[Adopted 4-8-1975 by L.L. No. 1-1975
(Ch. 16 of the 1969 Code)]
[Added 4-13-2021 by L.L. No. 9-2021[1]]
This article shall be known as the "Highway Excavations Civil
Actions."
[Amended 7-11-1995 by L.L. No. 3-1995]
No civil action shall be maintained against
the Town of Farmington (hereafter referred to as the "Town") or the
Town Superintendent of Highways or against any special district or
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, street, sidewalk, crosswalk,
highway marking sign, sign or device or any other property owned,
operated or maintained by the Town or any property owned, operated
or maintained by any special district or improvement district therein,
being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed, unless
written notice of such defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstruction
condition of such highway, bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk, highway
marking sign, sign or device or any other property owned, operated
or maintained by the Town or any property owned, operated or maintained
by any special district or improvement district therein was actually
given to the Town Clerk of the Town or the Town Superintendent of
Highways of the Town and there was failure and neglect within a reasonable
time after the giving of such notice to repair or remove the defect,
danger or obstruction complained of; 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,
street, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert or any other property owned
by the Town or any property owned by any special district or special
district therein 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 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 will 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, 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.
[Amended 7-11-1995 by L.L. No. 3-1995]
The Town Superintendent of Highways of the Town
of Farmington shall transmit, in writing, to the Town Clerk of the
Town, within five days after the receipt thereof, all written notices
received pursuant to this chapter and § 65-a of the Town
Law. The Town Clerk shall cause all written notices received pursuant
to this chapter and § 65-a of the Town Law to be presented
to the Town Board within five days of receipt thereof or at the next
succeeding Town Board meeting, whichever shall be sooner.
[Amended 7-11-1995 by L.L. No. 3-1995]
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. 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. 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.
A.
This chapter shall supersede in its application of
the Town of Farmington Subdivisions 1 and 3 of § 65-a of
the Town Law.
[Added 7-11-1995 by L.L. No. 3-1995]
B.
Nothing contained in this chapter 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,
shall be held to be additional requirements to the right 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.
