[Amended 5-14-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007; 3-12-2012 by L.L. No. 4-2012; 6-24-2019 by L.L. No. 3-2019]
The Director of Public Works shall be the head
of the Department of Public Works, and shall appoint such subordinates
deemed necessary, with the approval of the City Manager. In case of
the absence or disability of the Director or of a vacancy in the office,
the City Manager, with the approval of the Common Council, shall appoint
a suitable person to discharge the duties of the office until the
Director returns from disability or the vacancy is filled.
The Director of Public Works, subject to the
provisions of law and ordinances of the Common Council, has cognizance,
direction and control of construction, maintenance, alteration, repair,
care, cleaning, paving, flagging, lighting and improving of the streets,
highways, sidewalks and public places of the city; of the preservation
and care of shade trees; of the construction, alteration and repair
of all city buildings, except schools, and of all docks and bridges
belonging to the city; of all public sewers and drains in the city;
of the care, superintendence, management and improvement of all thoroughfares
belonging to the city. Except as otherwise provided by law, the Director
shall have the supervision of, control over and jurisdiction and authority
to make all ordinary repairs, improvements upon the streets, sidewalks,
crosswalks, gutters, vaults, drains, culverts, bridges and public
ways and places of the city, including the cleaning, sprinkling, laying
of dust with substances other than water, watering and flushing of
the same, and collection and disposal of refuse, and may employ such
laborers and teams and incur such expenditures as may be necessary
within the limits of the appropriations made therefor. It shall be
the duty of the Director to inspect the same with sufficient frequency
to ascertain their condition and cause the same to be kept free from
obstructions and in good condition and repair and reasonably safe
for public use. The Director shall also have general supervision and
control of all work performed under any contract of the city for local
or other improvements to be performed within or upon any of the public
streets, way and places or with reference to the public works and
ways within the jurisdiction of the Department, including the lighting,
sprinkling, laying of dust with substances other than water, watering
or flushing of the streets or public places, and shall cause the same
to be performed in full compliance with the provisions of any contract
therefor. Except as otherwise provided by law or ordinance of the
Common Council, the Director of Public Works has, over the streets
and public places within the city, all the jurisdiction and is charged
with all the duties of commissioners of highways within the towns
of the state.
The Director of Public Works shall have full
power and authority to require the owner of any building in the city
which is unoccupied and in an untenable condition, or any wall or
building or part thereof which may be in a ruinous or unsafe condition,
to take down and remove the same and fill in any abandoned excavation.
A written report shall be prepared by the Director of Public Works
detailing the untenable, ruinous or unsafe condition of the building.
Where the owner of such wall or building shall fail or neglect to
take down and remove the same, or fill in any abandoned excavation,
after written notice so to do together with a copy of the aforementioned
report and the time and place of a hearing thereon before the Director
of Public Works, all pursuant to the procedures set forth in § C205
of the City Charter, the Director of Public Works shall have such
wall or building taken down and removed, and such abandoned excavation
filled in, and the expense of said taking down, removal or filling
in, when certified by the Director of Public Works to the Common Council,
shall be paid by the City, and such amount shall thereupon be and
become a lien upon the lot or premises where such wall, building or
abandoned excavation existed and shall be levied, corrected, enforced
and collected, all pursuant to the procedures set forth in § C205
of the City Charter. In the event the Director of Public Works deems
a structure to be an immediate danger to the life and/or safety of
any person and/or other structure, he/she may require that said structure
be demolished immediately based on written report and a hearing of
at least one day's notice. All orders issued under this section shall
be filed with the County Clerk in the same manner as a notice of pendency.
Nothing herein shall prevent the city from seeking personal reimbursement
from the owner for expenses incurred in taking down, removal or filling
in of structure.
The Director of Public Works or authorized designee,
subject to the provisions of law and ordinances of the Common Council,
is hereby charged with the duty of administering and enforcing the
provisions of the Zoning Code and/or Ordinance, the Building Code
and/or Ordinance, the Plumbing Code and/or Ordinance[1] and any and all other codes and/or ordinances relating
to the construction, repair, alteration, modification and/or improvement
of structures and buildings, and for the purpose of administering
and enforcing the same, is hereby vested with the power to promulgate
reasonable rules and regulations, not inconsistent with laws and the
ordinances of this Common Council, for the enforcement of said codes
and/or ordinances.
The Director of Public Works and the Building
Inspectors shall have full power and authority to issue appearance
tickets to persons violating the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance,
Housing Code, Building Code, Plumbing Code[1] and/or any and all other codes and/or ordinances and/or
rules and regulations promulgated thereto relating to the construction,
repair, alteration, modification and/or improvement of structures
and buildings in accordance with the enabling powers set out in the
applicable provision of the Municipal Home Rule Law and/or the Criminal
Procedure Law.
The Director of Public Works or Acting Director
shall from time to time certify in writing to the Common Council a
list or lists of property or properties abutting upon a street or
streets where a sidewalk or sidewalks and curb or curbs should be
constructed and laid, such list or lists to contain the section, block
and lot number of each parcel or parcels, as shown on the Assessment
Map of the city, together with the name or names of the last known
owner or owners of such parcel or parcels, as may appear upon the
last completed assessment roll of the city. The Common Council shall,
after an inspection of such list or lists, by resolution determine
which parcel or parcels on such list or lists, in the interests of
public safety, welfare and convenience, should have sidewalks and
curbs constructed and laid abutting thereto, and in such resolution
shall direct the Director of Public Works to forthwith notify the
owner or owners as shown on said list or lists to proceed to construct
and lay such sidewalk or sidewalks, curb or curbs. Where the owner
or owners of such parcel or parcels shall fail or neglect to construct
and lay any sidewalk and/or curb for a period of 10 days after written
notice to so do has been served on the owner or owners by the Director
or Acting Director of Public Works, either personally or by delivering
same at the owner's or owners' residence, or if the owner or owners
be a nonresident, by mailing the same to the owner or owners at the
owner's or owners' last known place of residence, or if the name of
the owner or owners or the owner's or owners' place of residence cannot
be ascertained after due diligence, by posting the same in a conspicuous
place upon the premises. Where the owner or owners of any such parcel
shall fail or neglect to construct and lay said sidewalk or sidewalks,
curb or curbs pursuant to said notice, it shall be the duty of the
Director or Acting Director of Public Works to construct and lay such
sidewalk or sidewalks, curb or curbs, and a bill for the expenses
incurred shall be presented to the owner or owners personally or by
leaving the same at the owner's or owners' residence, or if he/she
be a nonresident, by mailing the same to the owner or owners at the
owner or owners last known place of residence, or if the name of such
the owner or owners' place of residence cannot be ascertained after
due diligence, by posting the same in a conspicuous place upon the
premises. Where the owner or owners of any such parcel shall fail
or neglect to construct and lay said sidewalk or sidewalks, curb or
curbs pursuant to said notice, it shall be the duty of the Director
or Acting Director of Public Works to construct and lay such sidewalk
or sidewalks, curb or curbs, and a bill for the expenses incurred
shall be presented to the owner or owners personally or by leaving
the same at the owner's or owners' residence, or if the owner or owners
be a nonresident, by mailing the same to the owner or owners' at the
owner's or owners' last known place of residence, or if the name of
such the owner's or owners' place of residence cannot be ascertained
after due diligence, by posting the same in a conspicuous place on
the premises; and if the owner or owners shall fail to pay the same
within 10 days thereafter, the Director or Acting Director shall file
with the Common Council a further list setting forth the parcels,
the owner or owners and amounts of bill or expenses incurred by the
city in the construction and laying of such sidewalk or sidewalks,
curb or curbs. The Common Council shall then direct the Clerk of the
city to publish in the official newspaper of the city a list of such
parcels and a notice to the owner or owners thereof that a public
hearing will be held not less than 10 days from the date of publication,
directing that the owner or owners or any person interested may present
written objections before the Common Council at the time and place
of said public hearing as to why the costs and expenses incurred by
the city should not be levied and confirmed as a lien against said
respective parcel or parcels. Upon such public hearing being closed,
and no sufficient reasons appearing to the contrary, the Common Council
shall by resolution confirm as a lien an assessment in the amount
or amounts shown to be justly due against said delinquent parcel or
parcels and direct the City Assessor of the city to enter the title
of such assessment, the section, lot and block number on the Assessment
Map of the city, against which such assessment is to be levied, together
with the date of the confirmation by the Common Council, together
with the date of such entry, in a record of the titles of assessments
confirmed in a book regularly kept for that purpose in the office
of the City Assessor; and further direct the City Assessor in the
preparation of the next assessment roll for general city taxes to
assess such amount or amounts upon and against such parcel or parcels,
whereupon the same shall be levied, corrected, enforced and collected
in the same manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time, under
the same penalties and having the same lien or liens upon the parcels
or parcel assessed as the general city tax and as a part thereof.
The Common Council by resolution shall determine the kind of material
which shall be used in the construction and laying of any new sidewalk
or sidewalks, curb or curbs, and in all instances such sidewalk, sidewalks,
curb or curbs, whether constructed by the property owner or the city,
shall be constructed under the supervision and of such length, width
and depth as the Director or Acting Director of Public Works may direct
after the proper grade is furnished by the City Engineer. Street will
be brought to a rough grade and full width by the city where and when
necessary.
All public work performed pursuant to contract
under the supervision or control of the Director shall, before it
is accepted, be certified by Director to the effect that such work
has been 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 Director shall file a certificate
of such completion with the Comptroller and with the City Clerk, to
be reported to the Common Council. Such certificate shall state in
substance that said work has been duly examined by the Director and
that the same has been fully performed and completed in accordance
with the terms of the contract therefor.
The Director of Public Works shall keep the
Tax Maps up-to-date at all times with such changes as the change of
street locations, new subdivisions, new streets, houses spotted on
location, added properties, subdivisions thrown back into acreage,
properties taken by county or state and all corrections to be made
of errors as shown by deeds and other documents presented by owners
or the Westchester County Clerk.
The following shall be deemed public streets
within the city: all streets in public use within the city laid out
as such under any law of the state; all streets not so laid out but
which have been worked or improved by the city and used as public
streets for 20 years or more; all streets heretofore or hereafter
duly dedicated to the public use and accepted.
The Director of Public Works shall notify the
Common Council of every street not used by the public as such for
six years, and every street not opened and worked within six years
from the time of its acceptance. The Common Council shall determine
whether any such street shall be abandoned and cease to be a street
or such other disposition, if any, of said street.
