The existing Board of Fire Commissioners of the City of Lockport
is hereby abolished. A new Board of Fire Commissioners consisting
of five Fire Commissioners appointed as provided in this act shall
constitute the Board of Fire Commissioners of the City of Lockport,
and shall have, as such Board, control and management of the Fire
Department of such city. The said Department shall consist of a Fire
Chief and such subordinates and employees as may be found necessary
from time to time and a competent number of able-bodied firemen. Such
Board shall be organized by the election of one of its members as
President. Three Fire Commissioners shall be a quorum for the transaction
of business at the meetings of the Board. One member of the Common
Council shall be appointed as a member of the Fire Board. Acceptance
or retention of such appointment by an Alderman shall not be deemed
a forfeiture of his municipal office or employment, or incompatible
therewith, or affect his tenure or compensation in any way. The term
of office of a member of the Fire Board who is an Alderman when appointed
as a member thereof shall terminate at the expiration of the term
of his municipal office. All actions of the Fire Board may be reviewed,
modified or rescinded by the Common Council. [§ 125,
L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L. 1916, c. 433; L.L. No. 6-1958; L.L.
No. 4-1966; L.L. No. 2-2009]
The Board of Fire Commissioners shall have the power to enforce
within said city the laws of this state relating to the Fire Department
thereof, and may prescribe and enforce rules, bylaws and regulations
for the government of the Fire Department of the city, not inconsistent
with the laws of this state. [§ 126, L. 1911, c. 870;
amended by L.L. No. 7-1958; L.L. No. 4-1966]
No Fire Commissioner shall receive a compensation for his services,
nor be interested in the purchase, sale or leasing of lands for the
use of the Fire Department, nor in the construction or repair of engine
or other houses thereof, nor in the purchase or sale of apparatus,
supplies or property of any kind for the use of the Fire Department.
A willful violation hereof shall be a misdemeanor. [§ 127,
L. 1911, c. 870]
The City Clerk shall be an ex officio Clerk of the Board of
Fire Commissioners. He shall attend the meetings thereof, keep full
minutes of all its proceedings in proper books provided therefor,
file and carefully preserve all accounts, papers and documents relating
to the business of said Department, and perform such other clerical
services as may be required by the Board. He shall not receive additional
compensation for said services. [§ 128, L. 1911, c.
870]
The Board shall not order the expenditure of any money or make
any contracts, except by a majority vote of all of its members, which
vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered in the minutes. [§ 129, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L. 1919, c. 316; L.L.
No. 4-1966]
The Board shall not create any debt or pecuniary obligation
or liability whatever against the city, on account of the Fire Department,
or otherwise, which shall not be payable in the current fiscal year,
and cannot be discharged and paid from the income of the same year,
except as otherwise provided by the Local Finance Law; any Fire Commissioner
willfully voting therefor when said fund is exhausted shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor. At some regular meeting of the Common Council in
each of the months of January, April, July and October in each year,
and at such other times as the Common Council may require, the Board
shall report in writing to the Common Council, showing the amount
of money in the Fire Fund at the beginning and at the end of the three
months next preceding the month in which said report shall be made,
and the expenditure in detail made by the Board during said period.
Said January and July reports shall also state fully the condition
of the Department as to the efficiency and discipline of the several
companies, the number and origin of the fires occurring during the
year, and any other pertinent matters. They shall be accompanied by
a complete inventory of all property of the Department then on hand
with a statement of its condition. Said reports shall be immediately
published by the Common Council as a part of its proceedings. [§ 130, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L. 1943, c. 710]
The Board shall have power by the affirmative vote of at least
three Commissioners to appoint a Fire Chief and such subordinates
and employees as may be found necessary from time to time and a competent
number of able-bodied firemen; each appointment except temporary shall
be evidenced by a commission naming the appointee, signed by at least
three Commissioners, which shall be immediately filed in the office
of the City Clerk. Every person so appointed, except those temporarily
appointed, shall hold office until removed for some cause or causes
hereinafter specified. If any officer or member of said Fire Department
shall be unable to perform the duties of his office in consequence
of sickness or temporary absence from the city, the Board of Fire
Commissioners shall have the power to appoint some other person to
act temporarily in his place during the continuance of such absence
or disability. The salary for any such temporary fireman shall be
fixed by the Common Council. [§ 131, L. 1911, c. 870;
amended by L. 1916, c. 433; L.L. No. 3-1924; L.L. No. 4-1966]
The Fire Board by an affirmative vote of at least three Commissioners
may at any time remove from office the Fire Chief or any subordinate
or employee, or any member of the Department when he shall be found,
after notice and a hearing, to be incompetent or negligent, or guilty
of misconduct in and about or unable to perform the duties of his
office, or guilty of willful violations of any of the rules, regulations
or orders of the Fire Board, or any superior officer, and appoint
in his place and stead some other person as herein provided. [Added by L. 1916, c. 433; amended by L.L. No. 4-1966]
Whenever any charges shall be made to said Fire Board against
the Fire Chief, or any subordinate or employee, or any member of the
Department, he shall be served, as soon thereafter as may be, with
a true copy of such charges and with a notice of the time and place
at which the same will be investigated, and he shall be heard before
said Board in his defense; and no removal shall be made until such
opportunity to be heard shall have been given. [Added by L.
1916, c. 433; amended by L.L. No. 4-1966]
The Board of Fire Commissioners, upon any charges being preferred by any person against, or finding or having reason to believe said Fire Chief or any subordinate or employee, or any member of the Department, guilty of incompetency, negligence, misconduct or inability, as specified in §
C-131a of this chapter, shall have power to suspend such officer or member of the Fire Department from service until the Board shall convene and take action in the matter; provided, however, that such officer or member of said Department shall not remain suspended for a longer period than 20 days without an opportunity to be heard in his defense; and, upon hearing the proofs in the case, the Board shall, without delay, restore such officer or member or discharge and remove him from office. The salary of any officer or member so suspended shall cease from the time of such suspension, unless the Board shall otherwise order in its decision; such decision shall be in writing and be immediately filed with the City Clerk, together with a copy of the evidence or testimony taken upon such hearing.
[Added by L. 1916, c. 433; amended by L.L. No. 4-1966]
The Board of Commissioners shall promulgate, through the Fire
Chief, all of its rules and regulations and orders to the whole Fire
Department, and said Fire Chief shall have the immediate direction
and control of the firemen under such rules, regulations and orders,
which are not inconsistent with the laws of the state. [Added
by L. 1916, c. 433; amended by L.L. No. 4-1966]
The Fire Board shall control and manage the Fire Department
and establish and enforce rules and regulations for the appointment,
discharge and dismissal of the officers, members and employees thereof,
for the hearing and trial of complaints, for the conduct, government
and discipline of the Department. It may impose such reasonable fines
and forfeitures upon said officers and members of the Department,
for a violation of such rules and regulations, as the Board may deem
proper; and shall prescribe the duties of all officers and members
by it appointed, except as in this chapter otherwise provided. It
shall have charge of all the property now owned or hereafter acquired
by the city for the uses of the Fire Department, including the electric
fire alarm, of the erection, alteration and repair of all engine and
hose houses, towers or structures for the Department; of the purchase
and repair of engines, trucks, carts, hose and other appurtenances,
implements and supplies requisite and proper in and about the efficient
maintenance and operation of the Department. [§ 132,
L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L. 1916, c. 433]
The Common Council shall fix the salary of the Fire Chief or
any subordinate. [§ 133, L. 1911, c. 870; amended
by L. 1916, c. 433; L.L. No. 4-1966]
In addition to such other duties as shall be prescribed by the
Board, it shall be the duty of the Chief Engineer in said city to
perform all the duties imposed upon inspectors of buildings by Article
19 of the General Business Law, and the acts amendatory thereof or
supplemental thereto, in reference to examining premises where petroleum,
earth or rock oils, or any of its products, are or shall be kept or
stored, and the reporting of violations of said act or acts. [§ 134, L. 1911, c. 870]
Any member of the Board of Fire Commissioners, the Chief Engineer,
and each Assistant Engineer shall have power at all reasonable times
to enter and examine any premises within the city, and they shall
report to the Common Council all violations of any statute or ordinance
for the prevention of fires. [§ 135, L. 1911, c. 870]
Every bystander at a fire shall be subject to the control of
the Chief Engineer, the Assistant Engineers, or of either or any thereof,
during the progress of the fire, so far as assisting in the extinguishment
of the fire or saving any property exposed is concerned, and each
of the said officers may arrest or orally direct any policeman or
other person to arrest anyone who disobeys his lawful orders at a
fire, or who is intoxicated or disorderly thereat, and cause the persons
so arrested to be confined in a station house in said city for a time
not longer than the extinguishment of the fire, and not exceeding
five hours. [§ 136, L. 1911, c. 870]
The Board shall have power to investigate the cause and origin
of all fires in the city, and in such cases as the Board may direct,
the testimony taken before it shall be reduced to writing and subscribed
by the witnesses, and the Board shall thereupon report it to the District
Attorney for the County of Niagara. [§ 137, L. 1911,
c. 870]
The Chief Engineer or the Assistant Engineer in command at a
fire, with the concurrence of the Mayor, or if the Mayor is not present,
with the concurrence of three Aldermen, or two members of the Board
of Fire Commissioners, may direct any burning building or any other
building which they may deem hazardous and likely to take fire and
endanger the safety of other buildings, to be torn down, blown up,
or otherwise destroyed. No action shall lie or be maintainable against
them or either of them therefor, but the owner or party interested
shall have remedy provided in the next six sections. [§ 138,
L. 1911, c. 870]
Any person owning or having an interest in any building injured or destroyed by any act authorized by the last preceding section may, within three months thereafter, present to the Common Council a claim therefor in detail, in manner and form as provided in §
C-100 of this act. Unless so presented within said time, such claim shall be barred. If so presented and not paid or compromised within the 40 days thereafter, as provided in §
C-100, the claimant may, after said 40 days and within one year after the building was injured or destroyed, present a petition to the Supreme Court or the County Court of Niagara County, upon which all requisite jurisdiction in the premises is hereby conferred, for the appointment of three Commissioners to appraise his damages. If such petition be not presented within said year, all claims for damages shall be barred. The petition shall be verified and a copy of it, with notice of the time and place of its presentation, shall be served on the Corporation Counsel at least 14 days before the day when it shall be presented. The Court shall hear the proofs and allegations of the parties, and shall, in a proper case, appoint three persons to ascertain the just compensation to be made to the claimant, and fix the time and place of their first meeting.
[§ 139, L. 1911, c. 870]
The Commissioners so appointed shall be paid from the Salary
and Contingent Fund a reasonable compensation for their services,
not exceeding to each $5 per day. Before entering upon their duties
they shall take and subscribe an oath that they will faithfully discharge
their duties. Any of them may issue subpoenas and administer oaths
to witnesses. A majority of them may adjourn the proceedings before
them from time to time in their discretion. They shall view the premises,
hear the proofs and allegations of the parties, and reduce the testimony
taken by them, if any, to writing; and after the testimony is closed,
they shall, without unnecessary delay, ascertain and determine the
amounts which ought justly to be paid by the city to the claimant.
In determining such amount the Commissioners shall decide whether
the building so injured or destroyed would have been injured or destroyed
by the fire; and if they decide that it would have been so injured
or destroyed, they shall not award to the claimant an amount exceeding
the amount of valid insurance which such claimant had then existing
in his favor upon such building, and which he would lose by such injury
or destruction. They shall make and sign their report and deliver
the same to the City Clerk. [§ 140, L. 1911, c. 870]
The said city or any person owning or having an interest in
any building so injured or destroyed may, within 30 days after the
filing of said report, appeal from the decision of the Commissioners
to the Court whereby they were appointed, by filing with the City
Clerk and serving on each of said Commissioners a notice of appeal,
stating the grounds thereof; the appellant shall at the same time
pay to each of the Commissioners $2 for making return on said appeal;
the Commissioners shall, upon such service and payment, and within
10 days thereafter, make and file with the Clerk of Niagara County
a full return of all their proceedings, and of all the evidence taken
before them, together with a copy of their report; and the Commissioners
may be compelled to make amended or further return in the same manner
as in cases of returns by justices of the peace on appeal to County
Courts. [§ 141, L. 1911, c. 870]
The hearing on the appeal, if in the Supreme Court, may be brought
on by either or any part thereto, at any special term thereof, for
hearing contested motions held in the Counties of Niagara, Erie or
Orleans; if in the County Court, at any term thereof at which contested
motions are heard upon like notice as other motions in said Courts,
upon the return of the commissioners, their report and the notice
of appeal. The Court may confirm the report or refer it back to the
commissioners with instructions to correct the same according to the
decision of the Court in the premises. [§ 142, L.
1911, c. 870]
In case no appeal is taken, the Court may, upon application
of the Common Council, or any person interested, without notice, confirm
said report. The correction of said report in pursuance of the decision
of the Court, or the confirmation of the same, shall be final and
conclusive. The final order, and all the other papers, shall be made
into a roll and filed with the said County Clerk, and a certified
copy of the final order shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk. [§ 143, L. 1911, c. 870]
The Common Council, upon the confirmation or correction of the
report of the commissioners, or upon agreement with the claimant,
shall cause the amount awarded or agreed upon, with interest thereon
from the date of the destruction or injury to the buildings, to be
added to the next general tax levy in addition to any other sums hereby
authorized to be raised thereon, and as soon thereafter as possible,
shall collect and pay such amount to such claimant. [§ 144,
L. 1911, c. 870]
The fire limits or districts as now established in the City
of Lockport, and the provisions regulating the erection of buildings
within such limits or district shall remain in force under this act,
subject to the power of the Common Council to alter the same, except
where those provisions are inconsistent with provisions hereinafter
recited; and the Common Council, by resolution or ordinance, may from
time to time, as the public interests in said city in its judgment
require, alter, enlarge or contract the boundaries of said fire limits
or district, and for the purpose of guarding against calamities by
fire, shall have power by resolution or ordinance to prohibit the
erection, placing, alteration or enlargement within said district
of buildings constructed chiefly of wood or other combustible materials,
without the permission of the Common Council first had and obtained;
and to regulate and prescribe the mode of construction, alteration,
enlargement or repairing thereof, and to prescribe the materials which
shall be used therefor, and to direct that all or any buildings within
the limits prescribed shall be made or constructed of stone or brick
or other noncombustible materials, with partition walls of the same
or other prescribed materials, fireproof roofs, and brick, stone or
metal cornices and eave troughs, under such penalty as may be prescribed
by the Common Council, not exceeding $100 for any one offense, and
the further sum of $25 for each and every week any building so prohibited
shall be continued. Every building thereafter erected, placed, enlarged,
altered or repaired contrary to the foregoing provisions, or to any
ordinance or resolution made in pursuance thereof, is hereby declared
to be a common nuisance, and may be abated and removed as such, by
the direction of the Common Council of said city. But nothing herein
contained shall be construed to authorize said Common Council to prevent
ordinary repairs not increasing the risk of fire of any building allowed
by it to remain within the fire limits. The Common Council shall have
no power to permit the erection, placing, alteration, or enlargement
of buildings constructed chiefly of wood or other combustible material
within the following-described boundaries: Commencing at the intersection
of the middle of Caledonia Street with the middle of Church Street,
and running thence south in the middle of Church Street to the middle
of Niagara Street; thence west in the middle of Niagara Street to
the middle of Transit Street; thence south in the middle of Transit
Street to the middle of Buffalo Street; thence east in the middle
of Buffalo Street to the middle of Saxton Street; thence south to
the southwest corner of Lot No. 6, Buffalo Street; then east along
the south line of Lot Nos. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Buffalo Street, to the
middle of Cottage Street; thence east across Cottage Street and in
and along the middle of Center Alley to the middle of Locust Street;
thence south along the middle of Locust Street to the middle of Walnut
Street; thence east along the middle of Walnut Street to the middle
of Elm Street; thence north in the middle of Elm Street to the middle
of Chestnut Street; thence east in the middle of Chestnut Street to
a point due south from the southeast corner of Lot No. 5, Chestnut
Street; thence north in the east line of said Lot No. 5 to the middle
of Morgan Alley; thence east in the middle of Morgan Alley to the
middle of Charles Street; thence north in the middle of Charles Street
to the middle of Union Street; thence east in the middle of Union
Street to the middle of Washburn Street; thence north in the middle
of Washburn Street to the middle of Garden Street; thence east in
the middle of Garden Street to the middle of Exchange Street; thence
north to the southwest corner of Lot No. 2, Market Street; thence
east along the south line of Lot Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16,
Market Street, to the middle of Chapel Street; thence north in the
middle of Chapel Street to the north line of the Erie Canal; thence
westerly along the north line of the Erie Canal to the main track
of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad; thence west in
the middle of the main track of the New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad to the middle of Lock Street; thence south in the middle
of Lock Street to the middle of Caledonia Street; thence west in the
middle of Caledonia Street to the place of beginning. The Common Council
shall have power at any time to extend the boundaries of the absolute
fire district. [§ 145, L. 1911, c. 870]
The Common Council shall have the power, by resolution or ordinance,
for the purpose aforesaid, to prevent the dangerous construction and
condition of chimneys, fireplaces, hearths, stoves, stovepipes, steam
boilers, ovens, coppers, still furnaces and apparatus in any building
or manufactory, and to cause the same to be removed or placed in a
safe and secure condition, when considered dangerous; to prevent the
deposit of ashes in unsafe places; to regulate and prevent the carrying
on of manufactures dangerous in creating or promoting fires, and to
prevent, regulate or control the use of fireworks or firearms in said
city, and to authorize the Mayor, Police Justice, Aldermen, Chief
Engineer, Assistant Engineers, and other officers of said city to
keep from the vicinity of any fire all idle and suspicious persons,
and to compel all officers of said city, and other persons, to aid
in the extinguishment of fires and preservation of property exposed
to danger thereat, and generally to establish such regulations for
the prevention or extinguishment of fires as it may deem expedient. [§ 146, L. 1911, c. 870]
The Common Council shall have the power by ordinance to punish
persons unlawfully interfering with or injuring any of the property,
real or personal, now or which hereafter may be owned by or used in
said city for the prevention and extinguishment of fires, and to compel
the owners or occupants of buildings to provide one or more fire buckets
and regulate the place and manner of keeping the same. [§ 147,
L. 1911, c. 870]
Every fireman who shall have faithfully served as such in said
city, including as well any period before as after the passage of
this act, five consecutive years, shall be thereafter exempt from
serving as a juror or in the militia, except in case of insurrection
or invasion, and shall be entitled to all other privileges conferred
by general law upon exempt volunteer firemen. The provisions of Article
10 of the General Municipal Law relating to rights and privileges
of exempt volunteer firemen, certificates issued to them, and otherwise
pertaining to such firemen, shall apply to the City of Lockport. [§ 148, L. 1911, c. 870]
The Fire Chief or any subordinate shall always wear when on
duty such uniform as may be prescribed by the Board of Fire Commissioners. [§ 149, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L. 1916, c. 433; L.L.
No. 4-1966]
Any person who shall falsely represent himself to be a member
of the Fire Department of the City of Lockport, or who shall maliciously,
with intent to deceive, use or imitate any of the signs, fire caps,
badges, signals or devices adopted or used by the Fire Department,
shall on conviction be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. [§ 150,
L. 1911, c. 870]
A. The Treasurer of the City of Lockport shall collect, and there shall
be paid to him, the tax imposed by § 553 of the Insurance
Law of the State of New York, in accordance with the provisions thereof,
for the use and benefit stated in said section, upon premiums on policies
of insurance against loss by damage or fire covering property situated
within the boundaries of the City of Lockport.
B. The Treasurer of the City of Lockport shall, pursuant to the provisions
thereof, receive a share of the tax imposed by § 554 of
the Insurance Law of the State of New York.
C. Said moneys so received by the Treasurer of the City of Lockport
as aforesaid shall be by the City Treasurer placed in the Insurance
Fund, and shall be by the said Treasurer, under the direction of the
Common Council, paid as follows:
(1) Disposition of the tax on fire insurance premiums shall be based
on a pro rata sharing between the members of the Exempt Volunteer
Firemen's Association of Lockport and the members of the Lockport
Firefighters Benevolent Association, Inc., based upon the number of
members in each organization.
(2) The pro rata sharing is to be determined annually, with the numerical
change in the respective memberships in each organization being computed
as of the date of distribution of the funds, which will be made through
the office of the City Treasurer of Lockport. Only those members of
the Exempt Volunteer Firemen's Association presently eligible to receive
any portion of the proceeds distributed pursuant to this local law
shall continue to be eligible for a pro rata distribution. In no event
shall this number total more than 14 shares for members of the Exempt
Volunteer Firemen's Association.
(3) That such pro rata sharing shall continue until such time as the
Exempt Volunteer Firemen's Association. of Lockport shall be dissolved
pursuant to law, after which time the entire proceeds shall be distributed
to the Lockport Firefighters Benevolent Association, Inc. [§ 151,
L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 1-1967]