reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 252 § 4a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 4a - Proceedings Under Secs. 1 to 14c; Parties; Petition; Notice

Section 4A. The commonwealth, acting through one or more state departments, and any city, town or district, or any combination thereof, to the extent of their ownership of any area described in section one, may be parties, in their proprietary capacity, to proceedings under sections one to fourteen C, inclusive, in respect to any purpose set forth in said section one, to the same extent as individual proprietors. Said bodies politic, or any combination thereof, may also institute proceedings under said sections in their governmental capacity, in any case where it appears that the public health, safety or convenience will be promoted by improvements to effect any of said purposes, but in such proceedings no district shall be organized, and the improvements shall be constructed and maintained as provided in section five A. The petition in such a proceeding need cover only matters pertinent to the project therein set forth, and the provisions of section five requiring that the petitioners constitute a majority ownership of the lands affected shall not apply to such petition. Individuals and corporations qualifying as proprietors may join in any petition authorized in this section. Action by any such body politic hereunder shall be taken by the administrative head of the state department or commission, or by the mayor, selectmen, or prudential committee or other governing body, as the case may be. Notice of the hearing before said board on such a petition shall be given as provided in the first paragraph of section five to all petitioners and to the administrative heads of such state departments and commissions, mayors of such cities, selectmen of such towns, and the prudential committees or other governing bodies of such districts, as the said board may determine, and to all other known proprietors of lands to be affected by such improvements. Cities, towns and districts are hereby authorized to raise and appropriate money for such purposes.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 5b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 5b - Mosquito Breeding Areas; Designation as Public Nuisance; Control Programs

Section 5B. The board of health of a city or town not included in an area designated by an identifying name for the purpose of section five A, or the commissioners appointed to make improvements on behalf of a mosquito control district under such a name, as provided in said section, may determine any area infested by mosquitoes, or likely to produce mosquitoes within the limits of any such city or town or of such district, to be a public nuisance, and may serve upon the owner, occupant or person in charge of such area, written notice of the presence of such nuisance with a statement that such mosquitoes cause a public nuisance, together with directions to abate the same, giving the methods of treatment for the abatement thereof, and stating a time within which the nuisance shall be abated in accordance with the methods given therein. If the person so notified refuses or neglects to abate such nuisance the board of health or the commissioners, as the case may be, may abate such nuisance in such manner as may be approved by the board, and may maintain such works as may be necessary to prevent its recurrence, and said boards of health or commission may employ all necessary assistants for this purpose, who may enter upon public or private property, if such entry is necessary for this purpose.  The board of health may delegate its authority to another agency; provided, however, that said board shall notify the state reclamation board of such delegation; and, provided further, that said agency shall annually file a detailed report of its mosquito control program with said reclamation board.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 6a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 6a - Reclamation District; Liability Insurance

Section 6A. Any district established under this chapter may pay a proper charge for effecting insurance providing an indemnity or protection of such district or of any officer or employee of such district, whose services as such is approved by the commissioners thereof, against loss by reason of liability to pay damages to others for bodily injuries, including death at any time resulting therefrom, or for damage to property caused by any act which is within the scope of his official duties or employment including the operation of any motor or other vehicle equipment or vessel owned or leased by such district, and to pay the proper charge for effecting insurance to cover the district's liability to pay workers' compensation and to pay the proper charge to prevent loss by reason of destruction or damage to buildings or personal property by fire or other causes normally covered by fire insurance policies, and to pay the proper charge for effecting insurance to prevent loss by reason of damage to motor vehicles owned by such district.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 8 - Expenses; Contribution by State

Section 8. Should the board be of the opinion that a part of the expense of the improvements made under sections one to fourteen B, inclusive, should be paid by the commonwealth for the benefit of the public health of said commonwealth as a whole it shall estimate the amount which in its opinion should be so paid and shall include the same in its estimates under section four of chapter twenty-nine.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 9 - Meeting; Choosing Method of Financing; Bonds

Section 9. As soon as possible after the recording of the description, plan and estimate as provided in section seven, the commissioners shall request the clerk to call a meeting of the district for the purpose of deciding upon a method of financing such improvements in accordance with this or the following section; provided, that the commissioners may in their discretion insert an article covering this question in the warrant for the meeting called to organize the district and the district at said meeting or any adjournment thereof may decide upon a method of financing. Any action under this chapter which involves expenditure by the district shall require a vote of proprietors representing a majority in interest both in acreage and value of the area included in the district. The commissioners shall, if the district so votes, petition the county commissioners of the county where the greater part of the land lies, annexing a certified copy of the petition under section five and of the determination of the board thereon, and a statement of the estimated expense of the proposed improvements and shall request the county commissioners to vote to pay in the first instance the total expense involved in making the improvements approved by the board, and the said county commissioners may so vote. To defray any expense incurred by said county commissioners under such vote, the county treasurer, with the approval of the county commissioners, may issue bonds or notes of the county to an amount not exceeding such expense, payable in such period, not exceeding twenty-five years from their dates of issue, as the county commissioners may determine. Such bonds or notes shall be signed by the county treasurer and countersigned by a majority of the county commissioners. The county may sell the said securities at public or private sale upon such terms and conditions as the county commissioners may deem proper, but not for less than their par value. The first payment on account of the principal may, if the county commissioners so decide, be deferred for not more than five years after the date of issue of the bonds or notes, but such bonds or notes shall be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-five except as otherwise provided herein. Payments on account of principal and interest shall be made by the county and repaid to the county by the district.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 10 - Financing; Power of District to Adopt Alternative Methods

Section 10. The district may vote to adopt any of the three methods of financing hereinafter specified. (1) If all the members of the district agree, the district may raise by assessments upon the proprietors or by voluntary contributions and deposit with the state treasurer the total sum required to meet the estimated expense of the improvements. Such deposits shall be held by the state treasurer to the credit of the district, and payments shall be made therefrom as provided in section fourteen. (2) The district may pay the whole expense of the improvements from time to time as the work is performed and for this purpose may incur debt by a temporary loan in anticipation of the collection of assessments from the members of the district during the calendar year in which said debt is incurred or during the next succeeding calendar year. (3) The district may incur debt to the amount necessary to pay the estimated expense of the proposed improvements and may issue therefor notes or bonds, and may, if the board approves, issue notes or bonds on the condition that the first payment on account of the principal shall be deferred for a period of not more than five years from the date of issue of such notes or bonds and that the whole amount of such debt shall be payable within a period of not more than twenty-five years after such notes or bonds are issued.  Indebtedness incurred by the district under the provisions of this section or of section fourteen A shall be subject to chapter forty-four and to other provisions of the General Laws applicable to notes and bonds of districts except as otherwise provided in sections one to fourteen B, inclusive. Money received from the sale of notes or bonds issued under this section shall be deposited with the state treasurer and held by him to the credit of the district. If the district issues notes or bonds and thereafter the general court makes an appropriation to cover such part, if any, of the expenses of the improvements as it shall deem to be for the benefit of the public health of the commonwealth as a whole, the state treasurer may, in his discretion, make all or any part of such appropriation available to redeem notes or bonds of the district and shall hold the balance, if any, to the credit of the district to be used for payment of the expense of the improvements. If, after payment of the total expense of the improvements, money remains in the hands of the state treasurer to the credit of the district the same shall be paid to the treasurer of the district and shall be used to redeem outstanding notes or bonds which shall be cancelled by said district treasurer and not reissued. Bonds or notes issued under this section shall be the general obligations of the district by which they are issued.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 11 - Assessments; Collections

Section 11. The clerk of the district shall certify to the assessors of the town or towns in which the land of the district lies all sums of money voted to be raised and all sums payable annually on account of the principal and interest due on bonds or notes issued under the provisions of section nine or ten, together with the amount to be paid by each proprietor according to the determination made under section seven, and said clerk shall also file an attested copy of such certification with the board. The amounts so certified shall be assessed upon the lands of the several proprietors within the area, and be committed to the collector of taxes of the town wherein the land assessed is situated, who shall have and exercise the same powers and duties in relation to the collection of such assessments as he has and exercises relative to the collection of town taxes. The collector shall remit weekly to the district treasurer all sums collected by him on account of such assessments. An assessment made hereunder shall be a lien upon the land assessed therefor, and such lien shall take effect upon the recording of the description, plan and estimate under section seven, and shall continue for a period of two years from July first of the year of assessment.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 12 - Commissioners; Powers and Duties

Section 12. If sections one to seven, inclusive, have been complied with, and payment of the expense of the improvements has been arranged under section nine or ten, the commissioners shall carry out said improvements in such manner as the board may approve. The commissioners may employ suitable persons to perform the work under their direction. So far as may be necessary to effect the improvements as approved by the board, the commissioners may take on behalf of the district, in the manner provided by chapter seventy-nine, lands, easements and rights in lands, if the improvements are for a public use, and may purchase and convey real and personal property both within and beyond the limits of the commonwealth. Any person damaged in his property by any action under this or the following section may recover his damages from the district in the manner provided by said chapter seventy-nine and such damages shall constitute a part of the total expense of the improvements.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 13 - Erection of Temporary Dams; Aggrieved Parties; Notice; Appeal

Section 13. If the commissioners find it necessary or expedient to lower or raise the water to obtain a view of the land or for the more convenient or expeditious removal of obstructions, they may open the flood gates of any mill or make other needful passages through or around the dam thereof, or erect a temporary dam on the land of a person not a party to the proceedings, and may maintain such dam or passages as long as necessary for such purposes; but before so doing, they shall give to such person reasonable written notice of their intention. If such person appeals from their decision and gives reasonable written notice thereof to any commissioner, the commissioners shall suspend all proceedings upon his land until such appeal is determined; provided, that the petition therefor is entered in the superior court for the county where the greater part of the land improved lies not later than thirty days after the time of giving such notice.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 14 - Expenses; Submission to the Board; Approval; Payment

Section 14. The commissioners shall at least once a month at such time as the board may require submit to it the accounts and vouchers for expenses incurred in meeting the cost of required improvements under sections one to fourteen B, inclusive. Such accounts and vouchers shall be inspected by the board and if it approves the same it shall forward them to the county treasurer or to the state treasurer, as the case may be, for payment from any funds which may be available for the purpose. Expenses for maintenance or for further improvements incurred under the direction of the prudential committee of the district as provided in section fourteen A shall be paid by the district treasurer on presentation by the prudential committee of accounts and vouchers for such expenses; provided, that accounts and vouchers for expenses incurred in connection with further improvements shall be subject to the approval of the board before payment. The commissioners appointed under section fourteen A to make further improvements shall present their accounts and vouchers to the board for approval in the same manner as the commissioners appointed under section five to make the original improvements.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 14a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 14a - Reclamation Districts; Further Improvements; Procedure

Section 14A. A reclamation district organized under this chapter may from time to time at a legal meeting called for the purpose, vote to undertake further improvements within the district, to raise money by assessment to meet the expense thereof and to incur debt therefor in the manner provided by section ten. Such vote shall not be passed until after completion of the original improvements. The district may also vote to request the board to appoint commissioners to carry out the proposed further improvements. Such commissioners shall be appointed by certificate of the board as provided in section five. The district may, however, authorize its prudential committee to carry out such further improvements. The commissioners or prudential committee acting under this section shall have and exercise, so far as necessary, the powers of commissioners appointed under section five to make original improvements. The clerk of the district shall notify the board of the vote taken and the commissioners or prudential committee shall submit to the board within a reasonable time the plan or plans for such improvements, which shall not be undertaken until the board approves the same. The district may assess upon its members such sums as may be necessary to pay for improvements so voted and for the maintenance of all improvements made under sections one to fourteen B, inclusive, in the manner provided in section eleven for assessment of the expense of the original improvements. Such assessment shall be subject to the same provisions as the assessment authorized in said section eleven, shall be collected in the same manner and shall be paid to the treasurer of the district.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 14b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 14b - Additional Water Power or Supply; Prescriptive Rights; Necessity of Vote Before Development

Section 14B. No person obtaining an additional water power or water supply by the doing of any work contemplated by sections one to fourteen B, inclusive, shall gain a prescriptive right to the use thereof, nor be entitled to any compensation for the taking thereof under said sections by the removal of any dam or flashboards or by the changing of the height or dimensions of any dam. No water power may be developed in a reclamation district organized under this chapter except by vote of the district and approval by the board.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 14c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 14c - Injury to Improvements; Penalty; Damages

Section 14C. Whoever obstructs or injures any ditch, tide gate, dike or other structure constructed or used for any purpose authorized by any provision of sections one to fourteen B, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars. The state reclamation board may also recover, in the name of the commonwealth, for any such obstruction or injury, in an action of contract, the amount of the damages sustained by reason thereof, and the provisions of section five A, relative to the disposition of money therein referred to, shall govern the disposition of money recovered in such action.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 14d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 14d - Personnel Decisions by Mosquito Control Projects and Mosquito Control Districts

Section 14D. Mosquito control projects and mosquito control districts shall have sole authority in all personnel decisions including, but not limited to, the following: the hiring and firing of personnel; the establishment of rates of compensation for personnel representative of the regional economy; and the hiring of appropriate outside professionals deemed necessary to carry out and fulfill statutory obligations.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 15 - General Provisions

Section 15. A town or person owning low land, ponds, swamps, quarries, mines or mineral deposits, which, on account of adjacent lands belonging to other persons or occupied as a highway, cannot be approached, worked, cultivated, drained or used to advantage in the ordinary manner without crossing such land or highway, may construct roads, drains, ditches, tunnels and railways thereto and, when the construction of such improvements is required by public convenience and necessity, may take the land of such other persons for the location of such improvements as hereinafter provided.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 16 - Petition; Security

Section 16. A party desiring to make such improvements shall file a petition therefor with the county commissioners for the county where the greater part of the land lies, setting forth the names of the persons interested, if known to the petitioner, and also in detail the nature of the proposed improvement and the situation of the adjoining land. The petitioner shall give such county security satisfactory to the commissioners that he will indemnify such county from all damages and charges which it is obliged to pay by reason thereof.
MA Gen L ch 252 § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases|Title IV - Certain Writs and Proceedings in Special Cases|Chapter 252 - Improvement of Low Land and Swamps|Section 17 - Notice

Section 17. The commissioners at their first meeting after the filing of the petition shall order notice of the time and place of meeting, to consider the petition, to be published once in each of three successive weeks in a newspaper, if any, published in the county; otherwise, in a newspaper published in an adjacent county. They shall also give notice thereof to the clerk of each town where the land lies.