[Adopted 3-11-1981 as L.L. No. 1-1981]
No civil action shall be maintained against the Town of Sand Lake 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
street, bridge, culvert, street 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 street, bridge, culvert,
street 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 and there was thereafter
a failure or neglect within a reasonable time 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 street, 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 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 persons
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 persons 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 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 shall transmit, in writing, to the
Town Clerk within 10 days after receipt thereof all written notices received
by him or her pursuant to this law, and he or she shall take any and all corrective
action with respect thereto as soon as practicable.
The Town Clerk shall keep an indexed record, in a separate book, of
all written notices which he or she shall receive of the existence of a defective,
unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition in or upon or of an accumulation
of snow or ice upon any town highway, bridge, culvert or sidewalk; which record
shall state the date of the receipt of the notice, the nature and the location
of the condition stated to exist and the name and address 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 each notice shall be preserved
for a period of five years after the date it is received. The Town Clerk,
upon receipt of such written notices, shall immediately, and in writing, notify
the Commissioner of Public Works.
Nothing contained in this law shall be held to repeal or modify or waive
any existing requirement or statute of limitations but, on the contrary, shall
be held to be additional requirements to the rights to maintain such action.
Nothing contained herein shall 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 duties or obligations than that it shall keep its streets, sidewalks
and public places in a reasonably safe condition for public use and travel.