Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1899 — What the New Street Law Says. [ARTICLE]

What the New Street Law Says.

The new law giving property owners in cities and towns the right, under certain conditions to prevent street or sidewalk improvement along their property, is as hard to understand as some provisions 'of the new fish law, and either of them would make the proverbial Philadelphia lawyer scratch his bead in perplexity, for seme time. The vital part of this new law, leaving out a whole lot of verbiage, is section 1, reading as follows: Section 1. Be it enacted by General Assembly of the State of Indiana. That in no incorporated town or city of this state of less than twelve thousand inhabitants, shall any assesment be made upon, or any lien attach to, any real esstale bordering on, or abutting upon, any street, sidewalk or alley therein, from or oh account of any improvement of any kind made upon or in, any such street sidewalk or alley pursuant to any order, resolution, ordinance, or other action of the Board of Trustees of such town, or of the Common Council of such city, unless such improvement shall have first been ordered to be made by such Board of Trustees, or by such Common Council, and not then if a written remonstrance signed by two-thirds of the resident owners of the whole line of lots and parts of lots (measuring only the front line of such lots as belong to person resident on such street in such town or city,) bordering or abutting upon, all the parts such street, sidewalk or alley upon which, or in which, such improvement shall have been ordered to be made, be filed before said improvement be ad ver* tised for contract: Provided however, that such Board of Trustees and Common Council shall have power to require such claims to be made upon the streets and sidewalks of their respective towns and cities as may be necessary to avoid the liability of such towns and cities for damages on account of accident which might occur if such repairs were not made, and to enforce payment to the cost of such repairs to the provisions of the Statutes now in force.