[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699]
The board of water commissioners of the city of Middletown is
hereby abolished and the term of office of each water commissioner
and of each clerk and employee of the board of water commissioners
shall terminate upon the taking effect of this act, all property real
and personal, rights, powers, privileges and contracts at the time
of the passage of this act, possessed, owned, occupied, exercised
and enjoyed by, as well as all the duties, contracts, obligations
and liabilities imposed upon the said village or city of Middletown,
pursuant to an act of the legislature of the state of New York, entitled
"An act to supply the village of Middletown with water for public
and private purposes," passed April third, eighteen hundred and sixty-six,
and the several acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto,
are hereby transferred to, vested and imposed upon said city of Middletown;
and all contracts, rates, charges, ordinances, rules and regulations
of the board of water commissioners of the city of Middletown in force
at the time of the passage of this act, shall be and remain valid
and effectual as the ordinances, contracts, rates, charges, rules
and regulations of the common council and said city, until repealed,
modified or changed, subject, however, to the provisions of this act,
with the same force and to the full extent as might have been done
by or on the part of the said board of water commissioners and village
or city or either; and the rights and privileges of all persons or
parties that may have arisen or accrued under, pursuant to or by reason
of any such contract, ordinance, rule or regulation, rates and charges,
or otherwise, as well as any liabilities that may have arisen by reason
thereof, shall remain and be the same under this act as they would
have been had not this act been passed; and all rights and liabilities
of said board of water commissioners of said city existing at the
time of the passage of this act, shall be in no wise affected or changed
hereby, except as herein specified.
[Added by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
The board of estimate and apportionment shall make such rules
and regulations for the preservation, management and protection of
the water works and the use and control of the water, as may be deemed
advisable, and prescribe the penalty for the violation thereof, which
penalty, if not paid when imposed, shall constitute a lien upon the
premises in like manner as unpaid water rents, and which, when ratified
and approved by the common council, shall have the same force and
effect as any law or ordinance by it enacted, and may alter or amend
the same with the approval of the common council.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 6-1942]
The said board of estimate and apportionment by and with the
consent of the common council shall establish a scale of annual rents
to be charged and paid semi-annually, on May first and November first,
by the owners and occupants of all buildings which shall be situated
on lots adjoining any streets or avenues in said city, in which the
distributing pipes are or may be laid, and from which they can be
supplied with water, to be called water rents, and to be apportioned
to the different classes of buildings in said city, in reference to
their own dimensions, value, exposure to fire, ordinary uses for dwellings,
stores, shops, private stables and other common purposes; number of
families or occupants, or consumption of water, as near as may be
practicable, also a scale of rates to be charged and paid for water
supplied through meters and the rates to be charged and paid for water
used in the erection of new buildings, which amounts shall be paid
on demand by the owner or occupant of the property upon which such
water shall be consumed and, from time to time, to alter, modify,
amend, increase or diminish such rents in said scale, and extend it
to other descriptions of buildings, establishments or uses.
[Added by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
The commissioner of public works shall determine the amount
of water used by hotels, factories, stables, breweries, mills, foundries,
and other buildings, establishments and trades, which consume extra
quantities of water, and shall have power to attach a meter to any
premises when deemed advisable and all expenses of meters, their connections,
setting, repairing and all water rates, including schedule and meter
rates, and all other lawful charges for city water supplied in any
manner shall be a charge against the property where such water is
supplied.
[Added by L. 1922, Ch. 613; amended L.L. No. 2-2007]
All water rents thus determined, together with all such expenses
and charges, shall be payable to the Treasurer as collector, and shall
constitute a lien on the property upon which such water shall be used
in like manner as city taxes. All moneys so collected shall be credited
to the water department fund.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 2-2007]
If the said Treasurer and collector shall be unable to collect
any of such water rents, he or she shall make return thereof, under
oath, to the Common Council; and the Commissioner of Public Works
thereupon and thereafter said Council shall have power to sue for
and collect such rents, together with ten per centum thereon in addition
thereto, from the persons against whom the same shall be charged in
said assessment-roll as aforesaid. And the said water rents shall
be liens upon the property in respect to which they are assessed,
and shall be filed in the office of the Treasurer and may be collected
by a sale of such property in the manner hereinbefore provided for
the collection of taxes and assessments for city purposes, and the
said Commissioner may also cut off the supply of water leading to
the premises upon which such water rents are assessed, and prevent
the further use of water from the water works of said city; until
said rents, with interest and fees, be fully paid, and the charge
to be fixed by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment for shutting
off and turning on the water to the occupant or occupants of said
premises.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613]
The supply pipes leading from the buildings to the distributing
pipes shall be inserted and kept in repair at the expense of the owners
or occupants of the buildings, and shall not be inserted or connected
with the main pipes until a permit therefor shall be obtained from
the commissioner of public works or other person designated by him
and all such connecting or supply pipes or fixtures shall be constructed
under or according to the direction of said commissioner or his agent.
The commissioner and every other person by him delegated for the purpose
shall have free access at all reasonable hours to all parts of any
building or premises into which the city water is delivered and consumed.
He shall keep the property and works belonging to the city, and used
and provided for the purpose of furnishing a supply of water, in good
order and repair, and see that all proper measures are taken to preserve
the purity of the water and a sufficient supply thereof. He shall,
whenever the common council deems it advisable, cause the line of
water pipes connected with such water works to be laid down and extended
through any of the public streets, lanes or alleys, in said city,
and shall superintend the laying down of the same. He shall keep a
correct account of the expenses thereof, which shall be paid by the
treasurer on the order of the said council, from the water department
fund.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613]
The common council is hereby authorized to levy and collect
a frontage tax in each and every year on all unimproved real estate
lying along or fronting on either side of any street or alley in which
the water main is now laid, or may be hereafter laid, except in case
of property along such mains using such water for which a rate is
otherwise charged or paid, and also excepting corner lots where water
pipes are laid or hereafter laid in both streets, in which cases the
frontage tax shall be assessed only upon one street; said frontage
tax shall be fixed by said common council, not to exceed in any one
year two cents for each foot frontage, or fraction thereof, of any
tracts or parcels of land lying along or fronting on either side of
any such street or alley. The common council is hereby given power
to levy a rate of taxation upon any improved property not using the
city water where water mains are laid in the street as may in its
judgment be deemed equitable and proper on account of the benefits
such properties may derive from their protection against fire. Any
tax so imposed or assessed upon any premises in said city shall become
a lien upon such premises and bind the same in the same manner, as
other city taxes are now imposed and collected; and the moneys so
collected shall be credited by the treasurer of said city to the said
water department fund.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613; L. 1943, Ch. 710]
The entire annual receipts for water rents, after deducting
therefrom such sums as may be necessary to defray the ordinary expenses
or repairs of said water works and of extending the same, and salaries
of officers and employees, shall be applied to the payment of the
interest on the debt contracted for furnishing the village or city
of Middletown with water, and the interest on any debt that may be
contracted under the provisions of the local finance law, the balance
if any, may be set apart as a sinking fund to retire any outstanding
bonds.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
In case the entire annual receipts for water rents, after deducting
therefrom such sums as may be necessary to defray the ordinary expenses
and repairs of the said works, and of extending the same, and salaries
of officers and employees, shall not be sufficient in any one or more
years to pay the interest on the said debt; the common council shall
cause to be levied and collected from and against all the taxable
property in said city, at the same time and in the same manner as
other expenses of the said city are assessed, levied and collected,
such sum or sums of money as said council, shall determine to be necessary
to make good such deficiencies, and the sum shall be applied to the
payment of such interest, and expenses.
[Repealed by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 1-2009]
The Commissioner of Public Works and his/her authorized agents
or employees, are authorized in accordance with the provisions of
the United States and New York Constitutions to enter on any land
or water for the purpose of making surveys of such property as they
may deem necessary, for the enlargement, alteration or improvement
of the water works.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613]
The common council is hereby authorized to make agreement with
any owner or owners of lands, lakes, ponds, springs or streams of
water or other property which may be required for the enlargement,
alteration or improvement of the water works of said city, or which
may be injuriously affected thereby, as to the price to be paid to
such owner or owners, and may buy in the name of the city of Middletown
any such lands, lakes, ponds, springs or streams of water or other
property which may be so required, or any easement in any lands, for
the purposes aforesaid, and any such acquisition shall be held by
the said city for the purposes of the water works.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 1-2009]
In case of disagreement between the Common Council and the owner
or owners of any lands, lakes, ponds, springs, easements, or streams
of water or other property which may now or hereafter be required
for the enlargement, alteration or improvement of said water works,
as to the amount of compensation to be paid to such owner or owners,
or in case any such owner shall be an infant, or insane, or absent
from the state, or the owner of an uncertain or contingent interest,
or in case of any other disability on the part of the owners, the
Common Council may direct that such property or easement be acquired
by proceedings instituted for the condemnation thereof under the Eminent
Domain Procedure Law. The expenditure involved in such acquisition
may be financed, in whole or in part, pursuant to the laws of the
State of New York.
[Repealed by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699]
The authority of this act, conferred upon the common council
of the city of Middletown to enlarge, alter and improve the water
works of said city, is hereby declared to include the authority to
construct such additional aqueducts and reservoirs, and to lay such
additional mains and other distributing pipes, in connection with
said water works, and to acquire the title to such lands, water and
other property necessary thereto, as the common council of said city
shall, from time to time determine to be necessary for the purposes
of supplying the city of Middletown with pure and wholesome water,
or for the extinguishing of fires therein.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; repealed by L.L. No. 1-2009]
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613]
It shall be lawful for the common council to raise by loan,
for the purpose of such enlargement, alteration and improvement of
the water works of said city, as provided in this act, from time to
time, upon bonds of the city of Middletown, such amounts as occasion
may require, which bonds shall be in the form of and disposed of as
those referred to in section seventy-eight of this act.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
The common council is hereby authorized to borrow money and
issue new bonds from time to time as provided in this act as the water
bonds heretofore issued by the village or city of Middletown, or which
may hereafter be issued by said city pursuant to this act shall respectively
mature and fall due, to take up and replace, or as substitutes for
said water bonds, provided said city has no further funds on hand
when said bonds shall from time to time mature sufficient to pay the
same.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613; L. 1943, Ch. 710]
For the purpose of creating and continuing a sinking fund for
the payment of the water bonds heretofore issued by the village or
city of Middletown, and also for the payment of the bonds hereafter
authorized to be issued the common council of said city is hereby
further authorized, empowered and required to impose, levy and assess
upon the taxable property of said city a direct annual tax of at least
two thousand dollars in each and every year hereafter, until a sufficient
sum be thus raised to pay the entire principal of such bonded indebtedness
of such village, and of said city, heretofore, and hereafter authorized.
[Repealed by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613]
It shall be the duty of the board of estimate and apportionment
to see that the proceeds of such annual tax and all moneys paid into
the sinking fund are applied as soon as practicable to the payment
and redemption of the water bonds of the city, and if there are no
bonds on which payment can be made, it shall invest the same as provided
in this act.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; repealed by L.L. No. 1-2009]
[Repealed by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613]
The said commissioner of public works, by order of the common
council and all persons acting under his authority, shall have the
right to use the ground or soil under any street, highway or road
within the town of Wallkill and adjoining towns, for the purpose of
introducing water into and through any portion of the city of Middletown,
on condition that he shall cause the surface of said street, highway
or road to be relaid and restored to its usual state, and all damages
done thereto to be repaired.
[Added by L. 1936, Ch. 372]
The board of estimate and apportionment of the city may, subject
to the approval of the common council, supply directly to consumers
or contract to supply water to municipal corporations, water districts,
fire districts, corporations or individuals in territory outside the
city, under such rules and upon such rates and terms as such board
may fix and prescribe. For the purpose of supplying water as provided
in this section, such board shall have power and authority to extend
the water mains and pipes beyond the corporate limits of the city
and to lay and maintain pipes and water mains under any street, highway,
road or other lands in territory outside the city; but nothing herein
contained shall be deemed or construed to exempt or excuse such board
from compliance with any law appertaining thereto, in using or acquiring
the use of such streets, highways, roads or other lands for such purposes.
The cost of such water mains, pipes and appurtenances thereto and
the installation thereof may be assumed and paid by such board of
estimate and apportionment from the annual receipts for water rents
of the city, and if such cost be so assumed or paid, it shall be deemed
an ordinary expense of the water works system of the city.
It shall not be lawful for any person to throw or deposit, or
cause to be thrown or deposited into any pond, lake, spring, aqueduct
or reservoir, owned or used or hereafter to be owned or used by the
city of Middletown, or into any stream of water taken or to be taken,
in whole or in part for the purposes of this title, any dead animal,
or other offensive matter, or anything whatever; and any person offending
against the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine
or imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the court; such fine
not to exceed one hundred dollars, and such imprisonment not to exceed
a period of three months.
All parts of an act, entitled "An act to supply the village
of Middletown with water for public and private purposes," passed
April third, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the acts amendatory
thereof, that are inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed,
but such repeal shall not affect or impair any rights or liabilities
heretofore acquired or imposed.