Chapter 178
2009 -- H 6015
Enacted 08/05/09
A N A C T
RELATING TO THE
Introduced By: Representative Edwin R. Pacheco
Date Introduced: March 24, 2009
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13 and 14 of an act entitled "An
Act to Incorporate the
session of the general assembly A.D. 1934, as amended, is
hereby further amended to read as
follows:
Sec 1. All that part of the Town of
beginning at the intersection of
Burrillville and Glocester town line on
present Route 102 following Burrillville and Glocester
town line to
thence north along
northeast to the most southeast corner of land now or formerly
owned by Gordon and Elsie M.
Robertson (164/012);
thence northeasterly to the junction of
of
of present Route 102; thence westerly following the
northerly line of present Route 102 to the
point of intersection of said northerly line of present
Route 102 and the extension of the most
westerly property line of land now or formerly owned by James
F. Thibault (129/022); thence
northwesterly along the extension of said property line to the most
northwesterly corner of said
Thibault land; thence westerly to the most southerly corner of
land now or formerly owned by
Ross C. and Takeko T. Burnett (129/013); thence westerly to the most
southwesterly corner of
land now or formerly owned by the State of
northeasterly corner of land now or formerly owned by Harry S. Siperstein (144/019); thence
westerly along the land of said Siperstein
approximately 1,452 feet to another corner of said
Siperstein land; thence southwesterly to a point of two hundred
(200') feet beyond the corner of
House (178/001); thence
southwesterly to the point of beginning is hereby incorporated a district
to be called the "Oakland-Mapleville
number 4 fire district". Said district, hereinafter called the
District, may have a
common seal, sue and be sued and enjoy the other powers generally incident
to corporations.
Sec.
2 The taxable inhabitants of said district qualified to
vote in town affairs on
propositions to impose a tax or for the expenditure of money
(thereafter called "Voters") shall be
eligible to vote and act at all meetings of the corporations.
Sec.
3 The annual meeting of said district shall be held on
the second Wednesday in
September
in each year. The first
meeting shall be held on the sixth (6th) Wednesday after the
enactment of this act in the town of
called by twelve (12) or more of the voters of said
district. Such call shall consist of posting in at
least five (5) public places within the said district of
written or printed notices of such meeting
setting forth the time and place within said district where
such meeting will be held, and shall be
given at lease seven (7) days before the time of such
meeting. The notice shall also be published
not less than one week before the meeting in a public
newspaper published daily and which has a
circulation within the town of
of officers pro tempore shall be taken at any meeting of
the district unless at least twelve (12)
voters are present at such meeting. All persons possessing
the qualifications set forth in section 2
of this act shall be entitled to vote by ballot or
otherwise as they determine, at said first meeting
upon the proposition: "Shall the Oakland-Mapleville Number 4 Fire District be established
according to the act of incorporation passed by the general
assembly of the State of
if a majority of the persons so qualified shall vote in
the affirmative, said fire district shall be
established according to the provision of this act. If a majority
of the persons so voting shall vote
in the negative, then this act shall become null and
void.
Sec. 4. The voters of the district at each annual meeting, may elect officers to serve one
year, until the next annual meeting and until others may
be chosen in their stead; which officers
shall consist of a moderator, clerk, treasurer, three (3) assessors
and a collector of taxes, whose
duties and powers within said district shall be such as like
officers of town in this state have in
their respective towns. Such officers shall constitute the operating
committee and any vacancy
that may occur in any of the aforenamed
offices between annual meetings shall be filled by some
person to be chosen by the other members of the operating
committee to hold office until the next
annual meeting. The moderator shall be the chief executive
officer of the district and shall be the
official spokesman for the district. The moderator shall serve
as an ex-officio member of all
committees and subcommittees of the operating committee but
shall vote only when necessary to
break a tie. The operating committee shall have full power
to manage the affairs and interests of
the fire district. The operating committee shall appoint
three (3) fire commissioners. The terms of
office of the fire commissioner shall be for three (3)
years. It shall be the duty of the board of fire
commissioner to elect a fire chief. The fire commissioners shall
have responsibility for
maintaining, repairing and insuring all property, real and
personal owned by the district.
The
terms of office of the fire chief shall be for the period of one year. There
shall be no
limitation on the number of terms a fire chief may serve. The
fire chief shall have general
supervision and control of the fire companies and shall serve as
liaison between the operating
committee and the fire companies.
The
three (3) assessors shall elect one of their members
chairman of the board of
assessors. Their appointment shall be made in such manner that
one member of the board shall be
appointed each year. The chairman shall be the official
spokesman for the assessors.
All
officers, fire warden, commissioners and the fire chief shall be residents and
voters of
the district.
Sec. 5. The voters of the district at any of their
legal meetings, shall have power to order
such taxes, and provide for assessing and collecting the
same on the taxable inhabitants and
property in said district, as they shall deem necessary for purchasing,
hiring and otherwise
procuring real estate, buildings, implements and apparatus and
a supply of water for the
extinguishing of fires; for the purpose of acquiring, furnishing
and distributing water and
electricity throughout the district and for operating and
maintaining the same; for the payment of
the operating expenses of the district; for the
preservation of the public peace; and for the
payment of any indebtedness incurred by the district; and
such taxes so ordered shall be assessed
by the assessors of the said district on the taxable
inhabitants and the property therein according
to the last valuation made by the assessors of the town
next previous to said assessment, adding,
however, any taxable property which have been omitted by said
town assessors or after acquired,
and in all cases where the town assessors have included property
within the district and property
without the district in one valuation, the assessors of the
district shall make an equitable valuation
of the portion of the same lying within the district;
and in the assessing and collecting of said
taxes such proceeding shall be had by the officers of said
district, as near as may be, as are
required to be had by the corresponding officers of towns in
assessing and collection of taxes; and
the collector of taxes for the said district shall, for
the purpose of collecting taxes assessed by said
district, have the same powers and authority as are now or may
hereafter be by law conferred on
collectors of taxes for towns in this state. Said district may
provide for such deductions from the
tax assessed against any person if paid by an appointed
time or for such penalty by way of
percentage on the tax if not paid at the appointed time not to
exceed eighteen percent (18%) per
annum, as they shall deem necessary to insure punctual
payment. In addition to any other sums to
which it may be entitled in accordance with this charter
and applicable laws, in any action or
proceeding to collect taxes, the district shall be entitled to
collect the reasonable costs of
collection including attorney fees.
The
voters of said district at any of their legal meetings shall have power to
order the sale
of real property and personal property owned by the
district.
Sec. 6. The voters of said district at any legal
meeting shall have the power to enact such
bylaws and from time to time to rescind or amend the same in
accordance with the amendment
procedure set forth in the bylaws as they may deem necessary or
proper for the purposes of this
act and not repugnant thereto of inconsistent with any
other law, provided that no greater penalty
shall be inflicted thereby than is provided in this
section, and may appoint such committees as
they may deem necessary and may fix the compensation of
all officers, agents, employees and
committees of the districts. Such bylaws may further prescribe
the duties of fire commissioners;
and of the inhabitants of said district in the time of
conflagration, and the method of enforcing the
commands of the fire commissioners, and for the appointment of
officers for suppressing disorder
and tumult, guarding or removing property, and rendering
other services in time of fire, and also
for the protection of
water pipes, hydrants, safety valves, water gates or other apparatus or
property of or in said district, and for any breach of any
bylaw may provide a penalty not
exceeding a fine of one hundred dollars ($100), to be recovered
for the use of said district, or
imprisonment for a term not exceeding thirty (30) days, which
penalty may be enforced by
prosecution, on complaint of any officer of the fire department,
before any court of competent
jurisdiction. Any such prosecution must first be authorized and
approved by the operating
committee.
Sec. 7. The fire commissioners appointed by said
district may order in time of fire such
buildings to be pulled down or blown up as they may judge
necessary to stop the progress of the
fire; and if it shall happen that the pulling down or
blowing up of any such buildings, by
directions as aforesaid, shall be the cause of stopping the
progress of such fire, or if the fire stops
before it comes to the same, the owners shall be reasonably
paid therefore by a tax on said
district, the amount of which tax will be adjudged by the superior
court for the counties of
Providence and Bristol,
which court is hereby authorized and empowered, on application made by
the owners of property so destroyed, to adjudge and
determine the amount necessary and cause
the same to be certified to the district; but no building
in which any fire shall break out or begin
shall be paid for under this provision.
Sec. 8. The operating committee of said district
at any legal meeting shall have the power
to appoint so many men/women as they think needful to be
formed into a hose company or hose
companies, and also a ladder company, or ladder companies, and
to make all such laws and
regulations for organizing, establishing and maintaining the same
and the equipment thereof as
they shall see fit, and the members of such company shall
be exempt from jury and militia duty.
Sec. 9. Said district may hold special meetings,
which as well as the annual meeting, shall
be held within said district and notification shall be
given of such special meeting in such manner
as the bylaws and state open meetings laws shall
prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the clerk to
call a special meeting on written application signed by
twelve (12) or more voters of the district;
and whenever the subject of ordering a tax or amending
the charter or bylaws is to be acted on,
the same shall be mentioned in the notice, unless it be
the annual meeting.
Sec. 10. Said district may enact all bylaws by it
judged necessary and expedient for
carrying the provisions of the act into effect; provided, that
no greater penalty be inflicted thereby
then is prescribed in the sixth (6th) section hereof; and
provided, further, the same be not in
violation of or repugnant to the laws of this state.
Sec. 11. Said district is hereby authorized, in
such manner as may seem necessary and
proper, to contract for and procure electricity and water
for the purpose specified in this act. All
the powers and privileges given to said district by this
act shall only be exercised subject to an in
accordance with the existing franchise contract between the town
of
water Company.
Sec. 12. District taxes shall constitute a lien
upon the property assessed and if not paid
when due shall carry an interest penalty at the rate
imposed from time to time by vote of said
corporations.
Sec. 13. Said district may also borrow money from
time to time for the purpose herein
specified and issue notes or bonds therefore which shall be
binding upon such district in the same
manner as town or city notes. All bonds are binding upon the
town or city using them, but said
district shall not have outstanding at any time notes or bonds
of a face value or more than three
percent (3%) of the total valuation of real estate within the
said fire district.
Sec. 14. This charter may be amended by a majority
of voters present and voting at any
annual of special meeting of the district, provided the
notice thereof states that an amendment to
the charter shall be considered at such meeting. An
amendment to the charter in conformity with
such prior vote of the district.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage and all
acts and parts of acts
inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
=======
LC02118
=======