1836

201

village

lage of Heuvel, which lies between the village of Ogdensburgh and a point in said road, one and an half miles northerly, from the bridge over the Oswegatchie river at Heuvel, be and the same is hereby annexed to the village of Ogdensburgh, and is hereby constituted a road district, subject to be divided by the trustees of said village or a major part of them, and that the same shall hereafter be exempt from the superintendence of the commissioners of highways of the town of Oswegatchie; and the said trustees shall have all the powers over the said road district or districts, and discharge all the duties which by law are given to them over the highways and streets of said village.

CHAP. 226.

AN ACT to incorporate the Village of Saratoga Springs. Passed April 17, 1826. Bounds of the 1. BE it enacted by the People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That all that district of country lying in the town of Saratoga Springs, county of Saratoga, and state of New-York, situated between two lines parallel to, and each half of a mile distant from the following described line, to wit: beginning on the line between the Livingston and Ostrander lots, in the centre of the highway, near the house of Jesse Ostrander; running northerly as the highway runs, till it strikes Broad-street, as laid out on a map of lots at Saratoga Springs, belonging to Gideon Putnam, thence northerly along the centre of Broad-street, till the said line intersects the highway leading from the upper village to Greenfield, near the new Methodist meeting-house; thence north to Greenfield line, shall continue to be called and known by the name of the village of Saratoga Springs; and all the inhabitants residing within the limits aforesaid, be and hereby are ordained, constituted and declared to be from time to time, and forever hereafter, a body corporate and politic, in fact and in name, by the name of "The Trustees of the village of Saratoga Springs," and by that name they and their successors forever hereafter, shall and may have perpetual succession, and shall be persons in law capable of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, answering and being answered unto, defending and being defended, in all courts and places whatsoever; and that they and their successors may have a common seal, and may change or alter the same at pleasure: and also, that they and their successors, by their corporate name, shall be capable of purchasing, holding and conveying any estate, real or personal, for the public use of the said village; and of erecting any public buildings, or aqueducts, and digging any reservoirs for water for the use of said village, or extinguishing fire, and keeping in repair such buildings, aqueducts and reservoirs; of purchasing and keeping in repair, fire engines, ladders, buckets and other instruments for extinguishing fire.

Style of the

trustees

Annual meet

ings

2. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants of the said village, who are qualified to vote for members of Assembly, to meet on the first Tuesday of May next,

at such time in the day, and at such place in said village, as shall be appointed by the justices of the peace residing in the said village, and notified to the inhabitants thereof, at least one week previous thereto, by a notice in the newspaper printed in the said village, or posted up in three public places in the same, and then and there elect by ballot, five trustees, a clerk, treasurer, two constables and overseers of highways for the said village, residents within the same, and such justices shall preside at such meeting as inspectors of the said election; shall decide upon the qualifications of persons offering to vote; and for the purpose of ascertaining the qualifications of persons offering to vote, may administer an oath, and interrogate them, and shall declare the persons having the greatest number of votes duly elected; and on every first Tuesday of May thereafter, there shall in like manner be a new election of the said officers for the said village; and the trustees for the time being, shall preside at such elec*tion, give notice thereof, and conduct the same as the justices are above directed.

ings

3. And be it further enacted, That the trustees shall have the Special meet power to call special meetings, which shall be conducted as annual meetings are, whenever they or a majority deem fit; either to fill vacancies in offices happening by death, absence or inability, or for other purposes, and the officers elected at an annual or special meeting, shall hold their offices till others are duly qualified to succeed them.

4. And be it further enacted, That if any inhabitant of the said Penalty for not serving if village qualified at the time to vote for the said officers, shall be elected elected to any office in the said village, except treasurer and constables, and having notice thereof, shall for five days after such notice, neglect or refuse to take upon himself such office, he shall for such neglect or refusal, forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars, to be recovered in the name of the treasurer of the said village, for the use thereof, in an action of debt in any court having cognizance thereof, with costs of suit.

5. And be it further enacted, That the trustees within ten days President after their election in every year, or the majority of them, shall assemble in said village, and choose some suitable person of their body, to be president of said board of trustees; whose duty it shall be when present, to preside at the meetings of the trustees, to order extraordinary meetings of the trustees whenever he shall think proper, to receive complaints of the breach of the by-laws; to see that the by-laws, rules and ordinances are faithfully executed and observed; and to prosecute in the name of the treasurer all offenders against such by-laws, and to see that the public property belonging to the said village, be suitably taken care of and kept in order; and to do such other acts and things as may be proper for him as president of the board of trustees; and in case of the death or disability of the president, the said trustees shall choose out of their body, a successor in manner as above mentioned.

6. And be it further enacted, That the said board of trustees By laws shall have power to establish such ordinances, by-laws and regulations as they shall think proper and reasonable, to prevent vice and immorality; to preserve peace and good order; to detect and restrain every fraudulent device and practice in said village; to prevent the sale of any spirituous liquor to any child, apprentice or servant within the said village, without a permit from his or her parent,

master or mistress; to prevent all riots, quarrelling or noisy conduct in or about the premises of any inhabitant within the said village; to enforce the due observance of the sabbath; to suppress and restrain disorderly houses, houses of ill-fame and gaming houses, and other instruments and devices for the purpose of gaming ; to regulate the keeping and conveying of gunpowder and other combustible and dangerous materials, and the use of lights in livery and other stables; to regulate the place and manner of weighing hay; to regulate the running at large of dogs owned by persons residing in the village, or impose a reasonable tax on the owners; to regulate and prevent the firing of guns, muskets, pistols, rockets, crackers, squibs and fire-balls in said village; to regulate slaughter-houses; to appoint fire engineers; to establish fire companies, and to prescribe their powers and duties in preventing or extinguishing fires; to authorise any magistrate or constable to stop any person riding or driving immoderately through, or in any street or place in the village, or otherwise prohibit such offences; to abate or remove any nuisance in any street or on the lot or inclosure of any person or persons or in the highway; to suspend any firemen and appoint others in their stead, till the next meeting of the corporation, when the cause for the suspension shall be stated to the meeting, who may remove or restore the fireman; to exempt firemen from serving on juries, except justices juries in the village; to exempt them from military duty; and the certificate of the president, dated within one month of the time of exhibiting it, shall be evidence of the fact in all courts and places whatever: Provided, That the number of firemen shall not exceed sixteen to each engine in said village; to require the inhabitants to provide and keep suitable fire buckets, and proper ladders to their houses, which are hereby declared appurtenants to the real estate, and exempt from seizure, distress or sale in any manner whatever; and in case the owner or occupant refuses to get or procure suitable fire-buckets and ladders after reasonable notice, the trustees may procure and deliver the same to him, her or them, and on default of payment thereof, the president may bring an action for work and labour done for such occupant or owner, in any court having cognizance thereof, in the name of the treasurer, and shall be entitled to recover in such action the value of the fire-buckets or ladders or both, with costs of suit; to inclose and regulate the public burial ground in the village; to prevent the incumbering of streets, highways, lanes and alleys, in any wise however; to restrain the running at large of herses, cattle, swine or geese; to compel the cleaning of chimnies; to restrain vagrants, beggars or persons soliciting alms; to prevent and remove all encroachments on every street, highway or alley in said village; and generally to make all such rules, regulations, by-laws and ordinances for the good government and order of said village, as the said board of trustees may deem expedient and proper, not repugnant to the laws and constitution of this state or the United States; and to enforce the due observance thereof, by inflicting such penalties on any citizen or inhabitant thereof, or other person or persons, for the breach of any by-law or ordinance of the said board, not exceeding twenty-five dollars for any one offence, recoverable with costs, in an action of debt by and in the name of the treasurer of the said village, in any court having cognizance thereof, with

costs of suit; in which action the first process may be by warrant, nor shall any exemption be allowed thereon, except necessary bedding, wearing apparel and working utensils; in which action it shall be lawful to declare generally in debt for such penalty, and to give the special matter in evidence: And further, That for the purpose of enforcing the by-laws of the board of trustees against offenders, who have no goods or chattels, lands or tenements, whereof such penalties can be made or collected, it shall be lawful for the court before whom any such offender shall be duly convicted, to cause such person to be imprisoned for a time not exceeding thirty days, in the jail of the county of Saratoga; and that all fees and expenses of prosecuting and punishing offenders under the said bylaws, shall be defrayed by the president, and that upon trial, examination or a judicial investigation of any issue, matter of fact, or other thing whatsoever, arising under this act, or any by-laws of the said trustees, no person shall be deemed incompetent as judge, justice, juror or witness, by reason that he is an inhabitant of said village; and if any person shall be prosecuted for any matter or thing done by virtue of this act, it shall be lawful for such persons to plead the general issue, and give this act and the special matter in evidence at the trial, and in case judgment shall be rendered in favour of such person he shall recover double costs.

7. And be it further enacted, That the village of Saratoga Road district Springs shall be, and the same is hereby constituted a separate road district; and that the same shall be exempt from the superintendance of the commissioners of highways of the town of Saratoga Springs, and the trustees of said village are hereby elected commissioners of highways for the same, except as to laying out, altering or discontinuing any part of the highways within the same: and the overseers of highways elected for said village shall have the same power, be subject to the same duties and to the same regulations. and orders of the commissioners of highways of the town of Saratoga Springs, relative to laying out, altering or discontinuing any part of the highway in the said village; and shail have the same power, and be subject to the same regulations of the trustees of the said village as commissioners of highways in all other matters, as overseers of highways by law now have or are subject to, giving in his lists, and being accountable to the trustees and clerk in the same manner as overseers of highways are bound by law to do to the town clerk and commissioners of highways.

ers of high ways

8. And be it further enacted, That the trustees of the said vil- Commission lage, as commissioners of highways, shall assess the persons residing within the same, according to the "act to regulate highways," and the lands of non residents in said village, and streets in said village may be also assessed for the improvement of highways, and if the assessment shall remain unpaid when the overseer makes his annual report to the trustees, they may order by such regulations as they deem expedient, the same or some part thereof to be sold for the shortest term of years, sufficient to raise the tax, after giving six weeks public notice of such sale in the newspaper printed in the village, six weeks notice in the newspaper printed by the printer to the state, and allowing the owner one year after the sale to redeem the same on paying the expense of said assessment, and expense of sale, and the interest thereon; and the overseer of high

Gommission

ways of the said village after performing such labour on the high ways and streets in said village, as the trustees shall direct, shall pay all monies remaining in his hands to the treasurer of the village, and all monies arising from the sale of non residents lands, not appropriated to the improvement of the highways and streets, shall also be paid into the treasury of the village.

9. And be it further enacted, That the trustees of the said vilers of excise lage, for six years from the last day of April next, shall be commissioners of excise for the said village, and have the exclusive power of granting licenses to keep inns and taverns, and permits to retail strong or spirituous liquors under five gallons, to persons within the limits of the said village, which licenses and permits shall have the same effect as if granted by the commissioners of excise of the town of Saratoga Springs.

Licenses and permits

Fire engines

Shows

Erection a bout the

springs

10. And be it further enacted, That the trustees in granting licenses and permits as aforesaid, shall conform in all things to the "act to lay a duty on strong liquors, and for regulating inns and taverns," and shall pay over all monies received by them for licenses or permits, and the fees received for granting the same, to the trustees of the said village, and all forfeitures for selling liquors contrary to the said "act to lay a duty on strong liquors, and for regulating inns and taverns," happening or arising within the village, and it shall be paid to the treasurer, and it shall be the duty of the president of the board of trustees to prosecute all such offenders against the said act within the limits of the village, in the name of the treasurer, and the expenses of such prosecution shall be paid by the trustees on the warrant of the president.

11. And be it further enacted, That the trustees shall expend one half of the monies received for licenses for inns and taverns, or permits to sell strong or spirituous liquors under five gallons; and forfeitures for violations of the "act to lay a duty on strong liquors, and for regulating inns and taverns" as aforesaid; in purchasing engines, sinking reservoirs, building engine houses, and procuring the necessary apparatus to employ engineers to best advantage, and they are hereby authorised to pledge the fund arising from these sources, for the term aforesaid, and to procure as soon as convenint one or more engines, and the necessary apparatus for using them, for the use of the village: Provided, That the trustees shall pay the other half of the said monies for the use of the poor of the said town, to the overseers of the poor of the town of Saratoga.

12. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the trustees of the village to permit or restrain the exhibition of any natural or artificial curiosities or caravan of animals, or other shows or exhibitions for money, under such regulations as they shall deem expedient, and to direct the constables to attend and prevent riots or quarrelling at or near any such exhibitions..

13. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the trustees of the said village, by and with the consent in writing, signed by the owner or occupant of the land on which any of the medicinal or mineral springs within the said village are situated, or upon which any such spring may hereafter be found; to make erections about the said springs for the convenience of persons visiting the same, for the purpose of drinking and otherwise using the waters; to see that the passage to and from the said