The Council may at any time by ordinance, rename any street or provide a name for any street. It shall be the duty of the Chief Building Official and agents and assistants to assign numbers to any new or previously erected building and to give notice to the owner or occupant of the same. Such street names and building numbers shall then be referred to the City Clerk for proper recording.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 166-11, Excavations, was repealed 10-3-2023 by Ord. No. 2008.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place or permit to leak in the gutter of any street, waste gasoline, kerosene or high lubricating oils which damage or act as a solvent upon said streets.
It is hereby declared unlawful for any person to erect or maintain any dwelling house or business building within the zoning jurisdiction of the municipality, where said dwelling or building abuts any sidewalk or street, without providing proper guttering and eave spouts to receive the wastewater that collects on said sidewalks and streets.
The Council shall have the power to open, control, name, rename, extend, widen, narrow, vacate, grade, curb and gutter and pave or otherwise to improve and control and keep in good repair and condition, in any manner it may deem proper, any street, avenue or alley, public parks or square, or part of either, within or without the zoning jurisdiction of the municipality. It may grade, park or otherwise improve any width or part of any such street, avenue or alley.
[Amended 8-3-2021 by Ord. No. 1933]
A. 
Power to vacate. The Council shall have the power to vacate any street or alley within the limits of the City or within its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
B. 
Title of vacated street or alley. Upon the vacation of any street or alley, the title to such property shall vest in the owners of the abutting property and become a part of such property, one-half on each side thereof, unless the City reserves title in the ordinance vacating such street or alley. When a portion of a street or alley is vacated, only one side of the center thereof, the title to such land shall vest in the owner of the abutting property and become a part of such property, unless the City reserves title in the ordinance vacating a portion of such street or alley. In any vacation under this section, if title is retained by the City, such property may be sold, conveyed, exchanged or leased upon such terms and conditions as shall be deemed in the best interests of the City.
C. 
Recording. Upon the vacation of all or any portion of a street or alley, the City Clerk or such person's designee shall, within 30 days after the effective date of the vacation, file a certified copy of the vacating ordinance with the Sarpy County Register of Deeds to be indexed against all affected lots.
D. 
Easements. The title to property vacated pursuant to this section shall be subject to the following:
(1) 
There is reserved to the City the right to maintain, operate, repair and renew public utilities existing at the time title to the property is vacated there; and
(2) 
There is reserved to the City, any public utilities and any cable television systems the right to maintain, repair, renew and operate water mains, gas mains, pole lines, conduits, electrical transmission lines, sound and signal transmission lines and other similar services and equipment and appurtenances, including lateral connections or branch lines, above, on or below the surface of the ground that are existing as valid easements at the time title to the property is vacated for the purposes of serving the general public or the abutting properties and to enter upon the premises to accomplish such purposes at any and all reasonable times.
The Council shall have the power to make improvements on any street or alley and for that purpose to create suitable improvement districts which shall be consecutively numbered. Such work shall be done under contract. Such districts may include properties within the corporate limits and within county industrial areas and which divide the city corporate area and the area adjoining the city. Improvement shall mean, but not be limited to, paving, repaving, graveling, grading, curbing, guttering and the construction and replacement of pedestrian walks, plazas, malls, landscaping, lighting systems and permanent facilities used in connection therewith. Any one paving district or other improvement district shall include only portions of different streets or portions of municipal alleys or portions of each which abut or adjoin so that each district makes up one continuous thoroughfare or more, except that the district may include a cul-de-sac, any street, alley or portion thereof which is closed at one end or which connects with only one other existing street, alley or portion thereof.
The Council shall by ordinance create improvement districts. Publication of the notice of the purpose of an improvement district ordinance shall be in a newspaper of general circulation, published within the municipality one time each week for not less than 20 days. If the owners of record title representing more than 50% of the property abutting one continuous or extended thoroughfare or more of the district shall file with the City Clerk, within 20 days from the first publication of the notice of the improvement district, written objections to the improvement of a district, the work shall not be done in the improvement district and said ordinance shall be repealed. If objections are not filed in the amount, time and manner aforesaid, the Council shall forthwith proceed with construction on the improvements district.
The Council shall assess the cost of making improvements upon the lots and lands in such districts specially benefited in proportion of such benefits. The amounts thereof shall be determined by the Council in the manner prescribed by law. The assessment of the special tax for the cost of such improvement shall be levied at one time and shall become delinquent under the schedule prescribed by law. Each installment except the first shall draw interest at a rate provided by state statute from the time of levy until the same shall become delinquent. After the same shall become delinquent, interest shall be assessed at a rate provided by state law. Should there be three or more installments delinquent and unpaid on the same property, the Council may by resolution declare all future installments on such property to be due on a future fixed date. The resolution shall set forth the description of the property and the names of its record title owners and shall provide that all future installments shall become delinquent on the date fixed. A copy of such resolution shall be published one time each week for not less than 20 days in a legal newspaper of general circulation published in the municipality and after the fixed date such future installments shall be deemed to be delinquent, and the municipality may proceed to enforce and collect the total amount due and all future installments.
For the purpose of paying the cost of improving any streets, avenues or alleys in any district, exclusive of intersections of streets, or avenues or spaces opposite alleys therein, the Council shall have the power and may, by ordinance, cause to be issued bonds of the municipality to be called "Street Improvement Bonds of District No. _____," payable in not exceeding 20 years from the date of issuance and bearing interest payable either annually or semiannually, with interest coupons attached. Said special tax and assessments shall constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the bonds; provided that the entire cost of improving any district properly chargeable to any lot or land within any such improvement district according to the front footage thereof, may be paid by the owners of such land within 50 days from the levying of such special taxes and thereupon such lot or lands shall be exempted from any lien or charge therefor.
Whenever the owners of lots or land abutting upon any street, avenue or alley within the municipality, representing 3/4 of the front footage thereon, so that such district when created will make up one continuous or extended thoroughfare or more, shall petition the Council to make improvement of such street, avenue or alley without cost to the municipality and to assess the entire cost of any such improvement, including intersections and spaces opposite alleys, against the private property within such improvement district. It shall be the duty of the Council to create the proper improvement district or districts which shall be consecutively numbered and to improve the same and proceed in the same manner and form hereinbefore provided for in other paving and improvement districts; provided that any such improvement may be paid for by the issuance of street improvement bonds as provided by law.
The cost of improving the intersections of streets, avenues or the spaces opposite alleys shall be paid by the municipality except as hereinabove provided. The Council is hereby authorized to assess such improvements, issue improvement bonds and levy a special tax on all of the taxable property in the municipality in the manner provided by law for the payment thereof
All special assessments shall be a lien upon the property on which the same were levied from the date of levy and shall be due and payable to the City Treasurer 30 days after such levy when not otherwise provided. If the assessment is not paid to the City Treasurer within the time prescribed, then it shall be certified to the County Clerk and the County Clerk shall place the special assessment upon the tax list to be collected as other real estate taxes are collected. Upon being collected by the County Clerk, said Clerk shall pay over the proceeds of the tax to the City Treasurer. Special assessments for paving, repaving, graveling, macadamizing, curbing or curbing and guttering need not be certified to the County Clerk for collection, but may be so certified and collected by the County Clerk at the option of the municipality.
All improvements to any street, avenue or alley within the municipality for which a special tax shall be levied, shall be done by contract with the lowest responsible bidder to be determined by the City Council.
When any improvement is completed according to contract, it shall be the duty of the Municipal Engineer to inspect the same and, if the improvement is found to be properly connected, he shall accept the same and report his acceptance to the Mayor who shall report the same to the City Council with the recommendation that the improvement be approved or disapproved. The City Council may confirm or reject such acceptance. When the ordinance levying the special assessment tax makes the same due as the improvement is completed, the Municipal Engineer may accept the same in sections from time to time, if they are found to be done according to the contract.
No person shall remove, destroy or tear down any barricade, fence, railing or other device erected or constructed for the purpose of protecting paving or any other work on any street, alley or public grounds of the municipality. No person shall drive over or upon or go upon any paving or other public grounds while the same is protected by any barrier, fence or railing until such barrier, fence or railing has been removed by the contractors doing the work or by the duly authorized officials of the municipality. No person shall mar, deface, destroy, remove or carry away any street sign or highway marker within the municipality.
It shall hereafter be unlawful for any person or persons to move or operate heavy equipment across any curb, gutter, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk or crossing on any unpaved street without first having protected such curb, gutter, bridge, culvert, sidewalks, crosswalk or crossing, with heavy plank sufficient in strength to warrant against the breaking or damaging of such curb, gutter, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk or crossing. Hereafter, it shall be unlawful to run, drive, move, operate or convey over or across any paved street a vehicle, machine or implement with sharp discs or sharp wheels that bear upon said pavement; with wheels having cutting edges; with wheels having lugs or any protruding parts or bolts thereon that extend beyond a plain tire so as to cut, mark, mar, indent or otherwise injure or damage any pavement, gutter or curb; provided that where heavy vehicles, structures and machines move along paved or unpaved streets the Director of Public Works is hereby authorized and empowered to choose the route over which the moving of such vehicles, structures or machines will be permitted and allowed.
Poles, wires, gas mains, pipelines and other appurtenances of public service and cable television companies shall be located or erected over, upon or under the streets, alleys and common grounds of the municipality. Application for location of the above shall be made to the Council in writing. Approval by that body shall issue in writing. Any public service or cable television company granted a right-of-way for the erection and maintenance of poles, conduits, gas mains, pipelines and wires shall at all times erect and locate their poles, wires, gas mains, pipelines and other appurtenances at such places and in such manner as shall be designated by the Council. Such poles, wires, gas mains, pipelines and other appurtenances shall be removed or relocated by said companies at their own expense when requested to do so by the Council, and the City Clerk shall notify any and all companies affected. Said companies shall within 24 hours after receiving notice, at their own expense, cause the poles, wires, gas mains, pipelines or other appurtenances to be removed. The Council shall designate another location as closely as possible where said poles, wires, gas mains, pipelines or other appurtenances may be reset or placed. All poles, wires, gas mains, pipelines or other appurtenances may be reset or placed. All poles, wires, gas mains, pipelines or other appurtenances shall be reset, placed or erected in such a manner that they will not interfere with the water system, sewerage system, poles, wires and mains of any public utility, adjacent buildings, or with travel on the public ways and property. Whenever possible, all pole lines, wires, gas mains, pipelines or appurtenances shall be confined to the alleys of the municipality.