Before the Council shall determine to lay out, alter, extend,
enlarge, change, or discontinue any highway, street, avenue, or public
walk, or grade thereof, or designate any building line in said city, it shall cause a notice, signed by the Mayor
or Clerk of said city, describing in general terms such proposed action
and specifying a time when and place where all persons whose land
is proposed to be taken therefor, or which may be affected thereby,
may appear and be heard in relation thereto, to be published not less
than twice in a newspaper published in said city, at least five days
before the time fixed in such notice for such hearing, and such publication
shall be legal and sufficient notice to persons and corporations whose
land it is proposed to take for such layout or alteration, or over
which said line is proposed to be established. At the time and place
mentioned in said notice, and at any meeting adjourned therefrom,
said Council, either by itself or by a Committee appointed by it,
shall hear all parties in interest who may appear and desire to be
heard in relation thereto. If, after such hearing, said Council shall
determine that public convenience and necessity require the layout,
alteration, extension, enlargement, or discontinuance of such highway,
street, avenue, or wall, or grade thereof, or the designation of such
building line, is shall appoint a Committee, whose duty it shall be
to make such layout or alteration, or designate such building line,
and report the same to said Council, which report shall embody a descriptive
survey of such highway, avenue, street, walk, grade, line, or lines,
and an estimate and appraisal of benefits or damages, as the case
may be, resulting or accruing to any person or persons from the taking
of such land for public use as aforesaid, or from such layout, alteration,
extension, enlargement, change, discontinuance, or grade, or such
designation of such line or lines. The Council shall thereupon give
at least 10 days' notice to every person interested by reason
of his land being taken or benefited by the proposed improvement,
by publishing the same in a newspaper published in said city, stating
therein the time when and place where said Council will hear objections
to such layout, alteration, designation, survey, estimate, or appraisal
and at the time and place specified in such notice said Council shall
hear all parties interested in relation to the acceptance of such
report of its Committee, wholly or in part, and in regard to any modification
thereof. Said Council, having heard all the parties who may appear,
may accept such report or return the same to its said Committee for
revision; or said Council may, itself, revise, modify, or change such
layout, alteration, designation, survey, estimate, or appraisal, and
recast and revise such report. After such Council has determined upon
a descriptive survey of such highway, avenue, street, walk, or grade,
or building line or lines, and upon the assessment of benefits or
appraisal of damages, as the case may be, resulting or accruing to
any person or persons from the taking of such land for public use
as aforesaid, or from such layout, alteration, extension, enlargement,
discontinuance, or grade, or such designation of such line or lines,
the Clerk of the city shall record the same and cause a notice, signed
by the Mayor or Clerk of said city, stating the names of the persons
so assessed, with the amount of their respective assessments, to be
published not less than three times in a newspaper published in said
city. The Council shall order the damages so appraised to be paid
to the person to whom they are appraised or their authorized agents
from the City Treasury within 60 days thereafter, and in case any
person shall neglect or refuse to receive the same it shall be retained
in the City Treasury subject to his order, provided the whole amount
of the benefits assessed for any particular layout, alteration, extension,
enlargement, discontinuance, or designation shall not exceed the whole
amount of damages appraised on account of said layout, alteration,
extension, enlargement, discontinuance, or designation, with the estimated
cost of making said improvements. After the payment or tender of the
damages, as hereinbefore provided, the city shall proceed with said
improvement, and upon completion thereof, and certification of such
completion by the City Engineer to the Mayor, said assessments shall forthwith become due and payable to said city, and the Mayor shall issue his warrant to the Tax Collector for the collection thereof, and any assessment which shall not be paid within 60 days thereafter shall be a lien upon the land or other property against which said assessment was made, and said lien shall be continued and may be foreclosed as provided in §
1-266 hereof.
