No civil action shall be maintained against the Town and/or the Town Highway Superintendent, or against any improvement district in the Town, for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of any highway, bridge or culvert being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed unless written notice of such defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition of such highway, bridge or culvert was actually given to the Town Clerk or the Town Highway Superintendent, and that there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable time after the giving of such notice to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction complained of; and no such action shall be maintained for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained solely in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any highway, bridge or culvert in the Town unless written notice thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given to the Town Clerk or the Town Highway Superintendent 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 will be maintained against the Town and/or the Town Highway Superintendent for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of any defect in the sidewalks of the Town 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 Town or the Town Highway Superintendent pursuant to statute, nor shall any action be maintained for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained 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 Town Clerk or to the Town Highway Superintendent 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 the receipt of such notice.
No civil action will be maintained against the Town and/or the Town Highway Superintendent for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of any defect in the parking spaces and/or parking lots of the Town or in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any of its parking spaces and/or parking lots, unless such spaces and/or lots have been constructed or are maintained by the Town or the Town Highway Superintendent pursuant to statute, nor shall any action be maintained for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained 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 Town Clerk or to the Town Highway Superintendent 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 the receipt of such notice.
The Town Highway Superintendent shall transmit, in writing, to the Town Clerk within 10 business days after receipt thereof, all written notices received by him or her pursuant to this chapter, and he or she shall take any and all corrective action with respect thereto as soon as possible.
The Town Clerk shall keep an index record, in a separate book, of all written notices which he or she shall receive of the highways and private roads existence of a defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition in or upon, or of an accumulation of ice and snow upon, any Town highway, bridge, culvert or a sidewalk, or any other property owned by the Town or by any improvement district, which record shall 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 shall be retained for a minimum length of time that is prescribed within the Record Retention and Disposition Schedule (MU-1) of New York State. The Town Clerk, upon receipt of such written notice, shall immediately and in writing notify the Town Highway Superintendent of the receipt of such notice.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be held to repeal, modify or waive any existing requirement or statute of limitations which is applicable to these causes of actions but, on the contrary, shall be held to be additional requirements to the right to maintain such action, nor shall anything herein contained be held to modify any existing rule of law relative to the question of contributory negligence, nor to impose upon the Town, its officers and employees and/or any of its improvement districts any greater duty or obligations than that it shall keep its highways, sidewalks and public places in a reasonably safe condition for public use and travel.
This section shall not apply to actions upon claims for damage or compensation for property taken by condemnation for any public purpose.
The Town Clerk shall transmit a copy of every notice received by him or her pursuant to this article to the Town Attorney or to the Attorney for the Town and Town Highway Superintendent, if the Town Highway Superintendent was not the source of such notice.