Article 3 - Sidewalks
Article 3 – Sidewalks
SECTION 6-301: DUTY TO KEEP CLEAN
SECTION 6-302: CONSTRUCTION BY OWNER; APPLICATION, PERMIT
SECTION 6-303: CONSTRUCTION BY PETITION; improvement district; ABUTTING OWNER
SECTION 6-304: CONSTRUCTION ORDERED BY CITY
SECTION 6-305: maintenance required; NOTICE; liability
SECTION 6-306: INSTALLATION or repair; PROCEDUREs and materials
SECTION 6-307: FAILURE TO CONSTRUCT, RECONSTRUCT, REPAIR OR WIDEN
SECTION 6-308: special assessment; separate tax
SECTION 6-309: engineer; assessment sheets; city superintendent as engineer
SECTION 6-301: DUTY TO KEEP CLEAN
It shall be unlawful for the occupant of any lot or lots or the owner of any vacant lot or lots within the corporate limits to allow snow, sleet, mud, ice, or other substance to accumulate on any sidewalk or to permit any snow, sleet, ice, mud, or other substance to remain upon said sidewalk. All sidewalks shall be cleaned as soon as possible after the cessation of a storm. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§17-557, 17-557.01)
SECTION 6-302: CONSTRUCTION BY OWNER; APPLICATION, PERMIT
A. Any person desiring to construct or cause to be constructed any sidewalk shall do so only as herein provided. It shall be unlawful for any person to construct any sidewalk without first having obtained a permit. Said owner shall make application in writing for a permit and file such application in the office of the city clerk. The permit shall give a description of the lot or piece of land along which the sidewalk is to be constructed. The official in charge of sidewalks shall issue the desired permit unless good cause shall appear why said permit should be denied.
B. If the owner desires to construct the sidewalk at any other than the regularly prescribed location, grade, or elevation, the official in charge of sidewalks shall submit the application to the City Council, which shall determine whether the permit should be granted or denied. It shall be unlawful for any person to construct or cause to be constructed the sidewalk at any other location, grade, or elevation than so designated by the city. All sidewalks shall be built and constructed on the established grade or elevation and if there is no established grade, then on the grade or elevation indicated by the official in charge of sidewalks. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §17-522)
SECTION 6-303: CONSTRUCTION BY PETITION; improvement district; ABUTTING OWNER
A. If the owners of the record title representing more than 60% of the front footage of the properties directly abutting upon the street proposed to be improved with a sidewalk shall sign a petition and present it to the city clerk for filing, petitioning therefor, the City Council shall by ordinance create a paving or other improvement district, cause such work to be done or such improvement to be made, contract therefor, and levy special assessments on the lots and parcels of land abutting on or adjacent to such streets or alleys specially benefited thereby in such district in proportion to such benefits, except as provided in Neb. Rev. Stat. §§19-2428 to 19-2431, to pay the cost of such improvement. The City Council may deny the formation of the proposed district when the area has not previously been improved with a water system, sewer system, and grading of streets. If the council denies a requested improvement district formation, it shall state the grounds for such denial in a written letter to interested parties.
B. Upon the petition of any property owner who is an abutting owner in fee simple of property subject to assessment for sidewalk improvements, the City Council may order permanent sidewalks built in accordance with this article upon the owner making, executing, and delivering to the city an agreement to the effect that the petitioning freeholder will pay the engineering service fee and all other incidental construction costs which until paid shall be a perpetual lien upon the real estate along which the owner desires such sidewalk to be constructed and that the petitioner gives and grants to the city the right to assess and levy the costs of such construction against the owner's real estate abutting the sidewalk improvement and promises to pay such costs with interest. The total cost of such improvement shall be levied, allocated, financed, and specially assessed as provided by law.
C. In the event the property owner is a non-resident of the county in which the property lies, the city shall, before levying any special assessment against that property, send a copy of any notice required by law to be published by means of certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of the non-resident property owner, which shall be that address listed on the current tax rolls at the time such required notice was first published. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §17-510)
SECTION 6-304: CONSTRUCTION ORDERED BY CITY
Whenever three-fourths of the City Council shall deem it necessary that a sidewalk be constructed in front of any lot or other parcel of land in the city in a place where there is no sidewalk, including crosswalks over railroad rights of way, it shall so order by resolution. The notice of the council's intention to construct such sidewalk shall be given by the city clerk by publication of notice one time in a legal newspaper published in and of general circulation in the city. The notice shall notify such owner of the passage of the resolution, that the owner will have 30 days from and after the day of publication within which to construct the sidewalk so ordered by resolution or cause the same to be done, and that if the owner fails to construct the sidewalk or cause the same to be done within 30 days after the day of the publication of the notice, then the city will cause the sidewalk to be constructed and the cost thereof will be levied and assessed thereafter by the mayor and council as a special tax against the premises; provided, the notice shall contain the engineer's estimate of the cost of the work and no special assessment in excess of the amount of the estimate shall be assessed against the property. A copy of the notice so published shall also be either served by the city superintendent upon the occupant in possession of the property involved or posted by him or her upon such premises ten days prior to the commencement of construction.
SECTION 6-305: maintenance required; NOTICE; liability
A. Every owner of any lot or piece of land within the corporate limits shall at all times keep and maintain the sidewalk along and contiguous to said lot, lots, or pieces of land in good and proper repair and in a condition reasonably safe for travel for all travelers thereon.
B. In the event the property owner is a non-resident of the county, the municipality shall, before levying any special assessment against that property, send a copy of any notice required by law to be published by means of certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of the nonresident property owner. The last known address shall be that address listed on the current tax rolls at the time such required notice was first published.
C. Whenever the mayor and City Council shall deem it necessary that an old sidewalk be reconstructed or widened, the city clerk and city superintendent shall follow the procedure set forth herein for the construction of new sidewalks. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §17-522) (Ord. No. 196, 5/19/69)
SECTION 6-306: INSTALLATION or repair; PROCEDUREs and materials
A. All sidewalks in the city which shall be constructed, reconstructed, repaired or widened shall be of concrete of at least the proportions of six-bag concrete and not less than 3 5/8 inches thick, poured upon a gravel fill of at least 1 inch. The concrete shall be float finished and cut in 4-foot blocks.
B. All sidewalks in front of or along any lot or other parcel of land in the residential or agricultural districts of the city shall be constructed of a minimum 40 inches in width. All sidewalks in front of or along any lot or other parcel of land in the commercial or industrial districts of the city shall be constructed of a minimum 8 feet in width unless the mayor and City Council shall allow a sidewalk of a different width by special permit. The inner edges of all sidewalks shall be such distance from the lot line as set forth in said permit and shall conform to such grade as set forth in the permit. Application for the permit shall be made at the office of the city clerk.
SECTION 6-307: FAILURE TO CONSTRUCT, RECONSTRUCT, REPAIR OR WIDEN
If any owner shall neglect or refuse, after notice has been given as provided in this article, to construct, reconstruct, repair or widen any sidewalk within the time limit in the notice given, the city superintendent shall proceed at once and without further notice to such owner to have such sidewalk constructed, reconstructed, repaired or widened, as the case may be; and the expense of such work shall be assessed to such lot or other parcel of land and collected as provided by law if three-fourths of the City Council by vote shall have assented to the making of the sidewalk improvement. The owner shall be liable for all damages or injury occasioned by reason of the defective or dangerous condition of any sidewalk
SECTION 6-308: special assessment; separate tax
A. The cost of constructing, reconstructing, repairing or widening any sidewalk shall be levied, by resolution, upon the lot or other parcel of land fronting and adjoining such sidewalks which are to be constructed, reconstructed, repaired or widened. Such resolution shall specify the street upon which such sidewalk has been so constructed, reconstructed, repaired or widened, and the length and width of each sidewalk constructed, reconstructed, repaired or widened fronting on any lot or other parcel of land. Such assessment shall be made by the mayor and City Council at a special meeting, by resolution, fixing the valuation of the lots assessed, taking into account the benefits derived or injuries sustained in consequence of such improvement, and the amount charged against the same, which, with the vote thereon by "yeas" and "nays," shall be spread upon the minutes. Notice of the time and place of holding such meeting and the purpose for which it is to be held shall be published in a legal newspaper published in or of general circulation in the city at least four weeks before the same shall be held or, in lieu thereof, personal service may be made upon the person owning the property to be assessed.
B. All such assessments shall be known as “special assessments for improvement” and shall be levied and collected as a separate tax in addition to the tax for general purposes, to be placed and collected in like manner as other city taxes. Whenever any such special tax is levied, the city clerk shall forthwith deliver a certified copy of such resolution to the county treasurer, who shall place the same on the tax list to be collected in the manner provided by law.
SECTION 6-309: engineer; assessment sheets; city superintendent as engineer
The city engineer shall certify to the mayor and City Council a detailed schedule of all sidewalks constructed, reconstructed, repaired or widened and the cost of same by which the mayor and council may be aided in determining the amount to be assessed as a special assessment against each lot or other parcel of land. The engineer shall certify such other facts as may be necessary to enable the mayor and council to make the proper special assessment. The engineer shall also certify to the mayor and council the acceptance of any sidewalk so improved and what other action he or she has taken with reference to such sidewalks. The engineer shall allocate the cost of sidewalk improvements to the adjoining lots or other parcels of land and prepare all necessary data for assessment sheets. If there is no city engineer, the city superintendent shall perform all the duties required of the city engineer with relation to any sidewalk improvement contemplated by this article.