[Amended 4-21-2016 by L.L. No. 2-2016]
No civil action shall be maintained against the Town of Poestenkill,
hereinafter referred to as the "Town," or the Town Superintendent
of Highways of the Town, or against any improvement district in the
Town for damages or injuries to person or property, including those
arising from the operation of snowmobiles, sustained by reason of
any highway, bridge, sidewalk, culvert, highway marking, sign or device
or any other property owned, operated or maintained by the Town or
any property owned, operated or maintained by any improvement district
therein, being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed
unless written notice of such defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed
condition of such highway, bridge, sidewalk, culvert, highway marking,
sign or device, or any other property owned, operated or maintained
by the Town, or any property owned, operated or maintained by any
improvement district, was actually given to the Town Clerk of the
Town or the Town Superintendent of Highways of the Town, and that
there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable time after the
giving of such notice to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction
complained of; further, no such action shall be maintained for damages
or injuries to persons or property sustained solely in consequence
of the existence of snow or ice upon any highway, bridge, sidewalk,
culvert or any other property owned by the Town or any property owned
by any improvement district in the Town unless written notice thereof,
specifying the particular place, was actually given to the Town Clerk
of the Town or the Town Superintendent of Highways of the Town, and
there was a failure or neglect to cause such snow or ice to be removed
or to make the place otherwise reasonably safe within a reasonable
time after the receipt of such notice.
The Town Superintendent of Highways shall transmit, in writing,
to the Town Clerk within 10 days after the receipt thereof all written
notices received by him or her pursuant to this chapter and Subdivision
3 of § 65-a of the Town Law. The Town Clerk shall cause
all written notices received by him or her pursuant to this chapter
and Subdivision 3 of § 65-a of the Town Law to be presented
to the Town Board within five days of the receipt thereof or at the
next succeeding Town Board meeting, whichever shall be sooner.
The Town Clerk of the Town shall keep an indexed record, in
a separate book, of all written notices which the Town Clerk shall
receive of the existence of a defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed
condition in or upon or of an accumulation of ice and snow upon any
Town highway, bridge, culvert or sidewalk, or any other property owned
by the Town or by any improvement district of the Town, which record
shall state the date of receipt of the notice, the nature and location
of the condition stated to exist, and the name and address of the
person from whom the notice is received. All such written notices
shall be indexed according to the location of the alleged defective,
unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition, or the location of accumulated
snow or ice. The record of such notice shall be preserved for a period
of five years from the date it is received. The Town Clerk, upon receipt
of such written notice, shall immediately and in writing notify the
Town Superintendent of Highways of the Town of the receipt of such
notice.
Except as provided in §
161-5 hereof, nothing contained in this chapter shall be held to repeal, modify or waive any existing requirement or statute of limitations which is applicable to these causes of action but, on the contrary, this chapter shall be held to be an additional requirement of and condition precedent to the right to maintain such causes of action; further, nothing contained herein is intended or shall be deemed to modify any existing rule of law relative to the question of contributory negligence, nor to impose upon the Town, its officers and employees, and/or any of its improvement districts, any greater duty or obligation than that it shall keep its streets, sidewalks and public property in a reasonably safe condition for lawful and proper public use.
This chapter shall supersede in its application to the Town
of Poestenkill Subdivisions 1 and 4 of § 65-a of the Town
Law.