No civil action shall be maintained against the Town of Eden or the
Town Superintendent of Highways of the town or against any improvement district
in the town for damages or injuries to persons or property (including those
arising from the operation of snowmobiles) sustained by reason of any highway,
bridge, culvert, highway marking, sign or device 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, 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 there was thereafter a failure or neglect within
a reasonable time to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction complained
of, or, in the absence of such notice, unless such defective, unsafe, dangerous
or obstructed condition existed for so long a period that the same should
have been discovered and remedied in the exercise of reasonable care and diligence,
and 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, 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.
No civil action shall be maintained against the town and/or the Town
Superintendent of Highways of the town for damages or injuries to person or
property sustained by reason of any defect in the sidewalks of the town or
in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any of its sidewalks unless
such sidewalks have been constructed or are maintained by the town or the
Superintendent of Highways of the town pursuant to statute, nor shall any
action be maintained for damages or injuries to person or property sustained
by reason of such defect or in consequence of such existence of snow or ice
unless written notice thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually
given to the Town Clerk of the town or to the Town Superintendent of Highways
of the town and there was a failure or neglect to cause such defect to be
remedied, 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 of the town shall transmit, in writing,
to the Town Clerk of the town within 10 days after receipt thereof all written
notices received by the Town Superintendent of Highways pursuant to this article,
and the Superintendent shall take any and all corrective action with respect
thereto as soon as practicable.
The Town Clerk of the town shall keep an index 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,
which record shall state the date of the 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
receipt of such notice.
Nothing contained in this article shall be held to repeal or modify
or waive any existing requirement or statute of limitations which is applicable
to these causes of action, but, on the contrary, the requirements hereof shall
be held to be additional requirements to the rights to maintain such action,
nor shall anything herein contained be held 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 obligations than that it shall keep its streets, sidewalks
and public places in a reasonably safe condition for public use and travel.