[HISTORY: Adopted by Dutchess County 6-14-1976 by L.L. No. 7-1976. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
STATUTORY REFERENCES
Notices of claims — See General Municipal Law
§ 50-e.
County liability for injuries caused by defective highways and
bridges — See Highway Law § 139.
No action or special proceeding shall be prosecuted or maintained
against the County of Dutchess for personal injury or damage to real
or personal property alleged to have been sustained by reason of any
street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk or crosswalk being out
of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed, or in consequence of the
existence of snow or ice thereon, unless it appears that written notice
of the defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition, or the
existence of snow or ice, was actually given to the Commissioner of
Public Works, or in the event there is no Commissioner of Public Works,
to the person exercising the powers and performing the duties of the
Commissioner of Public Works, and there was a failure or neglect within
a reasonable time after the giving of such notice to report or remove
the defect, danger or obstruction complained of, or to cause the snow
or ice to be removed, or the place otherwise to be made reasonably
safe.
The Clerk of the County Legislature shall keep an indexed record,
in a separate book, of all notices which he/she shall receive pursuant
to this chapter of the existence of such defective, unsafe, dangerous
or obstructed condition in or upon, or of an accumulation of ice or
snow upon any County highway, bridge or culvert, which record shall
state the date of 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. All such written notices shall be
indexed according to the location of the alleged defective, unsafe,
dangerous or obstructed condition, or the location of accumulated
snow or ice. The record of each notice shall be preserved for a period
of five years after the date it is received.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to relieve a claimant
of the obligation to send a notice of claim as provided in § 50-e
of the General Municipal Law.
The Commissioner of Public Works, or, in the event there is
no Commissioner of Public Works, the person exercising the powers
and performing the duties of the Commissioner of Public Works, shall
transmit in writing to the Clerk of the County Legislature, within
10 days after receipt thereof, all written notices received by him/her
pursuant to this chapter.
