The Board of Trustees hereby finds that it will
serve the public health, welfare and safety to require prior notice
to the Village of certain unsafe, defective or dangerous conditions
on the public streets and sidewalks as a condition of the Village's
liability for damages. Such a requirement will encourage the prompt
report of such conditions, will hasten their repair, will reduce Village
exposure to liability for avoidable injuries and will accord with
the state policy embodied in Village Law § 6-628.
No civil action shall be maintained against
the Village for damages or injuries to person or property sustained
in consequence of any street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk,
crosswalk, municipal parking lot or municipal parking garage in the
Village being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed
or for damages or injuries to person or property sustained solely
in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any sidewalk,
crosswalk, street, highway, bridge, culvert, municipal parking garage
or municipal parking lot in the Village unless written notice of the
defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition or of the existence
of the snow or ice, relating to the particular place, was given to
and actually received by the Village Clerk, and there was a failure
or neglect within a reasonable time after the receipt of such notice
to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction complained of
or to cause the snow or ice to be removed or the place otherwise made
reasonably safe.
The Village Clerk shall keep an indexed record
in a separate book of all written notices which said Clerk shall receive
of the existence of a defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition
in or upon, or of an accumulation of ice or snow upon, any street,
highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk, municipal parking lot
or municipal garage in the Village, 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 Village
Clerk shall, at the Board meeting next following receipt of such written
notice or within 10 days, whichever is sooner, cause said written
notice to be brought to the attention of the Board of Trustees. The
record of each notice shall be preserved for a period of five years
after the date it is received.