Supervisors to lay

tition-petition how made

ARTICLE XXIII.

ALTERATION OR DISCONTINUANCE OF ROADS.

SEC. 1. The Supervisors of the town may alter or discontinue any road, or lay out any new road, State and county out, alter or dis- roads excepted, when petitioned by any number of legal continue roads voters not less than twelve, residing within one mile of the legal voters to pe road so to be altered, discontinued or laid out. Said petition shall set forth in writing, a description of the road and what part thereof is to be altered or discontinued, and if for a new road, the names of the owners of the land, if known, over which the road is to pass, the point at which it is to commence, its general course, and the point near which it is to terminate.

Notice when and where to be post

ed

Supervisors to personally exam. ine road, and to hear reasons for and against

Supervisors to

cause survey to be made survey

plats, &c

SEC. 2. Whenever any number of legal voters determine to petition the Supervisors for the alteration or discontinuance of any road or laying out of any new road, they shall cause a copy of their petition to be posted up in three of the most public places of the town twenty days before any action shall be had in relation thereto.

SEC. 3. Whenever the Supervisors shall receive a petition in compliance with the two preceding sections, they, or a majority of them, shall, within ten days after the expiration of the twenty days named in Section two, personally examine the proposed alteration, discontinuance or route for the new road proposed, and shall hear any reasons that may be offered for or against altering, discontinuing or laying out the same. If they shall consider such alteration, discontinuance, or laying out necessary and proper, and that the public interest will be promoted thereby, they shall grant the prayer of the petitioners as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 4. Whenever the Supervisors shall determine to lay out any new road, or alter any old one, they shall cause a survey to be made by a competent surveyor, who shall make a report to them of such survey, accompanied with a plat, or to report with particularly describing the route by metes and bounds, courses and distances; they shall incorporate such report and survey, accompanied with the plat in an order to be signed by them, declaring such road so altered or laid out, to be a public highway, which order, together with the petition, shall be deposited with the Town Clerk, who shall note the time of filing the same, but on refusal shall note the fact on the back of such petition.

Town clerk to file orders &c

SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the Town Clerk, whenever any order of the Supervisors for laying out, altering or dis continuing a road shall be received by him, to carefully file the same, and the time hereinafter limited for appealing from such order shall be computed from the time of filing the same; but the Town Clerk shall not record such order until a final decision is made, and not then unless such order is confirmed.

Damages-how ascertained and

SEC. 6. The damages sustained by reason of laying out, or opening or altering any road, may be ascertained by the agreement of the owners and the Supervisors, and unless assessed such agreement be made, or the owners shall in writing release all claim to damages, the same shall be assessed in the manner hereinafter prescribed, before the same shall be opened or workd or used. Every agreement and release shall be filed in the Town Clerk's office, and shall forever preclude such owners of such lands from all further claim for such damages. In case the Supervisors and the owners of land claiming damages cannot agree, it shall be the duty of the Supervisors to assess the damages at what they may deem just and right to each individual claimant with whom they cannot agree, and deposit a statement of the amount of damages so assessed to each individual with the Town Clerk, who shall note the time of filing the same. It shall be the duty of the Supervisors, in all cases of assessing damages, to estimate the advantages and benefits the new road, or alteration of an old one, will confer on the claimants for the same, as well as the disadvantages.

whom

SEC. 7. Any person or persons being owners of or agents persons aggrievfor any tract of land over which any highway, altered, dis-ed may appealcontinued or laid out, shall run, feeling themselves aggrieved when and to by any order made by the Supervisors, may appeal from the same at any time within thirty days after the filing of such order in the Town Clerk's office. Such appeal shall note the time such order was filed, and shall be made to any three members of the board of County Supervisors, neither of whom shall be a resident of the town in which such highway is situated. All persons who wish to make an appeal from such order, shall act in concert and make their appeal to the same three Supervisors.

be stated

SEC. 8. Every such appeal shall be in writing, addressed to the Supervisors, and signed by the party or parties ap- Must be in writ pealing. It shall briefly state the ground on which it is made ing-what must and whether it is brought in relation to damages assessed by the Supervisors, or in relation to the alteration, discontinu. ance, or laying out of the road, or whether it is brought to reverse entirely the determination of the Supervisors, or only to reverse a part thereof; and in the latter case it shall specify what part. The appeal shall be left with one of the three county Supervisors, by the person or persons appealing, and such person or persons shall also leave a notice of such ap peal to the other County Supervisors to whom the appeal is made.

SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the Supervisors to whom Proceedings of the appeal is made, to agree on a time when and where they supervisors in will meet to consider the same; which shall be at some place case of appeal deemed convenient at or near the road to be examined.

SEC. 10. The person or persons making the appeal, shall cause a notice in writing, of the time and place agreed on by

Notice of hearing to be served on

petitioners-no

the three Supervisors, when and where they will meet, to be served on each of the Supervisors from whose order they apsupervisors and pealed, and also on at least three of the petitioners who petitioned in relation to such road; which notice shall be served at least eight days before the time named therein, by deliv ering one to each Supervisor, or leaving one at each of their dwellings, and in like manner shall notice be served on three petitioners.

tice must be eight days

SEC. 11. It shall be the duty of the county Supervisors to convene at the time and place mentioned in the notice, and How conducted to hear the proofs and allegations of the parties. They shall have power to issue precess to compel the attendance of witnesses, and may adjourn from time to time, as may be necessary. Their decision, or that of any two of them, shall embrace the whole matter in controversy. They shall first consider the propriety and expediency of locating, altering or discontinuing the road; secondly, the subject of damages, if such subject was embraced in the appeal under which they are acting, and they shall fix on the amount of damages which, in their judgment, is right and just to be paid to each person claiming, but no person shall be entitled to a re-assessment of damages, unless his or her name appears in the appeal in reference to that subject.

Compensation of supervisors in case of appeal

SEC. 12. Every such Supervisor shall be entitled to receive three dollars for each day employed in hearing and deciding such appeal, to be paid by the party appealing, when the determination of the Supervisors is sustained, but if reversed, to be paid by the town.

SEC. 13. Upon the refusal of the Supervisors to alter, discontinue or lay out any new road petitioned for, as provided How to proceed in Section one of this Article, any one of the petitioners may appeal from such determination, in the same manner and subject to the same provisions and restrictions as relates to persons who feel themselves aggrieved by a determination of the supervisors to alter, discontinue or lay out a new road. SEC. 14. When an appeal shall have been made from the determination of the Supervisors refusing to lay out, alter or Duty of supervi- discontinue [a road and the county Supervisors shall reverse peal from their such determination, such county Supervisors shall alter, discontinue], or lay out the road applied for, as the case may be, and in doing so, shall proceed in the same manner in which Supervisors of towns are directed to proceed in like cases. Such roads shall be opened by the Supervisors of the town in the same manner as if laid out by themselves.

Bors in case of ap

determination

Supervisors to act in case of appeal of his term of of

after expiration

fice

SEC. 15. In case any one of the county Supervisors to whom such application shall have been made shall become unable to attend before the determination of such appeal, it shall be the duty of the Supervisors named therein, to select another of the Supervisors of the county, who shall act with them in all subsequent proceedings in the same manner as if he had been originally named in the appeal. In case the

term of office of any county Supervisor shall expire before the determination of such appeal, he shall continue to act in the premises the same as if he had been re-elected.

paid

obtained

SEC. 16. The amount of damages as finally settled by the Damages as final. three county Supervisors, or as agreed on by the Supervisors, y settled-how. together with all charges of officers and other persons employed in laying out or discontinuing any road, shall be rendered by the Supervisors to the board of Town Auditors, with the amount of damages and charges due each individual, which account shall be audited by said board, certified to and deposited with the Town Clerk. The Town Clerk shall make out the aggregate amount of such damages and charges, with his certificate thereto attached, and deliver the same to chairman of the board of Supervisors of the town previous to the annual meeting of the board of county Supervisors. SEC. 17. After a final decision by any three Supervisors How relief is ob to whom any road difficulty has been appealed, if in the opinion of the Supervisors, Town Clerk and Justice of the Peace, or any four of them, the damages are manifestly too high, and that in providing for the payment thereof, an op pressive tax will have to be levied on the property of said town, they may petition the board of county Supervisors, at any meeting of said board held within six months after such decision, for relief either from the whole or a part of the damages. The Board shall hear the reasons for and against granting such relief, and if a majority of them shall be of opinion that the town should be relieved from the whole amount of damages, then and in that case, the opening of said road shall be postponed until the damages or a major part thereof are in some other way provided for than by levying a tax on the property of the town. Provided, That such action shall only stay proceedings until the next town meeting, and during the term of office of the petitioners against such tax.

SEC. 18. Whenever the Supervisors of any town shall disagree with the Supervisors of any other town of the same Towns disagree county of another county, relating to the laying out of a new road, or the alteration of an old road, which shall extend into both of said towns, the Supervisors of such towns shall meet together at the request of either disagreeing Supervisors, and make their decision on the subject of disagreement.

SEC. 19. Whenever the Supervisors of any town receive

on town line

a petition praying the location of a new road, alteration or Town line--laying discontinuance of an old one, on the line between two towns, out of new road such road shall be laid out, altered or discontinued by two or more of the Supervisors of each of said towns, either on such line or as near thereto as the convenience of the ground will admit, and they may so vary the same, either to the one side or the other of such line, as they may think proper.

SEC. 20. It shall be the duty of the said road Supervisor,

Road districtshow divided

tition to be recorded

when there may be such highways, to divide it into two or more road districts, in such manner that the labor and expense of opening, working and keeping in repair such highways through each of the said towns may be equal as near as may be, and to allot an equal number of such districts to each of said towns.

SEC. 21. Each district shall be considered as belonging Allotment and pe wholly to the town to which it may be allotted for the pur pose of opening and improving the road and keeping it in repair, and the Supervisors shall cause such highway and the position and the allotment thereof to be recorded in the office of the Town Clerk in each of said towns.

Roads between towns

Supervisors to

give notice to re

SEC. 22. All roads heretofore laid out on the line between any two towns shall be divided, allotted, recorded and kept in repair in the manner above directed.

SEC. 23. Whenever the Supervisors shall have laid out any public road through any inclosed, cultivated or improved lands, in conformity with the provisions of this Act, and their move fences-su- decision shall not have been appealed from, they shall give pervisors to cause the owner or occupant of the land through which such road shall have been laid, sixty days notice in writing to remove his fences. If such owner does not remove his fences within sixty days, the Supervisors shall cause such fences to be removed and shall direct the road to be opened and worked.

removal of fence

In case of appeal

-notice to remove fences to be

given after deci

sion

Public roads

Public roads to be four rods wide

Supervisors not to alter state roads

SEC. 24. If the decision of the town Supervisors shall have been appealed from, then the sixty days notice shall be given after the decision of the county Supervisors upon such appeal shall have been filed in the office of the town Clerk of the town.

SEC. 25. Public roads now legally existing are declared the highways of the towns in which they shall lie.

SEC. 26. All public roads to be laid out by the Supervi sors of any town shall be not less than four rods wide.

SEC. 27. This Act shall not be construed as conferring any power on the Supervisors to alter State roads now or hereafter existing by law.

ARTICLE XXIV.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

SEC. 1. Each town organized under this Act, or the Act Judges of election providing for Township Organization approved March 20th, 1858, shall constitute an election Precinct, and the Supervisors shall be ex-officio judges of election; Provided, That if neither of them be present at the time for opening the polls, the voters present may elect judges to act for the day.

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to Secretary of state cause to be printed, immediately on the adjournment of the to cause this act Legislature, five thousand copies of this Act, with practical forms and notes, with references to decisions of other States on questions upon like statutes.

to be printed