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City Document. — No. 9.

AN ORDINANCE

CONCERNING

MAIN DRAINS

COMMON SEWERS.

ROXBURY:

L. B. & O. E. WESTON, PRINTERS, GUILD ROW.

1860.

CITY OF ROXBURY-

In Board op Aldermen, June 25, 1860.
Ordinance concerning Main Drains and Common Sewers passed to be
enrolled. Sent down for concurrence.

JOSEPH W. TUCKEE, City Clerh.

In Common Council, June 25, 1860.
Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.

FRANKLIN WILLIAMS, Clerh.

Citg 0{ llo^&urs.

In Board of Aldermen, June 25, 1860.
The Joint Standing Committee on Sewerage recommend the passage of
the accompanying Order accepting the provisions of the General Stat-
utes in relation to Sewerage, and also the passage of the accompanying
Ordinance concerning Main Drains and Common Sewers.

THEODORE OTIS, Chairman.

AN ORDINANCE

CONCERNING MAIN DRAINS AND COMMON SEWERS.

Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Rox-

hury, as follows :

S'ect. 1 . The Mayor and Aldermen shall lay, make, main-
tain and repair, all main drains and common sewers which
shall be ordered by the City Comicil.

Sect. 2. . All common sewers shall be laid, as nearly as
practicable, in the centre of the streets through which
they pass. They shall be built of such materials and di-
mensions as the Mayor and Aldermen may direct, and
when the same is advisable, they shall be of sufficient size
to be entered and cleared without removing the pavement
or earth above.

Sect. 3. During the month of July, in the present year,
and at the commencement of each municipal year hereaf-
ter, there shall be chosen, by ballot, a Joint Standing Com-
mittee on Common Sewers, to consist of two Aldermen
and five members of the Common Council, to which Com-
mittee all petitions for sewers shall be referred. The
Mayor, for the time being, shall be, ex officio, a member of
said Committee.

Sect. 4. All particular drains which shall hereafter en-
ter into any common sewer, shall be built of such materi-
als, dimensions and descriptions, and with such descent,
and in such manner as the Mayor and Aldermen shall di-
rect; and they shall be, at all times, subject to be enlarg-
ed or otherwise altered by the Mayor and Aldermen, as in
their judgment the public health or convenience may re-
quire.

Sect. 5. The Mayor and Aldermen shall have power to
cause every owner of land, adjoining any street through
which a common sewer shall be laid, or his agent or ten-
ant, to make a sufficient drain from his house or lot into
the said sewer, whenever, in their opinion, the same shall
be necessary ,• and shall thereupon give such owner, agent
or tenant, notice, in writing, specifying the time within
which such drain shall be completed ; and in case the said
owner, agent or tenant shall neglect to complete the same
within the time specified, the Mayor and Aldermen shall
cause the same to be done, and shall recover the whole
amount of the expense thereof, together with ten per cent,
damages, by action, to be brought in the name of the City
of Roxbury, before any Court proper to try-the same :
Provided, however, that in no case shall the ten per cent,
claimed by way of damage exceed the sum of twenty dol-
lars.

Sect. 6. It shall be lawful for all persons having the
care of buildings, at their own expense, to carry the rain

water from the roofs of said buildings into any common
sewer, free of any charge from the City, provided the same
be done by tight water spouts and brick or stone drains,
or metal tubes under ground, and under the direction of
the Mayor and Aldermen.

Sect. 7. Every person entering his or her particular drain
into any common sewer, without a permit, in writing, from
the Mayor and Aldermen, or Superintendent of Common
Sewers, hereinafter mentioned, shall forfeit and pay the
sum of twenty dollars, and shall also be liable to pay all
such damage, by way of indemnification, as the Mayor and
Aldermen shall deem just and reasonable. And all such
persons to whom such permits shall be granted, shall pay
therefor such sum of money, not less than ten dollars, as
the Mayor and Aldermen may determine.

Sect. 8. There shall be chosen, in the month of July
of the present year, and hereafter at the commencement of
each municipal year, by the concurrent vote of the City
Council (to be first acted upon by the Mayor and Aldermen),
an able and discreet person, to be styled Superintendent
of Common Sewers, who shall hold his office at the pleas-
ure of the City Council, and shall receive such compensa-
tion as said Council shall determine ; and any vacancy in
said office may, at any time, be filled in the manner before
mentioned.

Sect. 9. The said Superintendent, whenever any com-
mon sewer is ordered to be built or repaired, shall ascer-
tain its depth, breadth, mode of construction and general
direction, and take the plan thereof, and insert the same,
with all those particulars, in a book to be kept for that
purpose ; and forthwith ascertain and insert on said plan
all entries made or which are desired to be made into such
sewer.

Sect. 10. The said Superintendent shall keep an accu-
rate account of the expense of constructing and repairing

each common sewer, and shall report the same to the May-
or and Aldermen, together with a list of estates adjoining
the street where said sewer is situated and deriving bene-
fit therefrom, and a description of such estates and the
names of the owners thereof.

Sect. 11. It shall be the duty of the Mayor and Alder-
men, in making assessments for defraying the expense of
constructing or repairing main drains or common sewers,
to deduct from the expense such part as they may deem
expedient to be charged to and paid by the City ; and to
apportion and assess the remainder thereof upon the per-
sons and estates receiving benefit from such main drain or
common sewer, either by the entry of their particular
drains therein, or by any more remote means, agreeably to
existing laws.

Sect. 12. The said Superintendent shall enter, in books
to be kept for that purpose, all such assessments made by
the Mayor and Aldermen, and shall forthwith make out
bills for the same, and deliver them to the City Treasurer,
for collection ; and the said Treasurer shall forthwith de-
mand payment, in writing, of said bills, in the manner pre-
scribed by law ; and in case any bills or dues under this
ordinance shall remain unpaid at the expiration of three
months after demand for payment as aforesaid, the said
Treasurer shall cause the same to be collected by a resort
to the proper legal process.

Sect. 13. This Ordinance shall take efi'ect from and af-
ter its passage.

Citg 0f llo^krg.

In Board op Aldermen, June 25, 1860.
Ordered, That Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6, of the 48th Chapter of the
General Statutes of this Commonwealth, be and the same are hereby ac-
cepted by the City Council.

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