, any [may] appeal, on any item with which he, she or they are so dissatisfied, from such report thereon or the action of the board of aldermen on such report, to the next term of the superior court of said county of Rowan, by serving upon the adverse party a written notice of such appeal within ten days after said board of aldermen shall have so passed upon such report. On any such appeal, the appellate court shall have power to increase, affirm or diminish the amount of the item appealed on, but not to adjudicate the necessity of the improvement, and such appeal shall in no wise hinder or delay the board of aldermen in making or carrying out the proposed improvement, but ic shall be lawful for it to enter upon and use the property so condemned as and for such purpose at any time after the expiration of two days from the date when the amount of damages assessed by the jury, decreased BY special benefits, advantage and enhanced value, as aforesaid, shall have been paid or tendered or in case of appeal deposited as aforesaid. _