DRAINAGE LAW Laws 1909, Chap. 20. 'AN ACT relating to drainage, constituting chapter fifteen of the consolidated laws. Became a law February 17, 1909, with the approval of the Governor. Passed by a two-thirds vote. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: CHAPTER 15 OF THE CONSOLIDATED LAWS DRAINAGE LAW Article 1. Short title (§ 1). 2. Drainage for protection of public health (§§ 2-19). 3. Assessments to pay cost of drainage (§§ 30-47). 4. Maintenance and enlargement of ditches (§§ 60–74). 5. Miscellaneous provisions (§§ 80-84). 6. Drainage of agricultural lands (§§ 90-94). 7. Laws repealed; when to take effect (§§ 100, 101). Section 1. Short title. § 1. Short title. "Drainage Law." ARTICLE 1 Short Title This chapter shall be known as the ARTICLE 2 Drainage for Protection of Public Health Section 2. Petition for drainage; who may make, and to what court. 3. Consolidation of applications for drainage. 4. Proceedings on presentation of petition; appointment of commissioners. 5. Vacancies, how filled. 6. Commissioners to take and file oath of office. 7. Majority of commissioners to constitute quorum. Section 10. Commissioners to determine whether drainage necessary; to file their determination, and give notice thereof. 11. Appeal from determination of commissioners; wit nesses. 12. Survey to be made and map prepared in case drainage found necessary 13. Map or duplicate thereof to be filed. 14. Compensation and expenses of commissioners. 15. Commissioners authorized to borrow funds. 16. Bonds to be issued and sold to repay moneys so borrowed. 17. Compensation for land taken or damages inflicted. 18. Condemnation of land. 19. Provisions of this article to apply to proceedings for deepening outlets of ponds. § 2. Petition for drainage; who may make, and to what court. Any person owning or possessing any swamp, bog, meadow, or other low or wet lands within this state, who shall be desirous to drain the same and who shall deem it necessary in order thereto, that a ditch or ditches or other channels for the free passage of water should be opened through lands belonging to another person and any person who shall deem it necessary for the public health that any such swamp, bog, meadow or low or wet lands should be drained, or that the outlet of any pond should be deepened or cleared out so as to permit the free passage of the waters of such pond through such outlet, may present a petition, duly verified, to the county court of the county in which such lands lie, or in case. in case the same are situated in more than one county, to the supreme court, setting forth the fact and the names of the owners of all lands to be affected by the proceedings, so far as the same can with reasonable diligence be ascertained, and praying for the appointment of three commissioners for the purposes and with the powers hereinafter set forth. The application provided for by this section may be made by the supervisor of any town on behalf of the town, or by the president of the board of trustees of any incorporated village on behalf of said village. § 3. Consolidation of applications for drainage. Two or more applications under this section respecting different lands or parcels within the same town or incorporated village, may be made by one proceeding or petition, or two or more such proceedings or petitions may, in the discretion of the court, upon the application of any party in interest, be consolidated, and one commission be appointed for all, and in such case the proceedings shall continue thenceforth as if but one petition had been presented, or one proceeding commenced. § 4. Proceedings on presentation of petition; appointment of commissioners. The court to which such application is made, if satisfied that such drainage is necessary, shall thereupon appoint and commission three persons, who shall be freeholders or householders in the county or counties wherein the lands are situated, and who shall not be interested in said lands, nor in any of them, and one of whom shall be a civil engineer or surveyor, if there be one within the county, to hear and determine, first, whether it is necessary, in order to drain such lands, that a ditch or ditches or other channels for the free passage of water should be opened through lands belonging to others; second, whether it is necessary for the public health that such lands should be drained, and to take such other and further steps with reference thereto as are hereinafter provided for. § 5. Vacancies, how filled. In all cases where, either by death, resignation or otherwise, a vacancy shall occur in the office of commissioners appointed under the provisions of this chapter, such vacancy shall on the application of the commissioners then in office, or of any other person interested, be supplied and filled by the court in which such commissioners were originally appointed, and such application shall be upon such notice as the court to which the application is made shall prescribe. The commissioner thus appointed shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the liabilities of the commissioner whose office he is appointed to supply, provided that until such vacancy in the office of the commissioners shall be supplied and filled, the remaining or surviving commissioners shall possess and exercise all the powers conferred by the provisions of this chapter as fully to all intents and purposes as if no such vacancy had occurred or existed. § 6. Commissioners to take and file oath of office. The said commissioners shall, before they enter upon the duties of their office, make and file an oath with the county clerk of the county in which they are appointed, or in case they shall have been appointed by the supreme court, then in the county where a part of such lands are situated, in which the court shall direct the same to be filed, that they will faithfully discharge the duties of their office according to the best of their knowledge and ability. § 7. Majority of commissioners to constitute quorum. A majority of the commissioners present at any meet |