The board of trustees shall meet at such places within said
village, and at such times as they shall, by resolution direct. They
may also meet at any time, and in any place within the village, when
called upon for that purpose by the president, or notified by the
clerk, and the clerk shall call special meetings of the board of trustees
at any time, on the written request of any two trustees.
The president, when present, shall preside at the meetings of
the board of trustees, and shall have on all questions a casting vote
or ballot only. In his absence any one of the trustees may be appointed
chairman for the time. A majority of the board shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.
The trustees shall have the management and control of the finances,
and all the property, real and personal, belonging to the said corporation,
and shall have power and authority within said village to make, ordain,
enact, establish, publish, modify and amend and repeal rules, regulations,
ordinances and by-laws for the following purposes:
1. By-law. To prevent vice and immorality; to preserve peace and good
order; to prevent and quell riots and disorderly assemblages.
2. Police. To regulate the police of said village.
3. Disorderly houses. To restrain, suppress and prohibit disorderly,
drinking, tippling and gambling houses; to destroy instruments and
devices used for gaming, and to prohibit all gaming and fraudulent
devices within the said village.
4. Selling liquor. To prohibit the selling or giving away, to be drank,
any intoxicating liquors to any child or youth under sixteen years
of age.
5. Exhibitions. To prohibit, restrain and regulate all exhibitions of
any natural or artificial curiosities, caravans of animals, theatricals
and other shows and exhibitions, circuses or other performances, or
exhibitions for money or hire, and to authorize the same on such terms
as the trustees shall deem expedient.
6. Houses of ill-fame, etc. To suppress and restrain houses of ill-fame,
billiard tables, bowling alleys and pistol galleries.
7. Nuisances. To compel the owner or occupant of any grocery, tallow
chandler shop, soap factory, tanning stall, privy or sewer, or any
other unwholesome offense or nauseous house or place, to cleanse,
remove or abate the same, from time to time, as often as in the opinion
of the trustees the same may be necessary for the health, comfort
or convenience of the inhabitants of said village.
8. Slaughter houses, etc. To direct the location of all slaughter houses
and houses for storing gunpowder or other combustible substances,
and to regulate the keeping and conveying of gunpowder and other dangerous
materials, and the use of candles and lights in barns and other buildings.
9. Horse-racing. To prevent horse-racing and other immoderate riding
or driving in the streets of said village, and to authorize the stopping
of any one who shall be guilty of immoderate riding or driving in
the streets by any person; and to prevent the flying of kites, rolling
of hoops and playing ball in any of the streets of said village; and
to prevent the incumbering or obstructing the streets, squares, sidewalks,
lanes and alleys.
10. Railroad crossings. To compel all owners and agents of railroads
to erect and maintain, at their own expense, at all or any intersections
or crossings, suitable lamps, and to keep lights burning therein during
the night time, for the safety and protection of persons and teams
passing along such streets or upon such sidewalks.
11. Cattle, etc. To restrain the running at large of cattle, horses and
swine, and to authorize the distraining, impounding and sale of the
same for the penalty and costs of keeping and proceedings.
12. Putrid meats, etc. To prohibit any person from burning and depositing
within the limits of said village any decayed carcass or any other
unwholesome substance; and to require the removal or destruction,
by any person who shall have or leave in or upon his premises, any
such substance or any putrid meats, fish, hides or skins of any kind,
and, on his default, the removal or destruction thereof by some officer
of the village.
13. Sidewalks. To authorize the street commissioner to keep the sidewalks
clear of snow, and pay the expense from the highway funds.
14. Ringing of bells, etc. To regulate the ringing of bells and crying
of goods, wares and merchandise or other commodities in said village.
15. Dogs. To prevent and regulate the running at large of dogs within
the said village.
16. Diseases. To require the removal from said village of all persons
(not residents thereof) having infectious or pestilential diseases
and to authorize any officer of said village to remove such persons.
17. To direct the keeping and returning of bills of mortality.
18. Waste of water. To establish, make, regulate and guard public reservoirs,
pumps and wells, and prevent unnecessary waste of water.
19. To appoint an examiner of weights and measures.
20. To prescribe the powers and duties of watchmen.
21. Public pounds. To establish and regulate public pounds, appoint keepers
thereof, and regulate their compensation and fees.
22. To restrain and regulate hawking and peddling in the streets.
23. Nuisances. To provide for the abatement and removal of nuisances.
24. To prescribe the duties of all officers appointed by the trustees,
and their compensation.
25. Fire department. To establish and organize a fire department, to
be composed of one or more fire and hook and ladder and bucket companies,
in said village; the members of which company or companies not to
exceed fifty to each engine or hose cart; and regulate the management,
use and protection of the engines, hose carts, hooks and ladders and
buckets belonging to said village; to prescribe the powers and duties
of the fire, hose, and hook and ladder and bucket companies, and all
members thereof in any particular; the members of which shall always
be subject to removal by the trustees.
26. Fireworks, etc. To regulate, prohibit and restrain the exhibition
of fireworks, the explosion of gunpowder and other explosive materials,
and the discharge of fire-arms within said village.
27. Protection of property, etc. To protect property, both personal and
real, of individuals at times of fires, and to appoint guards for
the protection of the same, and to prescribe their powers, duties
and compensations.
28. To appoint one or more suitable persons to enter at reasonable times
and examine all houses, stores, yards and out buildings, to ascertain
if they are in a dangerous state in regard to fires, and direct and
compel the owner or occupant to put the same in a safe condition,
and in default to appoint any person to do the same, and collect the
expense thereof, with costs, from the owner or occupant.
29. Treasurer of village. To prescribe the powers and duties of the treasurer
of said village, to regulate his compensation, and to fix the penalty
of his official bond and determine the sufficiency of his sureties.
30. Clerk. To prescribe the duties of the clerk of said village and regulate
his compensation.
31. Shade trees. To provide for the preservation of shade and ornamental
trees in and upon the park, public grounds and cemeteries in said
village, and in the streets thereof, and to prevent injury to the
same.
32. Fences. To provide for the preservation of fences around the park,
public grounds and cemeteries in said village, and to prevent injury
to the same.
33. Injury to park. To prevent any injury to the park or other public
grounds in said village, and to provide for the improvement, adorning
and beautifying of the same.
34. Cemeteries. To prevent any injury to the cemeteries in said village,
and the defacement, injury, despoilment, destruction, cutting, marring
or marking of any tomb, tombstone, monument or other memento, and
of the trees, shrubs, plants and flowers therein.
35. Fire limits. Said board of trustees shall have the power and authority
to establish fire limits within the corporate boundaries of said village
of Churchville, and prohibit and prevent the erection within said
limits, of any wooden building, and may pass and enforce rules, regulations,
by-laws or ordinances, restraining and regulating the erection of
any building in their said fire limits, and may regulate and control
the erection thereof. The size and construction of the chimneys, the
material and thickness of the walls, the materials of the building,
the distance at which walls shall be placed in such buildings, and
any such person who shall violate any by-law, ordinance or regulation,
shall forfeit to the said village the sum of one hundred dollars,
and in case of refusal or neglect to remove or demolish any building
hereafter erected contrary to such ordinances, an additional sum of
not exceeding fifty dollars nor less than ten dollars for each day
such building remains. The said board of trustees may also inspect
or cause to be inspected by a person appointed by them for that purpose,
any building hereafter erected or in process of erection in said fire
limits, to see that the same corresponds to such ordinance or regulation,
and said board or person shall have authority at all reasonable hours
to enter upon any premises to make such inspection, and may arrest
any person violating the provisions of said ordinance or regulation,
and may prohibit or put a stop to the erection of any building if
in process of construction or erection within said fire limits at
any time, which shall not conform to such ordinances or regulations,
and stop said construction until the building shall be conformed to
the regulation; and for this purpose said board may employ the police
constable of said village.
[Added 3-21-1884 by L.
1884, c. 36]
The said trustees shall have power to determine, upon view or
upon testimony of witnesses, (who may be examined on oath before them,
such oath to be administered by any one of said trustees,) whether
any building, slaughter-house, pig-sty, stable, privy, sewer, pool,
meat-market, or any other structure, substance, or thing whatever,
within said village, is a nuisance, upon two days' notice to
the owner or occupant of the same, and to abate the same by removal
or otherwise, and shall have full power to enter upon the premises
upon which the same is situated, and cause the same to be removed
or abated; and may also enforce the penalty imposed by any ordinance
of said village in respect to any such nuisance; and all such determinations
shall require a concurring vote of four-fifths of all the trustees
of said village.
The trustees of said village, and each of them, shall have power
at any and all times, to cause to be arrested by any officer, and
without process, any and all disorderly persons, drunken persons and
common prostitutes found in the streets of said village; and shall
have power to cause to be entered by any person, without process,
any building or any place within said village, and arrest all disorderly
persons, drunkards, rioters, and common prostitutes, and cause them
to be taken before any justice of the peace residing in said village
or town, to be by him required to enter into sureties for future good
behavior; and shall have power to cause such persons to be detained
in the lock-up, or some convenient place, until a justice of the peace
can be found to attend to the hearing of the case; and shall have
power at any and all times to command assistance from any inhabitants
of said village, to quell all disturbances, riots or routs; and shall
at any and all times, in case of fire in said village, have the power
to command the assistance of any individual or individuals not connected
with the fire department, for the protection of property from destruction
by fire or otherwise; and are authorized to cause to be arrested all
suspicious-appearing individuals present at the occurrence of fires;
and a refusal by any individual to comply with any reasonable direction
of said trustees, or any or either of them, under any authority conferred
by this section, shall subject the individual so refusing, to a fine
not to exceed twenty-five dollars and imprisonment, until such fine
be paid, not to exceed thirty days.
The trustees of said village shall have power to appoint such
number of watchmen as they shall deem necessary and expedient for
said village, who shall hold their offices either temporarily or permanently,
at the discretion of the trustees, but the time for which they shall
be appointed shall not extend beyond the time of the next annual charter
election after their appointment. Such watchmen shall be inhabitants
of said village, and electors thereof, and shall be entitled to such
compensation for the time they shall be in actual service as the trustees
shall prescribe, such compensation to be paid from the treasury of
the village.
The said trustees shall have power to enforce all provisions
of this act, and all rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws, by
them enacted or ordained in pursuance of the powers conferred upon
them by this act, by enacting or ordaining penalties to be incurred
for each and every violation of the same, not exceeding one hundred
dollars for any one offense, to be recovered, with costs, in an action
in the corporate name of said village, in any court having cognizance
thereof; and no person shall be deemed incompetent either as justice,
judge, or juror, or witness, by reason of his being an inhabitant
of said village upon any trial for the recovery thereof.
Every such rule, regulation, ordinance or by-law, imposing any
penalty or forfeiture for the violation of its provisions, shall take
effect at such time after the passage and publication thereof as shall
be therein provided, and shall be published at least two weeks successively
in a public newspaper printed and published in said village, or by
affixing notices thereof at seven public places in said village, for
at least two weeks, and proof of such publication by the affidavit
of the printer or publisher of said newspaper, or the proof of affixing
the notices, taken before any officer authorized to administer oaths,
shall be filed with the clerk of said village; and such affidavit,
or a copy thereof, certified by the clerk, under the seal of the village,
shall be sufficient evidence of the legal publication and promulgation
of such rule, regulation, ordinance, or by-law, in all courts and
place; such publication may also be proved by any other competent
evidence. Any action that may be brought to recover any such penalty
or forfeiture that shall be brought before any justice of the peace,
may be commenced by warrant. All expenses incurred in prosecuting
for any penalty or forfeiture, shall be defrayed by the corporation;
and all moneys recovered or collected therefor, shall be paid into
the treasury of the village for the use of the corporation.
[Amended 5-26-1888 by
L. 1888, c. 413]
The trustees of said village shall have power to cause the sidewalks
on the streets and highways in said village to be leveled, raised,
graveled, flagged and repaired and ornamented with trees, and to compel
the owners or occupants of any lands adjoining such sidewalks to make
such improvements upon the sidewalks as aforesaid, and to determine
and prescribe the manner of doing the same, and the material to be
used thereon and the quality of the materials. Also the trustees shall
have power to construct and keep in repair the sidewalks upon the
bridge across Black Creek from moneys received from the highway tax,
and in case the owner or occupant of any such land or lots shall neglect
or refuse to complete such required improvements within such reasonable
time as may be required by the trustees, the said trustees may cause
such improvements to be made and completed, and the expense thereof
may be then assessed upon such owner or occupant neglecting or refusing
and added to the next annual village tax upon said lands or lots,
and be collected with such annual tax, by virtue of the warrant of
the said trustees, as hereinafter provided, in respect to the collection
of taxes and assessments, and the said trustees may also, at their
option, direct the collection of the same by suit against such owner
or occupant, and the same may be recovered, with costs of suit, in
an action in any court having cognizance thereof, by and in the name
of the corporation.
The trustees shall have power to procure fire engines and other
apparatus for the extinguishment of fires, and have the charge and
control of the same, and to provide fit and secure engine houses and
other places for keeping and preserving the same.
Every practicing physician in said village who shall have a
patient who shall have any infectious, contagious or pestilential
disease, shall, within twenty-four hours after the existence of such
disease shall be by him discovered, report the same to the president
or one of the trustees; and every such physician who shall neglect
to do so, may be subject to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars,
under any ordinance which the said trustees may pass, and are hereby
empowered to pass, upon this subject.
The said trustees shall have power to build and maintain in
the village of Churchville, a building to be called "lock-up and house
of correction in the village of Churchville," or to lease or hire
a suitable place, room or rooms, therefor; or to lease, hire or purchase
sufficient land for constructing or building such lock-up and house
of correction. Any justice of the peace residing in said village,
or in the town of Riga, shall have power to order vagrants or disorderly
persons, for acts or offenses committed within said village, and persons
who shall be found intoxicated in the public streets or other public
places in said village, to be confined in said lock-up and house of
correction in the village of Churchville, for a time not exceeding
thirty-six hours, or until discharged according to law. And said trustees
shall have power to appoint a suitable keeper to keep the lock-up,
and to affix his fees for his services, not to exceed at the rate
of one dollar and fifty cents per day for the time actually employed
as such keeper.