Powers of council. for public use, and to alter, improve and light the same; and shall have control of all the avenues for public use in said town; to have the same kept in good order and free from obstructions on or over them; to regulate and determine the width of all streets, sidewalks and public alleys; to order and direct the curbing and paving of all sidewalks and footways for public use in said town, to be done and kept in good order by the owners or occupants of the adjacent property, to control the construction and repairs of all houses, bridges and culverts; the opening and construction of all ditches, drains and gutters; to. widen, deepen and clear the same of stagnant water and filth, and to determine at whose expense the same shall be done; to purchase, lay off and appropriate public grounds and control the use of the same; to provide, contract for and take care of public buildings proper to the town; to provide for the regular building of houses or other structures; to cause the removal of unsafe walls or buildings; to prevent injury or annoyance to the public or individuals from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome; to abate or cause to be abated anything, which, in the opinion of the majority of the whole council, shall be a nuisance; to regulate the keeping of gunpowder and other combustibles; to provide in or near the town, places for the burial of the dead, and to regulate interments in the town, and to provide shade and ornamental trees; to provide for making division fences and for the draining of lots by proper drains and ditches; to make regulations for guarding against danger or damages from fire; to provide for the poor of the town; to organize one or more fire companies, and provide the necessary apparatus, tools, implements, engines, or any of them, for their use; to provide sufficient revenue for said town, and appropriate the same to its expenses; to issue bonds of the corporation and make sale thereof; but no such bonds shall be sold by said corporation for less than par, nor bear a higher rate of interest than eight per centum per annum; nor shall said corporation be indebted on account of such issue at any period in a greater sum than ten thousand dollars, without the consent of the majority of the voters of the town expressed at an election held for that purpose; nor shall the whole indebtednesss of said town, at any time ever exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars; to provide for Powers of council. Power to repair sidewalks. Further powers of council. the annual assessment of taxable persons and property in the town; to adopt rules for the transaction of business, and for the government and regulation of its own body; to promote the general welfare of the town, and protect the persons and property of the citizens therein; to appoint the officers authorized by section sixteen of this act, fix their term of service and compensation; require and take from them bonds with such sureties and in such penalties as the council may determine, conditioned for the true and faithful discharge of their duties, and remove them at pleasure, (all bonds taken by the council shall be made payable to the town in its corporate name); to regulate and provide for the weighing of hay, coal, wood and other articles sold or for sale in said town; and to regulate the transportation thereof through the streets; to establish and regulate markets, to prescribe the time for holding the same, and what articles shall be sold only in said markets; to protect places of Divine worship; to lay off the town into three or more wards, and to appoint and publish the places of holding town elections; to erect or authorize or prohibit the erection of gas works or water works in or near the town, to prevent injury to and provide protection of the same; to provide for the purity of the water and for the healthfulness of the town-for all which purposes, except that of taxation, the council shall have jurisdiction for one mile beyond the corporate limits of said town. 22. If the owner or occupant of any sidewalk, footway or gutter in said town, or of the real property next adjacent thereto,shall fail or refuse to curb, pave or keep the same clean in the manner and in the time required by the council, it shall be the duty of the council to cause the same to be done at the expense of the said town, and to assess the amount of such expense upon such owner or occupant, and the same may be collected by the town sergeant in the manner herein provided for the collection of town taxes. 23. To carry into effect these enumerated powers, and all other powers conferred upon the said town, or its councils, expressly or by implication, by this or any future act of the legislature of this state, the council shall have power to make and pass all needful orders, by-laws, ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations not contrary to the constitution and laws of this state; and to prescribe and impose reasonable fines, penalties and imprisonment in the county jail or such other places, as they may provide, for a term not exceeding thirty days, for violations thereof. Such fines, penalties and imprisonment shall be recovered and enforced under the judgment of the mayor of said town, or the person lawfully exercising his funcitons; and the authorities of said town, may, with the consent of the board of supervisors of the county of Jefferson, entered of record, use the jail of said county, for any purposes for which the use of a jail may be needed by them, under the acts of the council or of the state. mates. 24. The council shall cause to be annually made up and Annual estientered upon its journal, an accurate estimate of all sums which are, or may become lawfully chargeable in said town, and which ought to be paid within one year, and it shall order a town levy of so much, as may in its opinion, be necessary to pay the same. All vacant property embraced in the proposed boundaries of the said town, beyond the old limits of the town, shall be subject only to such taxation for the benefit of said town as is levied upon other property for county and township purposes, until said vacant property shall be divided into lots for building purposes, or offered for sale as such, or until the streets of the said town shall be opened for the use and accommodation of the same. 25. The levy so ordered shall be upon all male persons Annual levy. resident of said town, over the age of eighteen years, dogs, and all real and personal estate within said town, subject to state or county taxes: Provided, that the tax so levupon property, do not exceed $1 for every $100, of the value thereof, and upon persons $2 per head. ied 26. Whenever anything for which a state license is re-Licenses. quired, is to be done within said town, the council may require a town license therefor, and may impose a tax thereon for the use of the town. But no license to sell strong or spirituous liquors, or wine, beer, ale, porter or drinks of like nature within the said town, or within one mile of its corporate limits, shall be granted by the board of supervi Assessor; his duties. Sergeant; his powers, duties sors of Jefferson county, unless the person applying therefor shall produce before said board the certificate of the council of said town, of its consent to the granting of such license. The council shall require from the persons so licensed a bond with sureties payable to said town in such penalties, and with such ccnditions as it may think proper, and may revoke such license at any time, if the conditions of said bond be broken. 27. It shall be the duty of the assessor to make an assessment of the persons and property within said town, subject to taxation substantially in the manner and form in which such assessments are made by the assessor of the county, and to return the same to the council on the first day of April, 1872, and in succeeding years, on the first day of July in each year, and for this purpose he shall have all the powers conferred by law upon the county assessor. He shall receive a compensation for his services, to be fixed by the council, which shall not be increased during his continuance in office. 28. The sergeant shall have power to collect the town and liabilities. taxes, fines and levies, and shall have power, one month after he shall have received the books of the assessor of said town, to distrain and sell therefor in like manner as the sheriff may distrain and sell for state taxes, and shall, in other respects have the same powers as a sheriff, to enforce the payment and collection thereof; and the said sergeant shall have power to exercise within the corporate limits, all the duties of a constable as a conservator of the peace, and he shall be entitled to the same compensation therefor; upon the conviction of any person arrested by him, for violating any of the ordinances of the council, he shall be entitled to one dollar for such arrest, to be taxed in the costs against the person so convicted, and he, and his security, shall be liable to all fines, penalties and forfeitures that a constable is legally liable to, for any failure or dereliction in his said office, to be recovered in the same manner and before the same courts, the said fines, penalties and forfeitures, are now recoverable against constables. Lien on real estate for taxes 29. There shall be a lien upon real estate within said corporation for the town taxes assessed thereon, from the commencement of the year in which they are assessed, and for all other assessments, fines and penalties, assessed or imposed upon the owners thereof by the authorities of the town, from the time the same are so assessed or imposed, which lien shall be enforced by the council in the same manner as the lien for taxes for county purposes is now enforced. The lien aforesaid shall have priority over all other liens, except that for taxes due the state. shows. 30. The council may prohibit any theatrical or other Prohibition of performance, show or exhibition, which it may deem injurious to the morals or good order of the town. geant and treasurer. 31. The council shall have power to require and take Bonds of serfrom the sergeant and treasurer bonds with sureties satisfactory to the council, in such penalty as it may deem sufficient, except that as to the sergeant, it shall not be for a penalty less than $2,500, and the said bond shall be conditioned for the true and faithful performance of his duties as sergeant, and for the collecting and accounting for and payment of the taxes, fines and other moneys of the town which shall come into his hands, or which it shall be his duty to collect, at such times and to such persons as the council may order. The treasurer's bond shall be conditioned for the true and faithful performance of his duty as treasurer, and that he will faithfully pay over, and account for all moneys that shall come into his hands as treasurer, when and as he shall be thereto required by the council. Mayor; his and compensa 32. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the town, and shall take care that all by-laws, ordinances powers, duties and orders of the council are faithfully executed. He tion. shall be ex-officio, a conservator and justice of the peace within said town, and shall, within the same, exercise all the powers and duties vested in justices, except that he shall have no jurisdiction as such in civil cases. He shall have control of the police of the town, and may appoint special police officers whenever he deems it necessary, and it shall be his duty especially to see that the peace and good order of said town are preserved, and that the persons and property therein are protected; and to this end, he may cause the arrest and detention of all rioters and disorderly persons in said town, before issuing his warrant |