[Amended 2-5-1997 by L.L. No. 1-1997]
No civil actions shall be maintained against
the Town or Town Superintendent of Highways or against any improvement
district in the Town of Carmel for damages or injuries to person or
property sustained by reason of any highway, bridge, street, sidewalk,
crosswalk 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, street, sidewalk,
crosswalk or culvert was actually given to the Town Clerk or Town
Superintendent of Highways, and 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. No such action shall
be maintained for damages or injuries to person or property sustained
solely in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any highway,
bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert, unless written notice
thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given to the
Town Clerk or Town Superintendent of Highways and there was 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.
[Amended 2-5-1997 by L.L. No. 1-1997]
The Town Superintendent of Highways shall transmit
in writing to the Town Clerk within five days after the receipt thereof
all written notices received pursuant to this article and Subdivision
2 of § 65-a of the Town Law. The Town Clerk shall cause
all written notices received pursuant to this article and Subdivision
2 of § 65-a of the Town Law to be presented to the Town
Board within five days of the receipt thereof or at the next succeeding
Town Board Meeting, whichever shall be sooner.
The Town Clerk of the Town of Carmel shall keep an index record, in a separate book, of all written notices which shall be received of the 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 described in §
128-48 owned by the Town of Carmel 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 preserved for a period of five years from the date it is received. The Town Clerk, upon receipt of such written notice, shall immediately and in writing notify the Town Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Carmel of the receipt of such notice.
Nothing contained in this article 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, this article 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 or law relative to the question
of contributory negligence, nor to impose upon the Town of Carmel,
its officers and employees and any of its improvement districts, any
greater duty or obligations than that it shall keep its streets and
sidewalks fit for public use and travel.