sation.

Compen missioners shall have the power to fix the rate of their compensation, and they shall not be removed by said board of fire commissioners except for cause, and after a reasonable opportunity to be heard in their defense

Powers

and duties

of fire commissioners.

§ 9. The said board of fire commissioners shall have the control and of board management of the said fire department, its officers and men, and shall prescribe the rules for its discipline and government, and the said board of fire commissioners shall also have control and management of the public property, now pertaining to the fire department of said city, and that shall hereafter pertain to the fire department created by this act, and shall from time to time, in their discretion, add to, acquire and dispose of said property, except real estate, which said real property shall be disposed of subject to the approval of the common council as the provisions of this act, and the exigencies of the department not inconsistent with this act may require, and shall pay over to the city chamberlain all moneys that may come into their hands from the sale of such property; the said board of fire commissioners are also hereby invested with all the discretionary powers necessary to the faithful execution of this act, including the proper selection of all the needed buildings and offices and complete equipment of the several companies with houses, engines, hose, hose-tenders, hook and ladder trucks, vehicles, horses and other apparatus, and by a two-third vote of all the members of said board of fire commissioners prescribed, control and regulate the expenditures of every kind of the department created by this act.

Treasurer of fire de

fund.

§ 10. The chamberlain of the city of Cohoes shall be treasurer of partment the fire department fund, and shall set apart annually on September first to the credit of said fund a sum equal to one-eighth of all the moneys raised by the common council for city purposes in each year, except such moneys as may be raised for extraordinary or special purposes or local improvements, and shall also credit to said fund any and all moneys received and collected for fines and penalties under this act, or received from the sale and disposal of property as provided in the preceding section, and shall pay out the same only upon the vouchers signed by not less than three commissioners besides the president, and countersigned by the president and clerk of said board, and then only to the extent of the amount that is to the credit of said board for the Contract current fiscal year; and the said board of fire commissioners shall make no purchases, nor contract any debts beyond the amount to their credit in each year, and any debt or obligation contracted beyond that sum shall not be a debt against the city of Cohoes, nor shall the city of Cohoes be liable for the same, but the said commissioners shall be personally liable for such debts; and it is further provided that any commissioner voting for any purchase or obligation beyond the sum to for voting the credit of said fund shall be and shall be deemed to be guilty of a

ing of

debts, etc.

beyond amount to credit of fund.

Penalty

for same.

misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars or imprisonment for one year in state's prison, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court, and any taxpayer may bring an action in any court having jurisdiction in the name of the city of Cohoes against such offender for such fine and imprisonment.

§ 11. It shall be the duty of the common council, upon the recommendation of the board of fire commissioners, to take all necessary proceedings in the manner provided by chapter nine hundred and twelve of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and the several acts amendatory of said act, for the raising money for extraordinary or special purposes. To raise money to build or purchase buildings for

and ex

the use of the fire department, and to purchase lots therefor or fire apparatus; the money so raised, in case it shall have been voted by the Collection taxpayers as provided by the acts above mentioned, shall be collected by the chamberlain the same as other general taxes, and kept by him How kept separate and distinct from other moneys, and shall be controlled and pended. appropriated by the board of fire commissioners exclusively to the object or objects for which it shall have been raised, and shall only be expended upon the same vote and paid out upon the same indorsements of vouchers as other moneys expended by this board.

*

tiremen,

shal.

tion of

defects,

§ 12. The chief engineer, or while he may be absent, the assistant Control of engineer, who shall be first at any fire, shall have sole control and di- ete, at rection of the fireman, engines, hose, hose tenders, trucks, vehicles fires. and apparatus of the department during the existence of said fire. The Fire marchief engineer of the fire department of the city of Cohoes shall be fire marshal of said city, and the office of fire marshal in and for said city of Cohoes is hereby created. The said fire marshal shall have Inspecpower, and it shall be his duty as often as once in every six months, buildings. to visit, enter and inspect the several dwellings, buildings and outhouses in the city of Cohoes, at reasonable hours of the day, to ascertain if such buildings, dwellings and outhouses are safe from danger of fire, and whether they are provided with sufficient scuttles to their roofs with proper stairs or ladders leading thereto; and if found to be Notice of unsafe or without scuttles and ladders, it shall be the duty of said fire marshal to notify, in writing, the owner or occupant of such dwellings, building or outhouse of the defect and danger complained of; imme- Repair. diately after such notification, it shall be the duty of the owner or occupant of such dwelling, building or outhouse to repair the same in such manner as to remove the defect complained of. Any person refus- Penalty ing to allow such fire marshal to enter or inspect any such dwelling, lect to building or outhouse in the manner aforesaid, or refusing or neglecting make reto make such repairs after notice given as aforesaid, shall for each and every offense forfeit and pay to the city of Cohoes a penalty of fifty dollars, to be recovered with costs in any court having jurisdiction; which action shall be brought in the name of the city of Cohoes; it Duty of shall also be the duty of said fire marshal to report any and all viola- as to viotions of the provisions of this act to the city attorney, who shall imme- lations. diately prosecute the offenders in any court having jurisdiction.

for neg

pairs, etc.

marshal

report of

§ 13. The said board of fire commissioners shall, on or before the first Annual day of February in each year, report to the common council the receipts commis and expenditures of said department, with other facts pertaining sioners. thereto of public interest, including a complete inventory of all the property in their charge, and said report shall also exhibit a statement of all fire alarms and fires, as far as the same shall have been ascertained; it shall also exhibit a statement of all losses caused by such fires and all insurance thereon; it shall also show the number and names of all companies under their direction, the names of all officers and members of such companies, the name of all persons in the employ of said board and the compensation paid them.

fire com

§ 14. Until the organization under this act shall be put in working Present order, the present fire companies shall do duty at all fires that may panies." occur as heretofore, and thereafter, upon notice from the board of fire commissioners, the common council shall, by resolution naming them Honora therein, honorably discharge the members of the present fire com- charge of panies from further duties as firemen, and such discharge shall entitle members.

So in the original.

ble dis

Fire dis

alarms.

the firemen so discharged to all the privileges and immunities of firemen exempt by law.

§ 15. The said board of fire commissioners shall have power to estabtricts and lish fire districts and such system of alarms as in their judgment they deem necessary, and they shall have power to employ persons to take charge of the same.

Plans and erection

of

ings.

of sup

§ 16. The said board of fire commissioners shall have power to decide or build upon all plans and specifications, and the erections of such buildings as may hereafter be required for the use of the fire department of said Purchase city. All materials and supplies which may be required for the purplies, etc. poses of said department shall be purchased under their direction; they shall also have power to decide upon the kind of apparatus which Proposals shall be used and purchase the same, but in all cases where any contemplated expenditure relating to the erection of buildings or repairs buildings, thereto shall amount to the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars or upwards, the said board shall advertise for proposals therefor, and shall award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder.

for erec

tion of

etc.

Insubor dination

in department.

Investigations.

Inquiry into caus

§ 17. The said board of fire commissioners shall have power to administer oaths and to issue subpoenas compelling the attendance of witnesses in cases of insubordination in the fire department under the control of said board; they shall also have power to conduct investigations relating to alleged disorderly or improper conduct on the part of firemen, or any other person under the employ of said board, and in regard to all other matters under their control; and shall thereupon have the same powers to compel the attendance of witnesses, and to take testimony as now belongs to the justices of the justice's court of said city.

§ 18. The said board of fire commissioners are also hereby empowes of fires. ered to inquire into the cause or origin of any fire that may occur in said city of Cohoes, and for that purpose the said board of fire commissioners are hereby authorized to examine any person or persons on oath, and to issue their warrant for the attendance of witnesses, returnable forthwith, or at such time and place within said city as they shall appoint therein, under which warrant it shall be the duty of the captain of the police of said city to cause, and if necessary, compel the witness or witnesses to whom said warrant shall be directed, to appear before said board of fire commissioners as in said warrant prescribed, or any such investigation, and any willful evasion of such process or refusal to testify, shall be, and be deemed to be, a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by any court of competent jurisdiction, the offender shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of said board of fire commissioners, upon any be certi- such investigation, that any building in said city has been willfully burned or fired, and if the party or parties charged with the offense be not in custody, the said board shall certify their conclusions upon the evidence to the said captain of city police, who shall cause the party or parties charged, and until the party or parties shall be in custody all the proceedings of said board, together with the names of witnesses, shall be kept secret. The testimony taken upon every such investigation, when there shall be, in the judgment of the said board of turned to fire commissioners, reasonable grounds to believe that any building inal court. within said city has been willfully burned or fired, shall be returned

When conclu

sions to

fied to

captain of police.

Testimo

ny, when to be re

next crim

So in the original

by them to the next criminal court of record having jurisdiction in case of felony, that shall be held in the county of Albany.

and boun

tion.

capes.

tion of

limits.

§ 19. The said board of fire commissioners shall have the power, Fire limits and it shall be their duty, from time to time, by a resolution entered daries. in the minutes of their proceedings, to define in said city of Cohoes the limits and boundaries within which all dwelling-houses, churches, school-houses, stores, meeting-houses, store-houses, offices, shops, factories, mills, halls, theatres, laundries, barns, stables, woodsheds, outhouses, buildings and structures of every description, shall hereafter be built and constructed of brick, stone or iron, or of all said materials, and be covered with slate, tile, tin, gravel, or other safe materials against fire; such limits or boundaries, when so made and defined, Publicashall be published at length by said fire commissioners in all the newspapers in said city, such length of time, not less than one week, as said board of fire commissioners shall deem proper. The said board of Fire esfire commissioners shall have power, and it shall be their duty to require suitable fire escapes to be erected on any of the foregoing buildings, or buildings in any other part of the city they shall deem necessary for the protection of life. After the said limits or bounda- Construcries shall have been established, as provided in this section, it shall not buildings be lawful for any person, firm, corporation or association, to build or within erect within such fire limits, any dwelling-house, storehouse, office, shop, laundry, factory, mill, hall, theatre, church, school-house, store, meeting-house, barn, stable, woodshed, outhouse, or other building or structure of any description, unless the same shall be built or constructed of brick, stone or iron, or of all said materials, and covered with slate, tin, tile, gravel or other material safe against fire. But this Proviso. section shall not be construed as to apply to the inside finish of any such building or structure, nor to prevent the erection of front or rear stoops, or stairs of wood not enclosed, nor of a bay window of wood, nor of a privy of wood, one story high; but no wooden cornice shall Cornices. be put up unless the same be covered with tin or iron or other safe material against fire; nor shall it be lawful within said fire limits to Additions make any new addition to any such building or structure, or to any ings. building heretofore constructed, without using for such addition the materials herein required for the construction of new buildings. Any owner, occupier, builder, or other person offending against any of the Penalty. provision of this section, shall, for each and every such violation, forfeit and pay the penalty of three hundred dollars, to be recovered in How rean action brought in the name of, and for the benefit of the said city of Cohoes, in any court having jurisdiction thereof. In any such action, Temporawhen brought in the supreme court, the said court, or any justice tion. thereof, or the county judge of Albany county, or the recorder of the city of Cohoes, may grant a temporary injunction, thereby enjoining and restrain such owners, occupier, builder or other person from violating the provisions of this section during the pendency of such action; and on the trial of such action, and in the judgment when no trial has Perpetual been had, the court shall have power to perpetually enjoin the defendant from constructing the said building or structure so being built in violation of any of the provisions of this section, and to order the same to be removed or taken down.

to build

covered.

ry injune

injunction

§ 20. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with any of the provis- Repeal. ions of this act are hereby repealed.

§ 21. This act shall take effect immediately.

*So in the orignal.

Estimates

ment expenses.

Chap. 100.

AN ACT relating to, and to reduce the expenses of the city government of Long Island City.

PASSED March 21, 1879; three-fifths being present.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. On or before the first day of November in each year the heads of departments in Long Island City shall submit written estimates in detail of the amounts that will, in their judgment, be required for the purposes of their respective departments during the ensuing year. In no case shall the expenses of any department in any year Incurring exceed the amount appropriated therefor, as herein provided, without of liabili the consent of all the members of the common council. The heads of any department incurring liabilities, or making expenditures in any year in excess of the appropriation for such department for that year, shall be jointly and severally liable to said city on their official bonds, executed, after the passage of this act, for such excess.

ties.

cers.

Salaries of § 2. At least ninety days prior to the time prescribed by law for the election or appointment of any city officer in said city, the common council may, by ordinance, fix and determine the salary of such officer for the ensuing term, but the amount so fixed shall not exceed the amount now allowed therefor.

Addition

for what

may be raised.

§ 3. In addition to the amount required by law to be raised annually al taxes by general tax, to pay the interest and installments of princeple* of the purposes public debt of said city, and for the support and maintenance of the public schools, the common council shall direct and cause to be raised annually by general tax, in the manner and at the time now provided therefor by law, such sum as shall be necessary to pay the salaries of all the city officers in said city, and also such further sum as in their judgment the wants and welfare of the city for the ensuing year may demand, and as they may, in and by the ordinance levying such tax, specifically appropriate to, and raise for, the following purposes, namely for the maintenance of the police and health department, for the maintenance of the department of public works, for the maintenance of the finance department, for the maintenance of the fire department, for the maintenance of the poor, for the contingent expenses of the city; but the aggregate amount raised in any one year under the provisions of this section shall not exceed one and one-quarter per cent of the assessed valuation of all the taxable property in said city for that year.

Aggregate amount.

Expenses

depart

ment.

§ 4. The expenses of the water department of said city, exclusive of of water the cost of fuel and necessary repairs, shall not exceed twelve thousand dollars in any year. The board of water commissioners of said city shall not, without the consent of the common council, enter into any contract for the extension or repair of the water works, machinery or property, or any part thereof, which shall involve an expenditure in excess of the sum of five hundred dollars; and said commissioners shall present to the common council of said city a formal report in detail of their administration of the affairs of the water department on the first days of January and July respectively in each year. All land between

Semi-a

-annual report.

Lands

So in the original.