No civil action may be maintained against the Village of Warsaw
or the Superintendent of Public Works or against any improvement district
in the village for damages or injuries to persons or property (including
those from the operation of snowmobiles) sustained by reason of any
highway, bridge, culvert, highway marking, sign or device or any other
property owned, operated or maintained by the village, or any property
owned, operated or maintained by an 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 highway, bridge culvert, highway marking, sign or
device or any other property owned, operated or maintained by the
village, or any property owned, operated or maintained by any improvement
district, was actually given to the Village Clerk or the Superintendent
of Public Works and there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable
time after giving of such notice to repair or remove the defect, danger
or obstruction complained of; and no such action may be maintained
for damages or injuries to person or property sustained solely in
consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any highway, bridge,
culvert or any other property owned by any improvement district in
the village unless written notice thereof, specifying the particular
place, was actually given to the Village Clerk or the Superintendent
of Public Works and there was a 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 may be maintained against the village and/or
the Village Superintendent of Public Works for damages or injuries
to persons or property sustained by reason of any defect in the sidewalks
of the village 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 village or the Superintendent of Public Works
of the village pursuant to statute, nor may any action be maintained
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 Village Clerk or the Superintendent of Public
Works 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 receipt of such notice.
The Superintendent of Public Works must transmit, in writing,
to the Village Clerk, within three days after receipt thereof, all
written notices received by him pursuant to this Article, and he must
take any and all corrective action with respect thereto as soon as
practicable.
The Village Clerk must keep an index record, in a separate book,
of all written notices which the Village Clerk receives of the existence
of defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed conditions in or upon,
or of an accumulation of ice or snow upon, any village highway, bridge,
culvert or sidewalk or any other property owned by the village or
by any improvement district, which record must 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 must be preserved for a period
of five years from the date it is received. The Village Clerk, upon
receipt of such written notice, must immediately and in writing notify
the Superintendent of Public Works of the receipt of such notice.
Nothing contained in this Article may repeal or modify or waive
any existing requirement or statute of limitations which is applicable
to these causes of action, but, on the contrary, the provisions of
this Article are additional requirements to the rights to maintain
such action. Nothing contained herein modifies any existing rule of
law relative to the question of contributory negligence, nor imposes
upon the village, its officers and employees and/or any of its improvement
districts any greater duty or obligations than it must keep streets,
sidewalks and public places in a reasonably safe condition for public
use and travel.
