separate board of fire commissioners, if any. He shall, whenever required by the board of fire commissioners, report to the board the condition of the property of the department and such other information respecting the department as may be required. He shall hold the members, officers and employes of the department strictly to account for neglect of duty, and may, in a village in which separate fire commissioners are not appointed, suspend or discharge them at any time, subject to the approval of two-thirds of the members of the council at the next meeting. He shall, upon application, and if authorized by the council, or a separate board of fire commissioners, if any, issue through the secretary of the fire department a certificate of the time of service of a member of the fire department, and shall give to each officer of the department immediately after his election a certificate thereof countersigned by the secretary. In case of the inability or absence of the chief engineer, the first assistant engineer, and in case of the absence or inability of both the chief engineer and first assistant, the second assistant engineer, shall perform the duties and have all the powers of the chief engineer.

Derivation. Former Village Laws (L. 1897, Ch. 414), sec. 208; originally revised from L. 1870, Ch. 291, tit. 3, sec. 7, L. 1887, Ch. 244, sec. 5. Cross references. Duties of chief as to fire escapes, see General Business Law, sec. 205.

§ 209. General exemptions of firemen.

A full term of service in a fire department is five successive years. A person who has served in a fire department of a village, after becoming eighteen years of age, shall be entitled to a certificate of such service, signed by the president, and under the corporate seal, or by the chief engineer and the secretary of the fire department, under the seal of the department, or by a majority of the members of the board of fire commissioners in a village in which separate fire commissioners are appointed. Such certificate shall be presumptive evidence of the facts stated therein.

A member of a fire department who removes from the village shall be allowed, as part of a full term, the time he has served continuously as fireman therein, if, within three months thereafter, he becomes a member of the fire department of another village or city; and, upon completing a full term, shall be entitled to all the privileges and exemptions thereby secured to firemen.

Derivation. Former Village Laws (L. 1897, Ch. 414), sec. 209; originally revised from L. 1870, Ch. 291, tit. 3, sec. 6, L. 1847, Ch. 151, sec. 3, L. 1887, Ch. 244, secs. 11-12.

Cross references. Exemption from military duty, see Military Law, sec. 1, subd. 4; exemption from jury duty, see Judiciary Law, sec. 546, subd. 13; exemption from village taxation, see ante, sec. 132; payment to executors of firemen, see General Municipal Law, sec. 205; free use of railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, see General Municipal Law, secs. 206, 207.

Revisers' note (1897). The Military Code, section 2 (Laws 1893, Ch. 559), exempts firemen and exempt firemen who have served a full term from military service. Code Civil Procedure section 1030, exempts firemen and exempt firemen who have served five years from jury duty. This section requires the service in another village or city to be resumed within three months. There is no limitation in the present law. Section 132 of this chapter authorizes villages to exempt firemen from taxation for village purposes.

Repealed or superseded in effect by General Municipal Jaw. sections 200, 205. Rept. Atty.-Gen., March 28, 1911.

§ 210. Annual report of the fire commissioners.

Between the first and fourth day of March in each year, the board of fire commissioners shall file with the village clerk a report containing a statement of the following facts:

1. The amount of money on hand at the beginning of the preceding fiscal year, and the receipts from all sources during such year.

2. An itemized statement of the amount paid out during such year, and the balance on hand.

3. The outstanding indebtedness of the department, either bonded or otherwise, separately stated.

4. A statement of the principal or interest which will become due during the current fiscal year on bonds or certificates of indebtedness.

5. The improvements made during such preceding year, and the general condition of the property of the fire department.

6. Such other facts as the board deems important for the interest of the village, together with such recommendations concerning the department as may be deemed proper.

Added by Legislature.

Derivation. Former Village Laws (L. 1897, Ch. 414), sec. 210.
This section was new in former Village Law.

ARTICLE IX.

WATER.

Section 220. Contracts for water supply.
221. Election for water works.

£22. Acquisition of existing system.
223. Establishment of water works.
224. Supervision and extensions of system.
224a. Audit of accounts.

225. Acquisition of additional water rights.
226. Water pipes in highways outside of village.
227. Connections with mains.

The board of water commissioners may contract in the name of the village, with an individual or corporation for supplying water to the village for extinguishing fires or for other public purposes; but such contract shall not be made for a longer period than five years, nor at an expense for each fiscal year exceeding two and a half mills on every dollar of the taxable property of the village as appears on the last preceding village assessmentroll, unless authorized at a village election. The amount of such contract shall be paid in annual instalments, commencing with the date of the contract.

Derivation. Former Village Laws (L. 1897, Ch. 414), sec. 220; originally revised from L. 1870, Ch. 291, tit. 4, sec. 7, as added by L. 1879, Ch. 129. Cross references. Incorporation and powers of water works corporations, see Transportation Corporation Law, secs. 80-85; contracts with municipalities, see Transportation Corporations Law, secs. 81, 85.

Editor's note. Amended by the Legislature changing the maximum contract price from fifty cents per capita to two and one-half mills on every taxable dollar.

There is no legal obligation upon a village to furnish water. Wainwright V. Queens, etc., Co., 78 Hun, 146 (1894), 28 N. Y. Supp. 987.

Power of water commissioners limited and they cannot bind the village by any contract beyond the powers conferred by statute. Village of Fort Edward v. Fish, 86 Hun, 548 (1895), 33 N. Y. Supp. 784.

Water commissioners are agents of the village and it does not matter whether the contract is made in the name of the board or the village. Fleming v. Village of Suspension Bridge, 92 N. Y. 368 (1883); King v. Village of Randolph, 28 App. Div. 25 (1898).

Presentation of claim to treasurer of water works board sufficient to entitle plaintiff to costs where contract was made with such board who were also trustees of the village, and the treasurer had sole control of the water works fund. Hallina) v. Village of Fort Edward, 26 Misc. 422 (1899).

Common Council has no power, prior to the acquisition of its water supply system, to bind the municipality by a contract placing the system in charge of an engineer for an indefinite period and allowing him a percentage on the amounts expended upon addition to the plant. Witmer v. City of Jamestown, 125 App. Div. 43 (1908).

▲ charter provision requiring the trustees to contract for a term of years in advance will be construed as an exception to the rule forbidding the creation of any debt or liability beyond the amount of taxes applicable to the payment thereof, voted to be raised according to law. Port Jervis, etc., Co. v. Village of Port Jervis, 151 N. Y. 111 (1896).

Contract of water supply not extended to entire village where it originally applied only to one of the towns incorporated therein. In re Beauty Springs Water Co., 118 N. Y. Supp. 659 (1909).

Liability under contract for water furnished for fire protection; evidence establishing implied contract. Action by a water company against a village to recover for water used for the purpose of providing fire protection. Evidence examined and held sufficient to establish an implied contract for the payment of the amount claimed, which was conceded to have been the amount paid by the defendant under previous contracts. Marlborough Water Works Co. v. Village of Marlborough (1914), 163 App. Div. 159, 148 N. Y. Supp. 374.

§ 221. Election for water works.

A proposition may be submitted at a village election for the establishment of a system of water works for supplying the village and its inhabitants with water, or for the acquisition of an existing private system, at an expense in either case not exceeding the sum stated in the proposition.

Derivation. Former Village Laws (L. 1897, Ch. 414), sec. 221; originally revised from L. 1875, Ch. 181, sec. 21, in part.

This article is a substitute for L. 1875, Ch. 181 as a whole. Specific reference to the source of each section is impractical. The act of 1875, Ch. 181, prior to its repeal was amended as follows: sec. 2 by L. 1891, Ch. 74; sec. 3 by L. 1894, Ch. 318; sec. 4 by L. 1895, Ch. 383; sec. 5 by L. 1885, Ch. 211; sec. 6 by L. 1885, Ch. 211; sec. 7 by L. 1885, Ch. 211; sec. 8 by L. 1881, Ch. 175; sec. 9 by L. 1892, Ch. 195; sec. 10 by L. 1889, Ch. 455; sec. 12 by L. 1895, Ch. 383; sec. 15 by L. 1896, Ch. 310; sec. 16 by L. 1890, Ch. 527; sec. 17 by L. 1889, Ch. 455; sec. 18 by L. 1890, Ch. 527.

Revisers' note (1897). The act of 1875 has been rewritten and its substantial provisions incorporated in this article. There are many changes in detail in furtherance of simplicity and uniformity.

Requirement that voter be a taxpayer is not unconstitutional.

Spitzer

v. Village of Fulton, 172 N. Y. 285 (1902), aff'g 61 App. Div. 612. Submission of proposition should not be in the alternative. Either the establishment or the acquisition of an existing system should be proposed. Village of Hempstead v. Seymour, 34 Misc. 92 (1901), 69 N. Y. Supp. 462.

The word "raised" used in a proposition submitted to the electors, for the purchase of a water system, is sufficient to have been understood by the voters as contemplating the raising of money by the issuing of bonds or other obligations. New York, etc., Co. v. Keator, 62 App. Div. 577 (1901), 71 N. Y. Supp. 185, aff'd 173 N. Y. 235.

It was the intention of the legislature to place in the hands of the voters of every village the determination of the question whether or not the village should own its water supply. Village of Waverly v. Waverly Water Works Co. (1910), 69 Misc. 373.

8222. Acquisition of existing system.

If a proposition be adopted for the acquisition of an existing system of water works, the board of water commissioners may purchase the same at a price not exceeding the sum specified therein. If the board can not agree with the owners of the system for its purchase, proceedings may be taken to acquire the same by condemnation. If the value thereof fixed by the commissioners appointed in the condemnation proceedings be greater than the sum specified in the proposition, such proceedings must be discontinued, unless the payment of the additional amount be authorized at a village election. If the proceedings be so discontinued the costs and disbursements of the defendants therein are a charge against the village.

Derivation. Former Village Laws (L. 1897, Ch. 414), sec. 222.

Property of existing plant need not be acquired. Skaneateles, etc., Co. v. Village of Skaneateles, 161 N. Y. 154 (1899), aff'g 33 App. Div. 642, aff'd 184 U. S. 354 (1902); see Colby Univ. v. Canandaigua, 69 Fed. 671 (1895), aff'd 96 Fed. 449.

Refusal to enter into negotiations on the part of the water company will authorize proceedings by condemnation. Village of Waverly v. Waverly, etc., Co., 127 App. Div. 440 (1908), 111 N. Y. Supp. 541, aff'd 194 N. Y. 31. Existing water company's franchise not exclusive and the municipality has the power to determine whether the right reserved upon the granting of the first franchise shall be exercised by a private corporation or the municipal corporation itself. Skaneateles, etc., Co. v. Village of Skaneateles, 161 N. Y. 154 (1899), aff'g 33 App. Div. 642.

§ 223. Establishment of water works.

If a proposition to establish a system of water works be adopted, the board of water commissioners shall proceed to construct such system accordingly. It shall prepare a map and plans showing the sources of water supply and a description of the lands, streams, water or water rights to be acquired therefor, and the mode of constructing the proposed water works and the location thereof, including reservoirs, mains, distributing pipes and hydrants. The water commissioners, their agents, servants and employes, may enter upon any lands for the purpose of preparing such