[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Coxsackie as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Driveways — See Ch. 85.
Excavations — See Ch. 96.
Flood damage prevention — See Ch. 108.
Manufactured and modular home requirement — See Ch. 136.
Open development area — See Ch. 145.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 174.
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 190.
Zoning — See Ch. 201.
[Adopted 2-27-1986 by L.L. No. 2-1986]
This article shall be known as the "Prior Written Notice of Defective Conditions Local Law" of the Town of Coxsackie.
Where claims for bodily injury or damage to property are asserted against the Town arising out of alleged defective conditions of property owned by or in the care, custody or control of the Town, adequate notice to the Town of any such conditions is of substantial importance to allow the Town the opportunity to investigate and correct such conditions, if found to exist. Whether the Town has received actual or constructive notice of such alleged defective conditions is often a question of fact which can lead to uncertainty and possible unwarranted finding of liability against the Town. To assure that the Town receives notice of an alleged defective condition and is able to respond in a prompt and reasonable manner, the Town Board considers it to be important that such prior notice be in writing. It is the purpose of this article to require that notice of defective conditions of Town property be given to the Town by prior written notice actually received by the Town in order to provide for the safety, health, protection and general welfare of persons and property in the Town of Coxsackie.
No civil action shall be maintained against the Town, its officers or employees for personal injury, including death, or damage to property related to, caused by, resulting from or arising out of any property owned by the Town or property in the care, custody or control of the Town being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed unless, prior to the occurrence of the injury or damage, the Town shall have been given actual written notice of the alleged condition complained of and shall have failed or neglected within a reasonable time to repair or remove the condition.
The notice required by this article shall contain the following:
A. 
The full name and address of the person giving notice.
B. 
The particular property of the Town and its location, which is claimed to be defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed.
C. 
The time such condition was first observed or made known to the person giving notice.
D. 
A statement of the particulars in which the property is defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed.
A. 
The written notice provided for by this article shall be served by personal service within the Town of Coxsackie upon the Town Clerk or Town Supervisor and, in the case of highway property, upon the Town Superintendent of Highways. Service shall be made at their respective Town offices.
B. 
Service may also be made by mailing such notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the officials specified in this section at their respective Town office addresses.
C. 
The claimant shall have the burden of proving service of notice in compliance with this section in any civil action maintained against the Town or any officer or employee thereof.
A. 
The Town Supervisor and Superintendent of Highways shall promptly transmit to the Town Clerk all written notices received by them pursuant to this section.
B. 
The Town Clerk shall keep a record in a separate book of all written notices received pursuant to this section.
[Adopted 6-14-1988 by resolution]
The purpose of these specifications is to establish minimum acceptable road construction, including widths and development of right-of-way, paved roadway, storm drainage and other utilities in the Town of Coxsackie. Dedication of the right-of-way will not be accepted until the developer's professional engineer or licensed land surveyor and the Town Superintendent of Highways shall have certified to the Town Board that the development of the road has been completed in accordance with the approved plans, which shall conform with the following specifications.
No road construction work is to be undertaken prior to written notification and approval from the Town Superintendent of Highways. The Town Superintendent of Highways shall be notified five working days prior to commencement of any work. A schedule of their proposed road construction, setting forth tasks to be performed, time frame for implementing tasks (dates), etc., and proposed completion date, shall be submitted prior to commencement of work.
All work will be inspected as deemed necessary by the Town Superintendent of Highways and/or representatives of the office of the Town Engineer. All costs associated with the review of plans, inspections, etc., will be paid for by the owners of the property or developer for whom the road is being constructed.
The plan shall clearly define the limits of the proposed roadways and storm drainage, including culverts and other drainage structures, and the location of easements and utilities. A plan and profile shall first be submitted to the Town Superintendent of Highways and Town Engineer and then to the County Superintendent of Highways, when any road drains toward a county highway, and then to the Town Board for review and approval under the applicable subdivision regulations of the Town. Such plans so submitted shall not be altered or amended after having been approved by the Town Board and Town Engineer, except after amended plans have been resubmitted and approved as above. However, the developer shall, at his own expense, provide additional storm drainage facilities as may be ordered by the Town Superintendent of Highways and/or Town Engineer if, during the progress of the work, in the opinion of the Town Superintendent of Highways, Town Engineer or the County Superintendent of Highways, such additional structures or facilities are necessary to assure durability of pavement and future maintenance of the right-of-way.
All culvert pipes will be cushioned with a minimum of six inches of sand or bank-run gravel and 12 inches of cover over top of the pipe.
A. 
The right-of-way shall be at least 50 feet in width and shall extend a minimum of 25 feet from the center line of the proposed roadway.
B. 
Permanent steel-reinforced concrete monuments six inches by 36 inches shall be placed in the ground so as to project six inches above grade to delineate the road right-of-way. Monuments shall be set at all angle points, points of curvature, points of tangency and points of intersection of plat boundaries, lot corners, etc., and at such intermediate points as required by the Town Superintendent of Highway and/or Town Engineer.
C. 
Proper sight distance, acceptable to the Town Board, shall be provided at all intersections. The developer shall establish and clearly mark on the site the limits of the right-of-way, the center lines and grades of roadway and the location and elevation of drainage structures. Such markers shall be maintained at the developer's expense until construction of roadway, drainage, curbs and shoulders has been completed and accepted by the Town Superintendent of Highways and Town Engineer.
D. 
The fifty-foot right-of-way shall have been cleared as approved by the Town Superintendent of Highways and/or Town Engineer. Roadway shall be constructed at least 30 feet in width and shall extend a minimum of 15 feet from the center line of the right-of-way. Grades shall be in accordance with the approved plans. The drainage system shall be installed in accordance with the approved plan and profile. Sections 170 and 171 of the Highway Law must be fully complied with.
E. 
Any unsatisfactory material within the limits of the proposed pavement shall be removed and shall be filled with not less than 12 inches of well-graded gravel, quarry rubble or other satisfactory subbase material not less than 30 feet in width.
F. 
Rough subgrade of roadway, after having been approved by the Town Superintendent of Highways and/or Town Engineer, shall be fine-graded by hand or by mechanical grade and rolled. Rolling shall continue until subbase is thoroughly compacted and no movement of subbase materials is observed under passage of the roller. Any soft or unstable portion of the subbase shall be removed and replaced with suitable borrow. Compacted subbase shall be shaped and brought to proper grade. Rolling as aforesaid will commence when four inches of subbase has been installed and continued until proper depth has been reached.
Guardrails and/or guard posts, of acceptable size and quality, shall be erected wherever necessary to protect motorists and property. Locations and extent of areas requiring guardrails, etc., shall be at the discretion of the Town Superintendent of Highways.
Utility poles shall be set outside the right-of-way on their own easement. Any subsurface structure such as water, gas, electric, telephone or sewer lines must be installed in utility easements and placed prior to application for acceptance of the road by the Town authorities. All utility easements shall be shown on plans.
Any deviation from any of the above requirements can only be made by a written authorization from the Town Superintendent of Highways and the Town Board.
All trees, fences, walls or other obstructions within the work limits shall be removed. The extent of clearing and tree removal shall be confined to the construction limits as approved by the Town Superintendent of Highways and/or Town Engineer. The clearing limits will be indicated on the ground at approximately one-hundred-foot intervals by the developer.
A. 
All topsoil within the construction limits shall be removed; roadway subgrade shall be of stable material and shall meet with the approval of the Town of Coxsackie Superintendent of Highways and/or Town Engineer and shall be compacted with an approved steel roller weighing not less than 10 tons after it has been brought to proper line and grade and parallel with the finished surface of the road. Any low spots shall be filled with approved subgrade material, and where the subgrade is being constructed on embankment, shall not contain stones larger than six inches in greatest dimension or sod, roots, frozen soil or other objectionable material. It shall be placed in successive uniform layers not exceeding six inches' thickness, and each layer shall be thoroughly rolled over its entire area. The minimum width of the subgrade shall be 30 feet placed in the center or the right-of-way.
B. 
Plans and construction of all roads, etc. shall delineate adequate subbase drainage. The adequacy of the subbase road drainage plans and construction shall be reviewed by and brought up to the standards required by the Town Superintendent of Highways and/or Town Engineer.
A. 
The contractor shall furnish and place the minimum of a twelve-inch thick layer of coarse gravel, measured after compaction. The particles shall be of such size as will pass through a four-inch square hole; not more than 70% by weight shall pass the No. 40 mesh seive, and not more than 10% by weight shall pass the No. 200 mesh seive. Fine grade with six inches of processed gravel or Item 4 shall be required.
B. 
The material shall be spread over a minimum width of 30 feet, in three or more layers, each not to exceed four inches thickness. It shall be thoroughly rolled with a ten-ton roller after each layer is spread.
The contractor shall furnish and place a one-and-one-half-inch thick course of three-fourths inch crushed stone on top of the foundation course for a width of 30 feet, this being placed and rolled after the shoulders have been placed and rolled to final line and grade. The shoulders shall extend for four feet on each side of the pavement and shall be of the same material as the foundation course, except that the maximum size of the particles shall pass a one-inch square hole. A ten-ton roller shall be used for compaction. After the base course has been thoroughly rolled and compacted, a medium cure asphalt cutback MC-1 shall be evenly spread over the surface with an approved pressure distributor at the rate of 0.75 gallons per square yard. Immediately following the above, a layer of three-eights-inch and one-half-inch mixed crushed stone shall be placed at a thickness of one inch and thoroughly rolled to proper line and grade. During this operation, the roller shall lap at least 1/2 of the rear wheel onto the previously prepared shoulder to present a smooth joint between shoulder and pavement. Rolling shall start at the shoulder and proceed to the center of the road. Following this operation, an approved pressure distributor shall apply a coat of MC-5 at a rate of 0.5 gallons per square yard.
Immediately following the above, a light sprinkling of one-half-inch crushed stone shall be applied to the surface and rolled until the fragments are thoroughly interlocked.
The finished surface shall be formed with a one-fourth-inch per foot crown, extending from each side of the pavement to the center line. The shoulders shall have a three-fourths-inch per foot slope from the edge of the pavement to the beginning of the ditch profile. The invert of the ditch shall be a minimum of four inches below the outside of the shoulder.
Grade stakes or other markers shall be placed on both sides of the road center line of fifty-foot intervals along curves and at fifty-foot intervals on one side only along tangents. Grade stakes will shown stations, offsets and cut or fill. Protection of all stakes is required.
The subbase, prior to the gravel application, shall be within 1 1/2 inches, plus or minus, of grades as shown on the plans. The final surface shall be within one inch, plus or minus, of grades as shown on the plans.
A. 
Culverts of the size indicated on the plans shall be furnished and installed in accordance with the grades so set in the field or as shown on the plans. Roadside ditches shall be in accordance with the typical road section submitted with the plans, but may be varied to ensure proper drainage to all culverts.
B. 
Length of all culverts and roadside ditches shall be subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Highways and/or Town Engineer.
A. 
Curbing if required, may be either granite stone curb or precast concrete curb, at the option of the Town Board and Town Superintendent of Highways.
B. 
All curbing utilized shall conform to all sections noted below of the Standard Specifications; Construction and Materials, New York State Department of Transportation, dated January 2, 1985, unless herein stated otherwise or variance is given, in writing, by the Town Board or Town Superintendent of Highways.
C. 
All granite curbing shall be Type B, conforming to Sections 609-3.01 and 714-01, except that the minimum top exposed width of curb shall be 5 1/2 inches and the minimum depth of curb shall be not less than 18 inches.
D. 
All precast concrete curbing shall be Type BB, conforming to Sections 609-3.03 and 714.04, except that the minimum top exposed width of curb shall be nine inches and the minimum depth of curb shall be not less than 18 inches. Type, size and location of steel reinforcement of all concrete curbs shall be subject to the approval of the Town Superintendent of Highways and Town Engineer.
E. 
The top of all curbs, except in dropped areas, shall project six inches above the finished surface of roadways, measured at curbline.
F. 
Curbs at all driveways shall be dropped, sloping down on a one-on-twelve or flatter slope to the flat dropped section of the curb. Width of the flat dropped portion of curb abutting the driveway shall be the width of the driveway plus four feet Maximum slope of driveways abutting curbs shall be one-fourth inch per foot. The flat dropped portions of curbs opposite driveways shall be project one inch above finished road surface adjacent to curb.
G. 
The above delineates the minimum requirements for Town roads to be constructed to serve residential developments. The Town of Coxsackie reserves the right to require a heavier base, pavement courses, etc., for roads that it deems subject to more severe traffic conditions.
The developer, property owner, etc., shall furnish to the Town a bond or equivalent acceptable financial guaranty in an amount agreeable to the Town, for a period of one year, that all road facilities and appurtenances installed and accepted by the Town will be satisfactorily repaired and/or replaced, etc., if any deficiency is noted or failure occurs.
Final inspection and approval will be performed by the Town Superintendent of Highways and Town Engineer.