§ 32. Liens, street improvements, curbs, sidewalks, gutters, pavements.

If any such property owner shall neglect to comply with any order issued under the authority of section thirty-one hereof, said city council may cause such order to be executed in the manner herein prescribed and the expense thus incurred shall be paid by such owner and shall become a lien upon such land and building in favor of the city. Said city council is further authorized to assess against any property benefited by street, gutter, pavement, curb and sidewalk improvements, the benefits received by such property not exceeding its proportion of the expense thereof, and to assess against owners of abutting property so benefited, the pro-rata cost of any street, gutter or pavement improvement which may be ordered and laid by said city council. Each such cost or assessment authorized by this section, shall become a lien upon such land and building in favor of the city from the date when such work has been ordered by the city council and shall continue to be a lien and shall take precedence of all other liens or incumbrances on the property whereon the same is placed, except taxes due to the city or any taxing district thereof or the state, and legal proceedings may be taken for the collection thereof by civil action against such delinquent owner or by foreclosure of such liens in the same manner as a lien for unpaid taxes due the city of Bristol, provided such lien for any such improvement shall not continue for a longer period than sixty days after the assessment thereof has been laid unless a certificate of such lien shall be lodged with the town clerk for record. Before any assessment shall be laid for any benefits by municipal improvements on streets, sidewalks, curbs, gutters or pavements authorized by this charter, the city council shall cause at least a five-day notice of a public hearing thereon to be given to the owners of the land or buildings benefited thereby, which notice shall state the time and place of such hearing, at which such owners shall be heard if they so desire.

Legislative history— Sp. No. 352, § 26, 1911; Sp. No. 87, 1925; Sp. No. 434, § 55, 1931; Sp. No. 489, § 35, 1939.