It shall be the duty of the owner of any lot or of any real estate of any kind within the city in front of which or along which, the governing body may, by either resolution or ordinance, order that a sidewalk shall be built or constructed, to build and construct same in accordance with said resolution or ordinance directing such construction, and in accordance with the plans and specifications thereof prepared by the director of public works for the particular street, block or community, where such lot or parcel of ground is located. Said property owners shall construct said sidewalk in front of their respective property within thirty (30) days after the giving of the notice as prescribed in this article, and after the expiration of the time indicated in the notice, the city shall proceed to construct said sidewalk in accordance with said ordinance or resolution and the plans and specifications, and shall advertise for bids or shall itself construct said paving or contract for said paving as to said city may seem best. Said city, after constructing a sidewalk in front of, or alongside of any lot, block, or real estate, shall be entitled to recover of the owner thereof a personal judgment in any court having jurisdiction of said cause, in a sum equal to the cost of construction of said sidewalk, in front of or along said property, together with costs of court, and ten (10) per cent of said cost of construction additional as attorney’s fees.
(Ordinance adopted 7/15/07, sec. 1)
Whenever it shall be found necessary by the governing body that sidewalks be constructed along any real estate or along any street or a part of a street of the city, the governing body shall by ordinance or resolution designate the real estate or street or part of a street along or on which said sidewalk shall be constructed, and shall in such resolution or ordinance prescribe the grade and width of the sidewalk, the kind and character of material out of which it shall be built, the position and any other requirements it may deem necessary. The sidewalk shall be constructed of such material as the governing body may designate, and the ordinance or resolution providing for the particular work shall designate the particular material to be used.
(Ordinance adopted 7/15/07, sec. 2)
It shall be the duty of the director of public works, immediately upon the passage of any ordinance or resolution providing for paving of sidewalks along or abutting on particular blocks and lots, streets or parts of streets, and designating the width of the sidewalk to be laid, the material out of which said walks are to be constructed, etc., to file in the office of the city secretary full specifications as to how the details of said work are to be executed and completed. All walks shall be built in compliance therewith, and any bids for the construction of any sidewalk shall be based upon said plans and specifications. Any contractor or other person contracting to build same under the authority of the city and as its agent or as the agent of the owner, or any other person shall construct said sidewalks in accordance with said plans and specifications. All contracts made and entered into under special ordinance or resolution shall require the work to be completed within twenty (20) days from the date of said contract. The city in all cases in which it shall undertake to contract for the building of sidewalks shall retain twenty-five (25) per cent of the cost of constructing such sidewalk until the completion in good faith of the walk and its acceptance by the city.
(Ordinance adopted 7/15/07, sec. 3)
When the governing body shall have, by resolution or ordinance, designated the real estate or street, or portions of streets in which sidewalks are required to be laid, it shall be the duty of the city secretary to serve notice that said walks must be laid by the owners of the abutting lots or blocks or parcels of land, showing the width of said walk, and the materials out of which said walk shall be constructed, and the time within which said work shall be completed and the estimated cost of paving said walk per square foot. Said notice may be served by any officer of the city designated for that purpose, and said notice may be served by delivering a copy of the same to the owner of the abutting lot if such owner lives or resides on said abutting block, or lot, but in case the owner does not reside upon the abutting block or lot then notice may be given by serving a copy thereof upon any tenant of said particular block or lot, or property and in case no tenant or owner is found on the property, then the officer may post a copy of said notice upon said particular property. Said officer shall make due return of said notice, stating the manner of serving copy of said notice, and said return, when produced in court, shall be final evidence that due notice has been served, and shall preclude any question as to whether or not there was a sufficient notice given. In lieu of service of the notice above prescribed, the city secretary may mail a copy of said notice to the post-office address of the property owner, and the mailing of said notice shall constitute sufficient notice whether received or not. In lieu of service of notice above prescribed, a brief summary of said notice may be published once in some daily newspaper published in the city, addressed generally “To whom it may concern,” at least thirty (30) days before said pavement is required to be constructed, and such publication in the paper shall be deemed sufficient notice. Notice will be sufficient if given to the property owner in any one of the ways above indicated.
(Ordinance adopted 7/15/07, sec. 4)
In the event, in the judgment of the governing body, along any property designated by ordinance or resolution for the construction of a sidewalk there be already constructed in front of the property of any person, a sufficient and adequate sidewalk in a state of good repair, then in such event the city secretary shall not be required under this article to notify the owner of said property to construct a sidewalk as provided in the ordinance or resolution. After the passage of an ordinance or resolution prescribing a sidewalk to be constructed it shall be unlawful for the owner to construct any other or different sidewalk from that prescribed in the ordinance or resolution.
(Ordinance adopted 7/15/07, sec. 5)
Where the property owner failing to construct said sidewalk has at the date of the trial of the suit to recover the cost of constructing the sidewalk and ten (10) per cent penalty, under this article, already has paid a fine under any other ordinance of this city for failure to construct such sidewalk, and then in such event the recovery in the civil action, under this article shall be for the cost of constructing said sidewalk and ten (10) per cent attorney’s fees less the amount of such fine already paid (if any) and if such fine already paid (if any) is equal to the amount of said cost and ten (10) per cent then no recovery shall be had in said civil action, except a nominal sum, and for the costs of court.
(Ordinance adopted 7/15/07, sec. 6)
(a) 
The cost of the construction of any sidewalk shall be reported to the governing body, and it shall order the cost of construction of such portion of said sidewalk abutting on any lot to be assessed by the assessor and collector as a special assessment against said lot; said special assessment shall be a lien on such lot, and the assessor and collector shall collect the same in the same manner as provided for the collection of taxes.
(b) 
Upon the complete payment by the owner of the adjacent property of one-half of the costs of the construction of a sidewalk assessed against such owner in accordance with other provisions of the City’s Code of Ordinances, such owner shall be eligible to apply for a waiver of the remaining one-half of the costs assessed against such owner for the sidewalk. Upon a finding by the city secretary that such owner has timely complied with the payment terms of the sidewalk assessment, the city secretary shall certify that such property owner is entitled to said waiver.
(1894 Code, Ordinance 325; Ordinance adopted 9/20/89, secs. 2, 3)
(a) 
Definitions.
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this section and paragraph (b) of Section 22-36:
Construction of sidewalks.
The original construction of same at any place on which a sidewalk was not previously located.
Principal thoroughfares.
Only the following streets within the City of Brenham: Main Street, Alamo Street, Market Street, Austin Street (excluding the portion of South Austin Street south of its intersection with Tom Green Street), Austin Parkway and North Park Street from its intersection with Academy Street north to the City limits.
Repair of sidewalks.
The correction of any hazardous or unsafe condition that can be accomplished without removing all or a portion of the existing sidewalk.
Replacement of sidewalks.
The correction of any hazardous or unsafe condition that cannot be accomplished without removing all or a portion of the existing sidewalk.
(b) 
Hazardous sidewalks.
The adjacent property owner shall promptly notify the city that the condition of a sidewalk adjacent to said owner’s property has deteriorated and constitutes a hazard. Upon said notification, the city shall promptly inspect the condition of such sidewalk and evaluate the repairs needed to improve the condition of the sidewalk.
(c) 
Repairs and/or replacement of sidewalks.
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other ordinance, the city shall make all required repairs on sidewalks at city expense. However, any costs of replacement of sidewalks along principal thoroughfares, as defined herein, which are deemed necessary by the city shall be assessed against the adjacent property owner in the same manner as the costs of original sidewalk construction are assessed. However, the provision of Section 22-36(b) above shall also apply to such replacement costs.
(d) 
Removal of hazardous sidewalks.
If the city determines that a sidewalk anywhere in the city other than along principal thoroughfares, as defined herein, cannot be repaired, the city may, at its option and expense, remove said sidewalk. Thereafter, the adjacent property owner may elect to replace the sidewalk at his own expense; however, if such sidewalk is not replaced, said owner shall landscape the area where the sidewalk was removed from to eliminate any hazards to the public.
Editor’s note(s)–Having not expressly amended the Code, the provisions of secs. 1 and 4–6 of an ordinance enacted Sept. 20, 1989, have been codified as sec. 22-37 at the editor’s discretion.
(Ordinance adopted 9/20/89, secs. 1, 4–6)