[Adopted as Rev. Ords. 1964, §§ 18-21 to 18-29
(Ch. 20, Art. II, of the 2010 Code)]
[Amended 8-8-2000]
The Supervisor of Streets shall be appointed for a three-year term, pursuant to Section 19.1(d) of the City Charter. The whole time of the Supervisor shall be at the disposal of the City. The Supervisor of Streets shall be duly sworn and shall give bond with sureties to be approved by the Municipal Council for the faithful performance of duties and shall not in any manner directly or indirectly have any pecuniary interest in any purchase, contract or agreement appertaining to the Street Division.[1]
The Supervisor of Streets shall perform the duties, exercise
the powers and be subject to the obligations of a surveyor of highways
as provided by statute and shall, under the direction and control
of the Commissioner of Public Works, have the general superintendence
of all streets, ways, lanes, sidewalks, bridges, culverts within the
street limits, and public squares within the City. The Supervisor
of Streets shall cause the same to be kept in repair and safe for
public travel at all seasons of the year, shall make all necessary
contracts for the supply of labor and materials and shall keep the
public streets and other avenues of the City clean and in good condition
for public use. For purposes of these ordinances all such streets,
ways, lanes, sidewalks, bridges, and culverts erected and maintained
upon property under the jurisdiction and control of the Taunton Housing
Authority shall, upon due acceptance by the Municipal Council, be
deemed public ways under the jurisdiction of the Committee on the
Department of Public Works, the Department of Public Works Commissioner,
and the Department of Public Works Supervisor of Streets. The Supervisor
of Streets shall notify the Mayor, Chief of Police, or Board of Health
of any encroachments, obstructions, or nuisances existing therein
and shall do all other things in relation thereto which the Commissioner
of Public Works may order. The Supervisor of Streets may make such
rules and regulations concerning the employees of the Street Division
as is deemed expedient.
[Amended 7-23-1974; 8-15-2000]
A.
The Supervisor of Streets with the approval of the Department of
Public Works Committee shall appoint a person whose title will be
"overseer of work construction." The duties of the overseer of work
construction will be to oversee and report on all road construction
in the City or in any other matter so related to the Street Division.
The overseer of work construction shall be directly responsible to
the Supervisor of Streets and shall act as his/her assistant and shall
perform all duties as requested by the Supervisor of Streets under
his/her direction and control.
B.
The overseer of work construction shall be knowledgeable of the correct
procedures to be followed in road repair, road construction and excavation.
The Supervisor of Streets shall keep an exact account of the
names of all persons furnishing labor or materials for the Street
Division and shall lay before the Municipal Council, whenever ordered,
a detailed statement thereof specifying, as nearly as may be, the
amount expended upon each street in the several wards. The Supervisor
of Streets shall, annually, render to the Municipal Council a detailed
report of the operations of the Street Division during the preceding
year, specifying as nearly as may be the amount expended in the several
wards and upon the several streets and ways of the City. It shall
also contain such other information and suggestions as are necessary
to a full understanding of the condition and operations of the Street
Division.
The Supervisor shall annually, in the month of January, and
at other times if the Municipal Council shall so order, take inventory
of all equipment, machinery and tools belonging to the Street Division.
Whenever it is proposed to lay out any street or way, or whenever
any change in grade or alteration is required in any public street
or way, and in any case when so directed by the Municipal Council,
the Supervisor of Streets shall make or cause to be made a full and
particular estimate of the cost of the proposed work. The Supervisor
of Streets shall also ascertain, as nearly as may be, the damage which
will accrue by reason of such work, to the abutters or others, and
report, as soon as may be, all facts, estimates and other matters
relating thereto to the Municipal Council.
[Amended 8-15-2000]
It shall be the duty of the Supervisor of Streets, before making
permanent improvement upon any public street within the City, to notify
the Committee on the Department of Public Works, and all corporations
having any franchise in such street, of his/her intention to make
such improvement and also to give public notice thereof by advertisement
in one or more newspapers, stating the time when the work of such
improvement will be commenced. After the work of such improvement
is completed that part of such street which has been so improved shall
not be dug up or opened excepting in case of unforeseen accident or
emergency.
Every person in the employ of the City shall forthwith send
to the Supervisor of Streets notice of any defect in any street which
may come to his/her notice and all neglects to remove from sidewalks
ice or snow. The Supervisor of Streets shall make a record of such
notices with the name of the person making the report and the time
when the report was made, in the book kept for that purpose. The Supervisor
of Streets shall without delay examine the locality of the alleged
defects and all necessary steps taken to protect travelers from injury
by such defects in the streets or ways and repair the same.
Whenever any public street, way or bridge becomes unsafe or
inconvenient for public travel, the Supervisor of Streets shall forthwith,
by proper barriers, shut off the portion thereof so unfit for public
use and cause the same to be lighted at night, until the same is made
safe and convenient for travel, and shall, whenever the public safety
demands or the Municipal Council directs, cause the entrance of any
private street or way opening into any public street or way to be
forthwith closed.
[Amended 8-15-2000]
Whenever the Committee on the Department of Public Works or
any person under its control shall enter upon and dig up any public
street or way in the City, in laying, altering or repairing the conduits,
pipes, sewers and drains therein, it or he shall, before such entry,
notify in writing the Supervisor of Streets of its or his intention
so to do, and such Committee or any person under its control shall
restore the streets and ways so entered to the acceptance of the Supervisor
of Streets. In case of any default in so doing, the Supervisor of
Streets shall make all repairs thereon necessary to secure a full
restoration of such streets and ways, and all expenses thereby incurred
shall be charged to the account of and paid from the appropriation
for the division which entered upon and dug up such street or way.
