Source: https://ecode360.com/14035306
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 10:36:44+00:00

Document:
§ 65-1 Powers and duties of Commissioner.
§ 65-2 Repair of sidewalks; removal of snow and ice.
§ 65-3 Performance of public work to be certified.
§ 65-4 Duties of City Engineer.
§ 65-5 Alteration of grades and names of streets.
§ 65-6 Apportionment of cost of improvements.
§ 65-7 Discontinuance of streets.
§ 65-8 Streets by prescription.
§ 65-9 Acquisition of lands.
Department of Public Works — See Charter, Art. VII.
Department of Water — See Ch. 85.
The Commissioner of Public Works may require the removal of all encroachments upon public lands, streets and sidewalks and the abatement of all nuisances. The Commissioner of Public Works or the Code Enforcement Director may issue an order to the responsible party to comply with this section or, in the event of an emergency, cause the necessary work to be done to the extent of abating the emergency. If said responsible party fails to comply with an order to abate after notice and an opportunity to be heard, the Commissioner shall cause the necessary work to be done to remove the nuisance or encroachment and the costs shall be borne by the party in default. The same shall be collected pursuant to law. Should the nuisance that needs to be abated be upon private property, and the property owner found to have been responsible for said nuisance, and the property owner having had an opportunity to be heard at a hearing convened by the Commissioner of Public Works in accordance with rules promulgated by the Board of Managers to effectuate same, then the cost of the abatement of the nuisance, if unpaid within the prescribed time period, shall be added to the tax bill assessing said property, which shall remain a lien against the property and collected by the City in the same manner as taxes are collected.
The Commissioner of Public Works shall have the full power and authority to order the owner or occupant of property abutting upon a street to comply with his/her duty to repair any sidewalk in front thereof or bring the same to true grade and to remove snow and ice therefrom. The procedures, requirements, duties and liabilities associated with sidewalk maintenance, repair and snow removal are fully set forth in Chapter 244, Article III, of the Code of the City of Cohoes, and the Commissioner shall comply with the provisions thereof when exercising his/her authority under this section.
All public work performed pursuant to contract under the supervision or control of the Commissioner shall, before it is accepted, be certified to by him/her to the effect that such work was performed in a good and substantial manner with the materials required, of the quality and in the manner directed by the terms of the contract under which the same was done. Within 10 days after the completion of any such work, the Commissioner shall file a certificate of such completion with the Comptroller and with the City Clerk, to be reported by him/her to the Common Council. Such certificate shall state in substance that said work has been duly examined by the Commissioner and that the same has been fully performed and completed in accordance with the terms of the contract therefor.
Cost of operation and maintenance. The City of Cohoes or its City Engineer shall determine the total annual cost of operation and maintenance of the sewer system which is necessary to maintain its capacity and performance during its service life. The total annual cost of operation and maintenance shall include, but need not be limited to, labor, repairs, equipment, replacement, maintenance, modification, power, sampling, laboratory tests and a reasonable contingency fund.
All premises or real property within the City using the sewer system or any part or parts thereof shall be subject to a sewer rent charge.
The charges for operation and maintenance attributable to flows through the sewer system shall be distributed among all users of the wastewater system based upon the flow volume of the users.
The sewer rent charge shall be equal to a percentage of the water bill charge to all premises or real property within the City for water supplied by the City. Each user's cost contribution to the sewage system shall be determined by the user's annual wastewater service charge. Residential users and nonresidential users shall be considered one class of users. The Board of Managers shall determine such percentage.
The City of Cohoes shall review the total annual cost of operation and maintenance of the sewer system not less than each year and will revise the sewer rents as necessary to assure equity of the user charge system established herein and to assure that sufficient funds are obtained to adequately operate and maintain the City's sewer system.
The Common Council shall not change the grade of any street which has been legally established, except by ordinance of the Common Council and except also upon compensation for damages done, to be ascertained in and by the proceedings provided by law for ascertaining damages for lands taken for the opening of streets. The Common Council shall not alter the name of any street except by ordinance and unless a majority of the owners of property abutting on such street shall petition therefor, in which case a majority vote shall be sufficient.
The Board of Managers shall fix and determine the amount and proportion of the expense which shall be borne by the City at large for opening, altering, grading, curbing or paving a street or for constructing therein a public sewer, except as hereinafter provided in this Code. This apportionment shall be approved by the Common Council by ordinance. The amount and proportion of the expense of such improvements which shall be borne by the City at large may be included in the budget and raised by tax the same as other general City charges or may be financed pursuant to the Local Finance Law. The proportion of the expense which is not borne by the City shall be assessed and charged upon the property affected by such improvement in the form and manner provided by law or by this Code.
Whenever the Common Council shall contemplate the discontinuance of any street, it shall cause a notice to be published for 10 days in the official newspaper of the City of its intention to do so and that all persons interested may be heard in reference thereto at a time stated in such notice. If it shall be determined to discontinue the street and any person shall claim to be damaged by such discontinuance, such alleged damages, unless agreed to by the Commissioner of Public Works and approved by the Board of Managers, must be ascertained and determined in the manner provided by law for ascertaining damages for lands taken for the opening of streets. An ordinance discontinuing any street shall require the affirmative vote of 3/4 of all the members of the Common Council.
All lands which shall have been used by the public as a street for 20 years or more continuously shall be a street with the same force and effect as if it had been duly laid out and recorded as such.
Whenever any real estate or interest therein shall be required for any municipal purpose, except as otherwise provided by law, the Commissioner of Public Works may acquire for the City the necessary land and real estate by gift or by purchase, at a price approved by the Board of Managers, or by the proceedings specified in the Eminent Domain Procedure Law or, in the case of property required for street purposes, by the proceedings provided by law for acquiring and ascertaining damages for property taken for purposes of street openings.

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