USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Hamilton > Town of Hamilton Annual Report 1903 > Part 3
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The board of health shall make a full and comprehensive state- ment of its doings for the year preceding, with a review of the sanitary condition of the town, which shall be printed in the town report.
ARTICLE XII. STREETS.
SECTION 1. The streets and public ways of the town here- after to be established are to be not less than fifty feet in width, and in laying out or accepting of all such streets and ways (ex- cepting those that have houses erected on them at the time of the acceptance of this order ) the selectmen are directed to hold this in mind as the fixed policy of the town.
SECT. 2. The street commissioner or superintendent of streets shall keep an accurate account of all money expended and all work done upon the streets and squares of the town, and a daily record of number of men and teams, and the extent and nature of the work done, and the amount expended on each street, way or square, and also the time spent in making such repairs.
SECT. 3. A pay roll shall be kept of the employees of the street department and of the owners of teams employed thereon, and parties furnishing material therefor, the time for which pay- ment is to be made; the rate of wages ; the amount and cost of material furnished, and the amount due in each case.
Payment shall be made in each case to the party to whom it shall be due, or his agent or attorney authorized in writing to receive the same.
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SECT. 4. The superintendent or commissioner of streets shall furnish an annual report of the street department to be printed in the annual town report.
SECT. 5. When permanent or macadam roads are built with money especially appropriated for the same by a legal town meet- ing, whether said work is performed by street superintendent or special contract, or such work shall be commenced not later than September 1, and it shall be the duty of said Superintendent or contractor to properly mark all dangerous places or piles of ma- terial while the road is in process of construction, that no person may sustain damage thereby. All work on aforesaid permanent or macadam roads shall be completed on or before December 1, and it shall be the duty of said Superintendent or contractor to leave the road in safe travelling condition.
ARTICLE XIII.
AUDITOR.
SECTION 1. The auditor shall examine the books and accounts of all officers and committees who are entrusted with the receipt, custody or expenditure of money, and all original bills and vouch- ers on which money has been paid from the treasury. He shall have free access to such books, accounts, bills and vouchers as often as once a month for the purpose of examination, and shall examine the same at least once in each year, and annually report in writing the result of his examination.
ARTICLE XIV.
PECUNIARY INTEREST OF OFFICERS.
No town officer or member of a committee chosen by the town, nor any agent of such officer or committee, shall have any pecuniary interest in any contract or bargain made or approved in behalf of the town, by himself, any board or committee of which he is a member or for which he may act as agent.
SALE OF PROPERTY.
All money received by any department, board or committee from the sale of any material or property belonging to the town,
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or received from the settlement of any demand or claim due to town, shall be at once turned over to the treasurer.
VAULTS AND SAFES.
The combination to the vaults of the town house shall be known to the town clerk, board of selectmen and assessors ; provided, however, that whenever persons, other that the clerk, are en- gaged by authority of the town, indexing the records, the town clerk may in such case make known the combination to some one person only, who may be so engaged. The combination to the safe in the selectmen's room shall be known to them and to the town treasurer only. These combinations shall be changed when- ever a change shall occur in either of the above offices.
ARTICLE XV.
TOWN HALL.
The use of the town hall shall be allowed free of expense for political meetings, for purposes connected with the public schools, whenever recommended by the school committee, and for charit- able purposes. For all other purposes there shall be a charge of not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars, as the select- men may decide. The cost of services by the janitor shall in all cases be paid by the town.
ARTICLE XVI.
CEMETERIES.
SECTION 1. A Board of Cemetery Trustees, consisting of three persons, is hereby established, which shall be chosen at an annual meeting, or at a meeting especially called for the purpose, to serve, one for three years, one for two years, and one for one year. Thereafter one trustee to be chosen annually for three years.
SECT. 2. Said board shall have charge and management of all the public cemeteries and burial places of the town; shall be em- powered to sell lots and give deeds for the same, in the name of the town; to enforce the laws and regulations governing them, and report their doings at the annual town meeting.
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SECT. 3. Lots in the cemeteries of Hamilton shall be used only as burial places for the dead. All burials therein shall be subject to the regulations established, or that shall be established, by the Town of Hamilton, or any Board of Cemetery Commis- sioners chosen by the town; and said town, or said commissioners with the approval of said town, shall have the power at any time to establish or alter its regulations respecting the same.
SECT. 4. Owners of lots, their heirs or assigns, shall have the right to erect stones, monuments and other sepulchral structures thereon, and to cultivate thereon trees, shrubs and plants, sub- ject, however, to the regulations aforesaid; but no tree shall be removed without the consent of the cemetery commissioners.
SECT. 5. If any tree, tree shrub or plant, in any lot, by reason of its roots or branches, shall, in the opinion of the commission- ers, become detrimental to any adjacent lot, walk or avenue, such tree, plant or shrub may be removed at any time by the commis- sioners aforesaid.
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SECT. 6. If any fence, monument or structure whatsoever, or any inscription, be placed in or upon any lot, which shall be determined by a majority of the inhabitants of said town voting upon the subject at any legal town meeting to be offensive or improper, the said inhabitants, at said meeting, or at any other legal meeting, may order such fence, monument, structure or in- scription to be removed, and it shall be the duty of said commis- sioners to forthwith remove the same.
SECT. 7. Owners of lots, their heirs or assigns, shall forever keep in repair, at their own expense, the landmarks at the cor- ners of said lots.
SECT. 8. No tomb shall be constructed in or upon any lot or lots in said cemeteries without the consent and supervision of the cemetery commissioners.
SECT. 9. If at any time the owner or owners of any lot shall permit the same to become a nuisance to the cemetery in which it is located, through want of repair, or from any other cause, and such owner or owners shall neglect to abate the same for thirty days after having been served by the commissioners with a written
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notice requiring them to do so, the said lot shall thereupon re- vert to the town.
SECT. 10. Owners of neglected lots shall be notified, in writ- ing, of their condition, by the commissioners, whenever, in the judgment of said commissioners, such lots impair the general ap- pearance of the cemetery ; and in case of such neglect being continued ten days after the expiration of said notice said com- missioners may, in their discretion, put such lots in order at the expense of the owner or owners thereof ; and the said commis- sioners may recover, for the use of the town, the amount thus expended, with cost, by an action on contract.
SECT. 11. No person shall be allowed to take any earth from any avenue, walk, lot or other part of the cemeteries without permission from the commissioners.
SECT. 12. The grading of all lots shall be done under the su- pervision of the commissioners.
SECT. 13. The town will accept and forever hold in trust any money or securities which may hereafter be deposited with the town treasurer for the perpetual preservation, care, improvement or embellishment of any public or private burial place, or any lot or grave therein. The town treasurer shall invest all such funds in accordance with the stipulations, if any, accompanying them ; otherwise he shall invest them as ordered by the selectmen and commissioners and pay the income therefrom upon their order or with their approval.
TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE COMPANIES.
SECTION 1. The selectmen shall have the exclusive authority to permit the erection and maintenance of telegraph, telephone and other lines of electric wires within the town. Whenever an application is made for a location of any such lines, the selectmen may issue to the party applying therefor a certificate which shall specifically designate the streets where the lines may run, the kind of poles, the height at which all wires must be placed and the dimensions and locations of the underground conduit, if said lines or any part thereof shall be laid underground.
SECT. 2. All companies, corporations and persons to whom is granted permission to erect poles and fixtures and to maintain
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electric wires shall before proceeding to act thereunder execute an agreement in writing satisfactory to the selectmen, agreeing to accept location and conditions of granting same and to save the town harmless from any and all claims whatsoever by whom - soever made, for damages, costs, expenses, charges, or compen- sation for or on account of, or in any way growing out of erection, maintenance or use of said poles, fixtures or wires. Said agree- ment, after its approval by the selectmen, shall be filed with the town clerk, and no certificate of such permit shall be issued until said agreement is so filed.
SECT. 3. All permits granted and any permission given to any company, corporation or person to erect or maintain any such wires or posts shall be upon condition that the same be altered or changed at any time by the selectmen, after fourteen days notice and opportunity to be heard shall have been given to the parties interested, and also that any such wires or posts may be temporarily altered or changed by the selectmen, from time to time, after one day's notice in writing, in case of public neces- sity, at the expense of the company owning said wires or posts, without liability on the part of the town therefor; in case any location in any street shall be altered, a substitute location in the same, or some other street, that will in the opinion of said board accommodate the service, shall be granted in a manner aforesaid.
SECT. 4. Every company, corporation or person erecting, maintaining or using such poles, wires or other apparatus, shall indemnify and save harmless the Town of Hamilton, its officers, servants and agents from and against all lawful claims and de- mands for injuries to person or property occasioned by the main- tenance and operation of such poles, wires or apparatus or the transmission of its electric currents by means thereof ; and the agents and officers of the town exercising the rights and powers given or reserved herein shall not be held liable to such com- pany, corporation or person on account thereof, or by reason of any injury caused thereby.
SECT. 5. No telegraph, telephone or electric lines shall be erected or maintained until the owner thereof shall file with the selectmen a written agreement accepting and promising to abide
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by and perform all the conditions and provisions of these regula- tions and all orders, rules, regulations and amendments hereafter made in addition thereto.
SECT. 6. All posts for telegraphs, telephone or electric lines shall be straight, properly trimmed and painted to the satisfac- tion and acceptance of the selectmen; shall not be less than twenty-five feet in height from the ground; shall be of iron, cedar, hard pine or chestnut, and, if of wood, not less than six inches in diameter at the smaller end, and ten inches in diameter at the ground. Such posts shall be properly set in the ground to a depth of at least five feet and shall be octagonal in shape when- ever the selectmen shall so require; and the name of the com- pany, corporation or person owning the pole shall be distinctly painted on the cross-bars used and occupied by such company, corporation or person. Whenever any power line shall cross any street or way, it shall be at a height not less than twenty-five feet above such street or way, and be protected by proper guard wires, and when practicable cross at right angles.
SECT. 7. On streets where curbing stones are set, all poles shall be erected inside the line of curbing, unless otherwise spec- ified, and all streets where there is no curbing the poles shall be erected so as not to interfere with the gutters; and no pole shall be placed within fifteen feet of any hydrant, nor so as to interfere with any water pipe, shade tree, driveway or intersection of streets.
SECT. 8. Any member of the fire department or other officer of the town may cut, disconnect, or remove the wires of any com- pany, corporation or person in case of fire in a building, when such wires interfere with the operation of the firemen, or the ex- tinguishment of the fire or access to or egress from such building, and the town shall not be liable for any expense or damages on account of such cutting, disconnecting or removal.
SECT. 9. When an opening is made in a street for any pur- pose aforesaid, the portion of the street so opened shall immediate- ly be restored to a condition satisfactory to the selectmen, and shall be kept in such condition for one year thereafter ; and if not so restored and maintained by the company, corporation or per-
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son performing the work, the said selectmen shall cause the same to be done at the expense of such company, corporation or person.
SECT. 10. No person shall for the purpose of placing or main- taining wires or lines on posts, or for any other purposes con- nected with the construction or maintenance of telegraph or other electric lines, climb any tree by the use of spurs, or of any in- strument which shall pierce such tree, or shall in any way injure, pierce, tear, cut, deface or destroy any tree or branch of a tree or any shrub or other plant, or fixture of ornament or utility in any street, road, way or public place of said town ; and no com- pany, corporation or person shall attach any crossbar or any other fixture to any tree without first obtaining the written consent of the selectmen.
SECT. 11. No placard, bills or other advertising matter shall be posted on any pole located by the selectmen for the support of electrical wires, and it is hereby made the duty of the com- pany, corporation or person owning such pole to immediately re- move any such placard, bill or advertising matter found thereon. Any person violating any of the provisions of this order shall be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than twenty dol- lars for each offence.
SECT. 12. The company, corporation or person authorized to erect and maintain posts or electric lines shall not suffer or per- mit any other company, corporation or person except its or his own agents or employees, or the agents or employees of the town, to place wires upon the posts or upon fixtures thereto affixed, without permission being first obtained from the selectmen, and no post after being located and erected shall be removed without the written permission of the board of selectmen and under their direction.
SECT. 13. No permission to erect a pole for the support of any electric wires, or for the construction of underground con- duits, shall be granted until after a public hearing shall have been given by the selectmen on the application for such permission af- ter at least seven days notice of such hearing, duly advertised at the expense of the applicant in one or more local newspapers.
SECT. 14. In addition to the agreement hereinbefore men-
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tioned, the company, corporation or person owning or operating a line of wires over streets or buildings in the town shall, before a street is disturbed for running of its wires or conduits, execute a bond in form satisfactory to the selectmen, with sureties to be approved by them and filed in the office of the town clerk, in a penal sum of not less than two thousand dollars conditioned to fulfil all its agreements with the town and its duties under these regulations and all regulations in addition thereto or in amend- ment thereof ; and to execute a new bond of like import at any time when required by the board of selectmen, which new bond shall be a strengthening, unless the surety or sureties on former bonds are expressly released from further liability by the vote of said board.
BY-LAWS
CHAPTER I.
STREETS.
SECTION 1. No person, unless authorized by law, shall erect . on any street in the town any staging for building, or place thereon any lumber, brick or other building materials without a written license from the selectmen. Any person intending to erect or repair any building upon land abutting upon a street shall give notice to the selectmen, who may, at the owner's request, set apart such portion of the street as they may deem expedient for such use. Such person shall, before the expiration of his license, remove all rubbish and restore such street to its former condition, to the satisfaction of the selectmen ; and every person who, when so licensed, shall obstruct or render unsafe any public street or sidewalk, shall guard the same by a proper fence or railing and by lights during the night time in such manner as the selectmen shall approve.
SECT. 2. If any person shall dig a cellar or other cavity in the ground near to or adjoining any street, he shall, so long as the
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selectmen may require, keep a railing or fence on or near the line of such street, sufficient to protect travelers from falling into the place so dug, or being injured thereby.
SECT. 3. No person shall place or maintain over any street or sidewalk any sign, awning, shade or other obstruction unless the same is safely and securely supported and not less than eight feet from the ground at its lowest part, and such awning, if built over a sidewalk, shall extend as far as the outside thereof. No per- son shall erect or maintain a post in any street or sidewalk for the support of an awning or for any other purpose without per- mission from the selectmen.
SECT. 4. No person shall suffer his building to shed water upon any street or sidewalk in the town, to the injury or incon- venience of passengers, nor allow any sink water or other impure water to run from the house, barn or lot occupied by him or un- der his control, into any highway or public place.
SECT. 5. No person shall place or cause to be placed or de- posited upon any street, sidewalk, or other public place in the town, merchandise, ashes, shavings, house dirt, filth, offal, rub- bish, or any other materials which shall in any way obstruct or disfigure the same, nor suffer his wood or coal to remain unnec- essarily on the street or sidewalk. And no person shall, without license from the selectmen, distribute on any of the public streets or grounds of the town any handbills, advertising cards, flyers, or other printed slips of paper for advertising purposes, to persons passing upon the said streets or grounds ; nor shall any person place or cause to be placed any such material in or upon such streets or grounds in such way as to annoy any persons passing thereon, or obstruct or disfigure said streets or grounds.
SECT. 6. No person shall place or keep any table, stall, booth or other structure in any street or sidewalk, nor place or keep the same in any of the public grounds of the town for the sale of fruit or other things without permission of the selectmen.
SECT. 7. No person shall cut down, dig up, climb, peel, cut, deface or injure any ornamental or shade tree, shrub or vine, growing in any of the streets or sidewalks or public grounds of the town, without a permit, in writing, from the board of officers
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having such street or public grounds in charge ; and no person shall tie or fasten any horse, mule or team of any kind to any ornamental or shade tree, shrub or vine, or to any fence or other structure erected for the protection of such tree, shrub or vine, in any street or public place in the town, or in any way injure or deface the same.
SECT. 8. No person, being the owner, keeper, or having the custody of any horse, cow or other animal, shall permit or suffer the same to pasture, with or without a keeper, upon any street, sidewalk or any public ground in the town, or go at large therein, nor suffer such horse, cow or other animal to go, be or to remain upon any sidewalk in the town.
SECT. 9. No person shall stop with any team or carriage across any street in the town in such manner as to hinder or ob- struct the travel over such street, nor at the side of or so near another team as to obstruct public travel.
SECT. 10. No person shall ride or drive any horse or horses, or cause them to be ridden or driven, whether attached to any carriage or not, through any of the streets of the town faster than a rate of ten miles an hour.
SECT. 11. No person shall drive any horse, cart or carriage, or other vehicle, or ride any horse, bicycle or tricycle, on the sidewalk of any street of the town, except for the purpose of crossing such sidewalk in order to go into or out of some adjoin- ing enclosure, provided that this section shall not apply to children or invalid's carriages propelled by hand. No person shall ride any bicycle or tricycle at any time in any street of this town at a rate of speed exceeding ten miles per hour.
SECT. 12. No person shall coast or slide down, across or along any of the streets or sidewalks of the town, upon any sled, board or otherwise, except in such places and under such restrictions as the board of selectmen may designate and require.
SECT. 13. No person shall be or remain upon any sidewalk or street, or upon any doorstep or other projection from any dwell- ing house or other building within the town, so as to annoy or disturb any person, or shall obstruct any passage to the same or
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the appurtenance thereto ; and any person so being or remaining as aforesaid, when ordered by any constable, police officer or watchman, or by the owner or occupant of such dwelling house or other building, shall immediately and peaceably depart and stay away therefrom.
SECT. 14. No person shall wilfully injure, mar, deface or de- stroy any fence, signboard, guideboard, awning, lamppost, lamp or lantern in any street or public place in the town, and no per- son shall light or extinguish any lamp in any street or public place except by virtue of a contract with the town or permission from the selectmen.
SECT. 15. No person shall in any way injure any drinking fountain or watering-trough in the streets and public grounds of the town, nor throw or place any substance into the same.
SECT. 16. No person shall make, write or print or post any indecent or obscene marks, words, figures or signs upon any fence, building, post, tree or other object exposed to public view, nor, without a license from the selectmen first obtained, post any placards, show-cards, handbills or posters upon any tree, fence, post or building within any street or public place in the town, or upon any building, structure or lands belonging to the town.
SECT. 17. No person shall walk, stand or lounge upon any portion of any street or public grounds of the town especially prepared and devoted by the officers in charge to the growing of grass or flowers, nor in any way dig up, injure or deface said street, public ground, grass and flowers.
SECT. 18. No person shall behave himself in a rude or dis- orderly manner, nor use indecent, profane or insulting language in any street, public ground or public building in the town, nor be or remain upon any doorstep, portico or other pro- jection from any such building, nor in any church, meeting- house, public hall or entrance thereto to the annoyance or dis- turbance of any person ; nor shall any person wilfully frighten any horse or other animal nor engage in any game, sport or amusement in any street of the town, whereby the free, safe and convenient use thereof by travelers thereon shall in any way be
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interrupted or the occupants of adjoining estates unreasonably annoyed and disturbed.
SECT. 19. In case of fire the fire department, its officers and members, with their horses, machine and equipment, shall have the right of way in the public streets and ways of the town as against all other persons, vehicles or animals, and no person shall hinder or obstruct them in the free passage therein, nor drive over any hose belonging to the fire department with any carriage or other vehicle, or remove, injure or in any manner disturb the members thereof, their horses, machines, hose or equipment, when stationed, located or laid in any such street, except under direction of the officer in command.
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