[Adopted 2-12-1997 by Ord. No. 2-1997]
A. 
Whenever the Supervisor of the Department of Public Works of Pittsgrove Township certifies to the Township Committee that any sidewalks or curbs are in need of construction, repair, alteration, relaying or maintaining, the expense of said construction, repairing, altering, relaying or maintaining shall be borne by the landowner abutting the improvement.
B. 
The duty of the landowner imposed by this article shall apply to sidewalks and curbs that have been constructed prior or subsequent to the adoption of this article, whether the sidewalks or curbs are constructed on property owned by the Township, county or state or on property owned by the abutting owner.
Upon receipt of the certification set forth in § 84-15 of this article, the Township Committee shall determine the necessity of said improvement, and, if it deems said improvement necessary, it shall, by resolution, cause a notice in writing to be served upon said abutting owner requiring the necessary specified work to be done by said owner within a period of not less than 45 days from the date of service of such notice.
The notice provided for in § 84-16 of this article shall be served upon the owner of the abutting property as reflected on the current tax records of the Township of Pittsgrove. In the event that said owner is a resident of the Township, the Supervisor of the Department of Public Works shall serve said notice personally upon the owner or any member of the owner’s household over the age of 14 years. In the event that the Supervisor of the Department of Public Works is unable to make personal service as aforesaid, the Township Clerk, upon the filing of an affidavit by said Supervisor reflecting reasonable endeavors to effect said service, shall serve the notice upon said owner by certified mail, return receipt requested, and regular mail, mailed to the address for said owner as reflected on the current tax records of the Township. In the event that the said owner is not a resident of the Township of Pittsgrove, the Municipal Clerk shall effect service of said notice by regular mail, return receipt requested, and regular mail, mailed to the address for said owner on the current tax records of the Township.
In the event that the owner of such abutting land shall not comply with the requirements of the notice, it shall be lawful for the Department of Public Works of the Township of Pittsgrove to cause the work required to be done and paid for out of municipal funds available for that purpose. The cost of such work shall be certified by the Supervisor of the Department of Public Works to the Pittsgrove Township Tax Collector. Upon the filing of said certification, the amount of the cost of such work shall be and become a lien upon the abutting land to the same extent that assessments for local improvements are liens in the municipality, and shall be collected in the manner provided by law for the collection of such assessments and shall bear interest at the same rate. In addition thereto, the municipality may commence an action to recover the amount against the owner of said lands in any court having competent jurisdiction thereof.