§ 37. Powers of the city council. Streets.

(a)

The city council shall have power to lay out, alter, extend or discontinue any highway or street within the limits of the city; and, for that purpose or in the exercise of any other power conferred upon it by this charter or by the general laws of the state, to take any real estate or water course which may be required, and to eliminate any water power, right of way or other easement which it may be necessary to eliminate for the proper construction, alteration or extension of such highway; and to construct any new channel for any water course so taken, or to make any necessary substitution or replacement for any other easement so taken and to take any real estate or easement therein which is necessary for the proper construction of such new channel or other substituted or replaced easement.

(b)

Before laying out, altering or extending any highway or taking any real estate or easement therein for any of the above purposes, the city council shall cause a map to be prepared showing proposed layout, alteration or extension, and any new channel or substituted or replaced easement to be constructed, and showing the real estate to be affected thereby and so far as possible the limits of the land to be taken from each owner, and shall give at least fifteen days notice in writing, in the mode hereinafter specified as to notices of assessment to the owners of all real estate to be affected, of a public hearing on such proposed public improvement and of the time and place thereof and, so far as practicable, before such hearing, shall offer an opportunity to all such owners to examine such map and, at such time and place, shall hear any objections or claims made by any such owners or their representatives, agents or attorneys.

(c)

When a street shall have been laid out, altered, extended or discontinued, or when the city council shall have ordered any other public improvement by which land or other property is taken for public use by right of eminent domain or special damages or benefits are caused to property, or both, and no special provision is made in the section under which such public improvement is ordered for the appraisal of damages or assessment of benefits, the city council shall, by itself or by a committee appointed by it therefor, appraise the damages and assess the special benefits resulting from such improvement. Unless the damages and benefits so appraised and assessed shall be consented to in writing by the owner of the property affected, which written consent shall be filed with the city clerk, the city council or its committee shall, before finally adopting its appraisal of damages or assessment of benefits, give to such owners a public hearing and shall give to such owners at least fifteen days notice of the time and place of such hearing and of the sums proposed to be appraised as damages and assessed as benefits, or both, such notice to be given in the mode hereinafter specified as to notices of assessments. After such hearing, the city council or its committee shall adopt a final report and file the same with the city clerk.

(d)

The city clerk shall thereupon, cause written notices to be served upon each owner of property affected by such appraisal or assessment of the amount awarded to such owner as damages, the amount assessed against such owner as special benefits and the net amount to be paid by the city to such owner or by such owner to the city, as the case may be. Service of such notice shall be made by some civil officer, police officer of said city or indifferent person, by leaving a copy of such notice, signed by the city clerk, with or at the usual place of abode of each owner, or by certified mail, as directed by the city council. Service on non-residents of the city of Bristol shall be by certified or registered mail addressed to their last-known place of abode. The person serving such notice shall make return of the manner and time of such service to the city clerk.

(e)

In making assessments of benefits and appraisals of damages for any public improvement, the city of Bristol is authorized to assess such benefits or appraise such damages as it may deem just, upon or in favor of the real estate belonging to the state situated within the limits of the city of Bristol and specially benefited or damaged by such public improvement, subject to appeal as provided by law. In the case of assessment of benefits against or appraisal of damages in favor of the state, the state treasurer shall pay any assessments of benefits upon certification by the clerk of said city that the same are due, and shall receive any damages assessed in favor of the state and give a receipt for the same upon like certification.

(f)

Any owner of land or property taken for such public improvement and each person against whom special benefits have been assessed, who is aggrieved by such report, may appeal therefrom within one month from the service upon said property owner of such notice. Such appeal shall be by writ and complaint served upon the mayor or city clerk at least twelve days before return day, and shall be returnable to a court of competent jurisdiction on the next return day of said court or to the judge of said court on the first Tuesday of the next month after the expiration of the twelve days, if said court shall be in vacation on that day. The complaint shall recite the appraisal of damages and assessment of benefits made to the appellant, and allege that the amount to be paid by the city to the appellant is too small, or the amount to be paid by the appellant to the city is too large, as the case may be. Such appeal shall open both the appraisal of damages and the assessment of benefits to the appellant for review, although the appellant may have appealed from only one of such awards. Upon the return of such writ and complaint, the court or judge shall appoint a committee of three disinterested persons, who, after being sworn and giving reasonable notice to the parties, shall appraise the damages and assess the special benefits and report to said court such appraisal and assessment, and the net sum to be paid by the city to the appellant or by the appellant to the city, as the case may be. Remonstrance may be made to the report of such committee for any legal error or irregularity in the performance of its duties; and, if upon such remonstrance the report shall be rejected, the court shall appoint another committee; otherwise the report of the committee shall be accepted by the court or judge and shall have the effect of a judgment in favor of the party to whom the net payment is to be made, subject to the provisions in regard to the time of payment hereinafter contained. Said court or such judge may tax such costs of such appeal in favor of either party as it may deem equitable.

(g)

When the report of the city council or its committee of appraisal shall have been adopted and filed with the city clerk, the city shall have the right to enter upon the land and construct the street or other public improvement, and its right so to proceed shall not be suspended by the bringing or pendency of an appeal. Upon the filing of such report, the owner in favor of whom any appraisal has been made shall have the right to demand the net sum due to the owner under such award; and the acceptance of such sum shall be a waiver of such owner's right to appeal. The right of any appellant to receive the sum awarded to such owner shall be suspended during the pendency of such appeal; but, upon the acceptance of the committee report by the court or the judge, the net sum adjudged to the owner shall immediately become due and payable.

(h)

The amount of special benefits assessed against any person in excess of damages appraised to such person shall be a debt from such person to said city; but such debt shall not be due or collectible until the completion of such public improvement. When such improvement has been completed, the city council shall pass a resolution declaring that fact and thereupon such assessment shall be due and payable; and the city clerk shall give notice thereof to each person against whom such benefits were assessed, or their legal representatives in case of their death, in the manner herein provided for notice of assessment. All assessments made for public improvements within the city of Bristol shall bear interest from the date when the same shall become due, payable at such rate as the city council of said city shall prescribe.

(i)

Such net assessment shall be a lien upon the land against which it was assessed from and after the report of the city council or its committee of appraisal, which lien shall take priority over all other liens or taxes due the state, except that no such lien shall remain in force for more than sixty days after the date set by the city council for the payment of the assessment or any part thereof, unless a certificate of lien shall, within said sixty days, be filed in the land records of said town. Such certificate shall describe the land covered by such lien and shall be indexed in the name of the person against whom such assessment was made, and also in the name of the present owner of the land, if a different person.

(Amend. eff. 12-2-10; Amend. eff. 12-8-11)

Legislative history— Sp. No. 352, §§ 26, 28, 1911; Sp. No. 367, 1913; Sp. No. 99, 1921; Sp. No. 87, 1925; Sp. No. 118, 1927; Sp. No. 434, §§ 70—76, 1931; Sp. No. 489, § 40, 1939; Sp. No. 456, § 3, 1941.