Ohio Senate Bill No. 345, February 9, 1893

"[Senate Bill No. 345]

AN ACT

To authorize and direct the county commissioners of Hamilton county, Ohio, to widen and improve the Montgomery road from the north corporation line of Cincinnati to the Plainfield road, and for other purposes.

        Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the county commissioners of Hamilton county are hereby authorized and directed to widen, grade and improve the Montgomery road, otherwise known as the Cincinnati and Montgomery turnpike, from the north corporation line of the city of Cincinnati to the Plainfield road in Silverton, in the manner and means hereinafter provided in this act.
        Section 2. The said county commissioners shall have exclusive final jurisdiction and power in all matters relating to the widening and improvement of said Montgomery road, and shall begin proceedings immediately in this behalf with full authority to condemn the necessary property and to make the necessary contracts at any time after the passage of this act.
        Section 3. The said commissioners shall, on the first day of May subsequent to the passage of this act, or as soon thereafter as practical, appoint three freeholders of the county as trustees, one of whom shall be nominated and recommended by the council of the village of Norwood and one by the council of the village of Pleasant Ridge; and the said trustees shall appoint a competent surveyor and all the necessary assistants who shall perform such services and receive such compensation as the trustees may order or require. The trustees shall be sworn to faithfully and honestly discharge their duties, shall furnish bond to the county in the sum of $10,000 each, and shall receive such compensation as the commissioners may allow.
        Section 4. The said Montgomery road shall be widened to the full uniform width of eighty (80) feet from the Duck creek road in Mill creek township to the Plainfield road in Silverton; and the surveyor and trustees shall establish the grade from the corporation line of Cincinnati; and the county commissioners, upon recommendation of the trustees, shall at once condemn and appropriate all private property necessary for this purpose, and shall proceed in their name in one action to ascertain and adjust the compensation to be paid the owners, including any damages claimed under and in accordance with the law providing for the appropriation of private property for street purposes by municipal corporations; and when the value of said private property and the amounts of any damages, if any, have been fixed by the jury, the said board of commissioners shall take the same at the assessed value and proceed forthwith to issue and sell bonds hereinafter provided for that purpose, and with the fund thus realized pay the amount of said compensation and damages assessed by the jury, and the costs and expenses. Said trustees shall be authorized to employ counsel to prepare said condemnation suit for submission to the commissioners, and to assist the county solicitor in the prosecution of the same before the courts, and after the determination of said suit all claims or allowances for damages of any kind or description shall be barred, as to all parties to the action.
        Section 5. The said trustees, immediately after the title to the property necessary for widening has been acquired, and the damages ascertained as provided in the preceding section, shall estimate separately the cost of improving said Montgomery road.
        1. By grading and laying asphaltum or brick pavement in the driveway forty-eight feet wide from the city of Cincinnati to Duck creek road, and thence sixty feet wide to Harris avenue in Norwood, including bridges, culverts and curbs, and also a concrete or cement sidewalk six feet in width on each side of said roadway.
        2. By grading and macadamizing the same and constructing the necessary curbs, flagging, bridges, culverts and also a concrete or cement sidewalk six feet in width on each side of said roadway from Harris avenue to the said Plainfield road in Silverton; and they shall report to the commissioners their estimates, on each section of said Montgomery road as above set forth, separately, with specifications accordingly, together with all expenses incurred in connection therewith.
        Section 6. When the estimates of the trustees are filed and reported, the county commissioners shall at once advertise for bids, for ten consecutive days in one or more newspapers of general circulation in Hamilton county for improving said road between the points names as herein provided, and may, if deemed advisable, divide said road into several section, and said improvement according to the character for the purposes of construction, and may advertise and let a separate contract for each section or kinds of work; and the said commissioners shall award the contract or each contract as the case may be, to the lowest and best bidder. The work shall be done under the supervision of the trustees, who shall report from time to time to the said commissioners.
        Section 7. For the purpose of raising the money necessary to meet the total expense of the improvement, the commissioners of the county are hereby authorized and directed to issue and sell bonds of the county, as they may be needed, first, to pay the costs and expenses of the condemnation and damage proceedings provided in this act; and second, to meet the contract prices of construction and all expenses incident thereto; said bonds shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed five per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, and shall not be sold for less than their par value, and they shall become due in instalments or at intervals not exceeding in all the period of twenty years, and the proceeds from the sale thereof shall be applied and used only for the purposes mentioned in this act.
        Section 8. One-half the costs and expenses of widening said Montgomery road, including the value of the land taken and damages as fixed by the jury, and the interest on the bonds issued, in anticipation of the unpaid assessments if any, shall be assessed by the foot front upon the property bounding and abutting thereto, on both sides, from Duck creek road to the Plainfield road; in addition thereto, one-half of the cost and expense of grading, paving and constructing said driveway, curbs and walks, including interest on bonds issued, in anticipation of the unpaid assessment, if any, from the corporation line of Cincinnati to Harris avenue in Norwood, shall be assessed by the front foot upon the property bounding and abutting upon said improvement between these two designated points, the cost of intersections to be included in making up the total estimate, and assessment; one-half of the cost and expense of grading, macadamizing and improving said roadway and curbs and the construction of the sidewalks from Harris avenue to the Plainfield road, including interest on bonds, issued in anticipation of the unpaid assessments, if any, shall be assessed on both sides, by the foot front, upon the lots and lands bounding and abutting thereon, intersections to be included in making up the total estimate and assessment; and the remaining one-half of the entire cost and expense of widening and improving the said Montgomery road, in the manner herein directed, shall be paid by the county of Hamilton. Each and every one of said special assessments shall be payable in ten annual instalments, if deterred; but any property owner shall have the privilege of paying any or all of his assessments, in cash, without interest, within fifteen days after publication of a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county; after the expiration of said fifteen days, all unpaid assessments, with interest computed and added, shall be placed upon the duplicate for taxation against the lands assessed, and collected in the same manner as other taxes.
        Section 9. The cost and assessments herein provided for shall not exceed the sum of ten dollars ($10) per front foot on the abutting property, between the city of Cincinnati and Harris avenue, Norwood; and the sum of six dollars ($6) per front foot upon all property between said Harris avenue and the Plainfield road; and there shall be no other limitation whatever; and no notice of any kind to the owners thereof shall be required, except as herein provide.
        Section 10. The said county commissioners of Hamilton county, in addition to their other powers of taxation, are hereby authorized and directed to collect in the grand levy of taxes, on all the taxable property of said county on the duplicate for the year 1893, a tax of one-fourteenth of a mill on the dollar; and for the nineteen following years, a similar tax each and every year, of one-fourteenth of a mill on the dollar; the fund so raised to be applied, with the money obtained by said special assessment, to the payment of the bonds and interest, issued pursuant to the direction of this act.
        Section 11. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

ELVERTON J. CLAPP,

Speaker pro tem. of the House of Representatives
ANDREW L. HARRIS,

President of the Senate

Passed February 9, 1893.

57L"

This bill allowed Hamilton County to widen Montgomery road by creating a team of three trustees, one to be selected by Norwood, to direct the widening of the road from the northern corporation line of Cincinnati, through Norwood, to Plainfield road in Silverton. The county commissioners were authorized to take property by condemnation, pay for the property and the roadwork, and sell bonds and levy taxes.

OHIO SENATE BILL NO. 345