Whenever the governing body of the Township
of Lopatcong shall find that it is necessary and beneficial to the
public safety and welfare that sidewalks or curbs, or sections thereof,
in said municipality be constructed, repaired, altered or relaid,
the municipality shall cause a notice, in writing, to be served upon
the owners or occupants of said lands requiring the necessary specified
work to said curbs or sidewalks to be done by said owners or occupants
within a period of not less than 30 days from the date of service
of such notice.
Whenever any such lands are unoccupied and the
owner cannot be found within the municipality, said notice may be
mailed, postage prepaid, to his or her post office address, if the
same can be ascertained.
In the event that such owner is a nonresident
of the municipality or his or her post office address cannot be ascertained,
then the notice may be inserted for four weeks, once a week, in a
newspaper of such municipality or, if none is published therein, then
in a newspaper published in the state and circulating in said municipality.
In case the owner or occupant of such lands
shall not comply with the requirements of such notice, then it shall
be lawful for the municipality, upon filing due proof of the service
or publication of the aforesaid notice, to cause the required work
to be done and paid for out of municipal funds available for that
purpose.
The cost of such work shall be certified by
the department or person having charge thereof to the department or
person having charge of the collection of assessments in said municipality.
Upon the filing of said certification, the amount
of the cost of such work shall be and become a lien upon said abutting
lands in front of which such work was done to the same extent that
assessments for local improvements are liens and shall be collected
in the manner provided by law for the collection of other assessments
and shall bear interest at said rate.
In addition to the foregoing, the Township of
Lopatcong shall have an action to recover said amounts against the
owners of said lands in any court having jurisdiction thereof; a certified
copy of the aforesaid certifications shall, in such action be prima
facie evidence of the existence of a debt due from said owner to the
Township of Lopatcong.
