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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 140 - sidewalks ..,I.. ' ." 208 ORDINANCE NO. /,JO . AN ORDINANCE PROVIDlllG FOm THE CONSTRUCTION, RECON~ STRUCTION, REPEAIR, OR BRINGING TO GRADE OF SIDE- WAl:~ AT THE EXPENSE OF ADJACENT AND ABUTTING PRO- PERTY O~~ERS; PROVIDING'T}ill PROCEDURE WITH REFER- ENCE THERETO; PROVIDING THAT THE COST THEREOF SHALL GDNSTITUTE A PERSO NAL LIABILITY AGAINST mUCH OWNER MqD A LIEN ON SUCH PROPERTY; PROVIDING FOR THE IN- STITUTION OF SUIT, FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES M{D OTHER EXPENSES; PROVIDING THAT ALL ORDINANCES AND PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT WITH THIS ORDINANCE ARE REPEALED; PROVIDING THAT IF PARTS OF THIS ORDn~ANCE ARE HELD TO BE VOID OR m~CONSTITUTIONAL IT SHALL NOT AFFECT OT}illR PARTS OF THE ORDINANCE; AND, DE- CLARING AN EMERGENCY. Il BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS: SAr. t,i ()n 1 9 It shall be and it is hereby made the duty of every owner of real estate within the corporate limits of the city of ~vest University Place, Te.aas, abutting on any public street in such city, in front of whicn real estate or along'vfuich LJ street the Board of Commissioners of the City may order the 1-- construction, reconstruction, repair or bringing to grade of sidewalks, to construct, reconstruct or rep~r the same or bring the same to grade, as the case may be, in accordance with the terms of said order. ~ec +:::1 "Y' ~ J Whenever it shall be found necessary by the Board of Commissioners that sidewalks be constructed, reconstructed or repaired or brought to grade along or in front of any real es- tate abutting upon any public street in the City of West Uni- versity Place, the board of commissioners shall designate the lot or lots, block or blocks, street or streets or community in which said work is deemed necessary, and shall order the construction, reconstruction, repair or regrading of said side- walks. Section 3. The City's hngineer shall prescribe the width, kind, character and type of materials to be used, specifications and the line and grade of such sidewalks, all of V\hich s,hall be incorporated as a part of the order thereof. Sec tion 4. '~iJ " j After sidewalks have been completed they must be pro- [J '. D D 209 teeted from injury by keeping tEaffic off for at least five days, and from the sun by a covering oE sand, boards, build- ing paper or canvas, and must be sprinkled daily for at least two days after completion. Section 5. All such work shall be under the direction and super- vlslonof the City's Engineer. It shall not be comsidered as completed until accepted by such Engineer in writing as com- pleted. Before such acceptance 'by the City's Engineer, it shall have been completed in accordance with such order and the provisions thereof and shall be satisfactory to him. In order that sidewalks fulfill the condition of being satisfac- tory to the City's Engineer no obstruction shall project over, across or upon such sidewalk or be left below the surface there- of. ' Section 6. When the Board of Gommissioners of the Ci ty of West University Place shall have ordered the construction, recon- struction, repairing or regrading of sidewalks and has de- signated the location thereof, it shall be the duty of the Mayor of such City to serve notice that such sidewalks must be laid out by the owners of the abutting property. 'The no- tice herein prOVided for shall show the width, kind, charac- ter and type of materials to be used, specifications and the line and grade of such sidewalks. Such notice shall be suff- icient if given to the proper owner or owners in any one of the methods hereafter indica ted: (1) The no tice may be served by an officer of the City of West University Place designated by the Mayor for that pUl"pose and service may be made by de- livering a copy thereof to the o~mer of the abutt- ing property, or to any tenant of the owner living on the particular real estate included in tbe order, or to any person living on such property wi thout the necessfuty of showing or establishing that he or she is a tenant of such owner. (2) If said property is unoccupied and the owner or his authorized agent is unknown, then notice may be given by posting a copy thereof upon the pro- perty. (3) If sUch notice is given in either of the methods provided for, in paragraph (1) or (2) above, such officer shall make due return in writing to the Mayor stating the manner and time of such service and upon whom such service has been made (if served IILI, II 210 l.~. ~. upon any person) and the time of service thereof, which return when produced in court shall constitute sufficient ev.tidence of the service of such notice in the manner and, form required by this ordinance unless the truth of the re- turn made by such officer is attacken in the manner and form as_of citations issuing out of the District Courts of Harris County, Texas~ ' , o (4) The Mayor may cause to be mailed such notice to the last known post office address of the owner or owners and the depositing of such notice in the United States mails shall be deemed sufficient whether received or not. (5) Notice may be given by publishing a brief sunrrnary of said order once in the official newspaper of the City or in a newspaper of general circulation in the City, addressed II SIDEWALK IlVIPROVEMENTS: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN ." (6) ~otice may be gi~n by posting a true and correct copy of the order of the Board of Commissioners for such improvements at three (3) public places \nthin the City. (7) If the herein prescribed notice is served by an offi- 1;10 cer of the City, such service shall be at least thirty (30) days before said work is required to be completed. ~f such notice is mailed, it shall be deposited in the United States mails at least thirty (30) days before such work is required to be completed. If such notice is published either in a newspaper or by posting, as hereinabove provided, such publication or the posting of such notices shall be at least thirty (30) days be- fore said work is required to be completed. ' Section 7. The City of West University Place reserves the right, when putting down a permanent street pavement, either by or- iginal construction or reconstruction, or of any other char- acter or street, either by original construction, or recon- struction, to change or alter the lines and grades, or either of said street and of the sidewalks of said street, when in the opinion of the Board of Commissioners such change is nec- essary for the proper improvements, su~facing or pavements, or drainage of said street, and 1/lJi thout liability on the part of the City by reason of said change. In the event that a side- walk, the line or grade of which is changed, is in good con- dition and does not, in the,opinion of the Board of Commiss- ioners of the City of West University Place require entire 10 recon'stI!1iction,\ the ovmer or owners thereof shall be given I notice in the m~ner and form hereinabove required, to break said sidewalks b\Ck to a ,point fixed by the City's Engin- \ ,'." ".;. ,-< CJ -l I f L-J o 211 eer, and to remove the broken portion and reconstruct said portion on the line and grade determined by the vity's En- gineer, at the cost of the saidabutting ovvner. This shall be required upon order of the Board of Commissioners thereof in the same manner as hereinabove required for the construction, reconstruction,repairing or regrading of sidewalks. Sec tion 8'. .. $hould the ovmer or owners of any such adjacent and abutting property fail or refuse to comply with the order pro- vided for in this ordinance or complete the work required by such order in accordance there~fuh, the Mayor, with the con- sent and approval of the Board of Commissioners, may enter in- to a wiitten contract for such work or any part thereof; or, the IvIayor, wi th the consent and approval of the Board of Com- missioners, may cause such work, or any part thereof,_to be done and performed by employees, of the City of West Univer- sity Place. It shall not be necessary to advertise for bids for such work but the cost thereof must be agreed upon in the contract, if a written contract is entered into. If such work or any part thereof, is done and performed by employees of the City, the Board of Commissioners shall determine upon the rea- sona~le cost of such work, which determination shall be con- clusive as to such cost. The cost of such work shall be pay- able at the city hall of the City of West University Place in Harris County, ~exas, and shall bear legal interest from the date of completion of such work, and shall be a lien against the adjacent and abutting property thereto. vVhen said work is' completed the Mayor shall, in one general~fidavit or in sep- arate affidavits as he may tleem best, make a statement under oath showing the cost of constructing, reconstructing, repair- ing, or bringing to grade the s idewalk( or the work actually done4 adjacent to each separate piece or lot or property, giv- ing the name of the o\v.ner or owners thereof as know~to him and a description of the property sufficient to identify it. How- ever, no mistake of name of the o~ner or ovmers or description of the property shall vitiate or defeat such affidavit or the lien oh said property. Said affidavit shall be filed for re- cord in the office of the County Clerk of Harris vounty, Texas; and, when so filed for record it shall fix the amount thereof as a preference lien against each respective piece or lot or property superior to all other liens, claims, or titles except lawful taxes, and shall also cons ti tute a personal demand a- gainst the owner or owners thereof and shall further be prima facie evidence that all necessary preliminary things have been done as required by,this ordinance in order to establish such lien and the amount thereof. Such lien may be foreclosed by ,_ the institution of suit in any court of competent jurisdition, the venue thereof being in Harry County, ~exas. If such claL~ is placed in the hands of an attorney for collection, or if suit is filed thereon, the costs thereof including a reason- '" :::r 212 able attorney's fees shall be added thereto. Section 9. 1 J All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed in so far as conern such conflicts. Section 10. If any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause, phrase, or provision of this ordinance shall be adjudged invalid or held unconstitutional the same shall not affect the validity of tllis ordinance as a whole or any parts or provisions thereof other than that specifically so decided to be valid or unconstitution- al. SAntion 11& WHEREAS, on account of the rapid growth of the City of West University .l:'lace, the congestion of ~ra:ffic, the lack of sidewalks whereby pedestrians are compelled to walk upon the streets of such City thereby creating a dangerous situation, and on account of the fact that there are not ordinances with reference to the subject matter of this ordinance, and impera- tive public necessi ty and emergency is created so that this or- :!l'=' dinance shall take effect and be in force and effect immed- iately from and after the date of its passage and approval. PASSED AND APPROVED this Secretary o