Subsequent district road meetings, how called.

of the several road districts in the township of Millville, in the county of Cumberland, shall be elected by the legal voters of the several districts, as they may be arranged from time to time by the township committee in said township; and for the purpose of carrying this provision into effect, it shall be the duty of the township committee of the said township to give public notice of the time and place of holding the first district road meetings under this act, and which meetings shall be held on the Saturday next previous to the annual town meetings in said township; and shall cause notice thereof to be posted up in some conspicuous place in such district, at least five days before the time of holding any such meeting, which shall be some convenient place in the district, when and where the legal voters in the township residing in such road district, shall assemble for the purpose of such election; and at which time and place such legal voters assembled, having been called to order by any legal voter in the road district, shall proceed viva voce, by the holding up of hands or by count, to elect a moderator of such meeting by plurality of votes; and being so organized, the meeting shall proceed as in the election of a moderator to elect an overseer of the highway for such road district: the moderator of each district meeting shall notify the township committee at their first meeting after such election, in writing, of the election of such overseer; and in case of the failure of any district to elect an overseer, or of the person so elected to accept of the appointment, the township committee shall fill such vacancy and furnish a list of the names of said overseers of the highways so elected or appointed to the clerk of the township, and it shall be his duty to publish the same, with the names of the officers and proceedings of said first town meeting after the election of said overseers.

2. And be it enacted, That all subsequent district road meetings in said township shall be called by the overseers of the respective road districts, upon notice posted up in some conspicuous place in such road district, at least five days before the time of holding such meeting; and all such

subsequent district road meetings shall be held on Saturday preceding the annual town meetings in said township; and should the overseer of any district fail to call such meeting or the individual elected refuse to accept such appointment, or in case of a vacancy arising from any other cause, the township committee shall fill such vacancy, and cause the names of the persons so elected or appointed to be published as aforesaid.

Approved March 23, 1859.

CHAPTER CXCVII.

AN ACT for the removal of all obstructions to the free passage of the waters of the Passaic river and its small streams, between the turnpike bridge, in the village of Chatham, and the northeast end of an island, belonging to Charles Hopping and John Cook, a short distance below Cook's bridge, at Hanover, Morris county.

to be made

subject to be

1. BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of Assessments the State of New Jersey, That for the greater convenience on lands of the owners of these flowed lands to improve the same overflowed. by drainage, they shall begin at the turnpike bridge, in the village of Chatham, and from thence shall terminate. their work at the northeast end of an island in the river Passaic, belonging to Charles Hopping and John Cook, a small distance below Hanover bridge; that it shall be the duty of the managers, to be appointed as hereinafter men.

How assessments are to be made.

Commissioners of appeal.

Parties aggrieved by

may appeal.

tioned, to make assessments upon all the lands within the bounds aforesaid, subject to be flowed by the Passaic river and its branches, between the turnpike bridge, at the village of Chatham, to a point below the northeast end of the aforesaid island, below Cook's bridge, at Hanover, for all such sums of money as they in their judgment shall deem sufficient to remove all obstructions to the free course of the waters in and near said river and its branches, between the points above indicated.

2. And be it enacted, That the said assessments shall be made equitably, whether in proportion to the quantity, and the advantage and benefit the said lands will derive from the clearing out of the obstructions, whatever they be, in and near the river aforesaid; and in order to ascertain the sums of money necessary to be raised, it shall be the duty of said managers, or a majority of them in each district aforesaid, to view and examine said river, the obstructions to be removed in the same, as well as the several road embankments near the bridges, and which appear to act as dams upon the river to stop its course.

3. And be it enacted, That Stephen D. Hunting, Joseph C. Ward and William T. Budd shall be commissioners of appeal in and for the district aforesaid before described in section first, with full power and authority to review the assessments made by the said managers, and to reduce any assessment made by the said managers to such sum as they, or a majority of them, shall deem just and equitable; and the decision of said commissioners shall be final and conclusive upon all parties.

4. And be it enacted, That the said managers, or one of assessment them, shall give notice in writing to the owner or owners, possessor or possessors, of the flowed lands by them assessed, of the assessment made and the amount to be paid by each; and if any person shall consider himself or herself aggrieved, it shall be lawful to apply to the said commissioners, whose duty it shall be thereupon to fix a day when they shall meet upon the lands alleged to be overtaxed, of which meeting three days' notice shall be given

to the party applying to said commissioners, and also to said managers; and the said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall, at the time and places so appointed, proceed to hear the allegations of the parties and examine the lands assessed, and make such order touching the assessment complained of as they shall deem just and proper; and in case said commissioners shall reduce the amount of any assessment, they may at the same time make such allowance of expenses to the party aggrieved as they may think just, and also deduct the same from the amount of his, her, or their assessments.

in case of

ment of as

5. And be it enacted, That the owners and possessors of Proceedings said lands, respectively, shall be liable to pay the amount non-pay. of the assessments to be made as aforesaid; and in case sessments. any person shall neglect for the space of forty days, after notice given to him or her, and demand of payment to pay his or her quota of the said assessment, or to apply to said commissioners to meet and hear his or her complaint against such assessment, then it shall be lawful for said managers, or a majority of them, to make return of the name of such person, with the amount of his or her assessment; or in case said commissioners shall have reduced the amount of any assessment, then of the amount adjudged • by said commissioners to be just, to any justice of the peace in the county where such person resides, and the said justice, upon the oath of any one of said managers that the amount has been duly demanded forty days previous thereto, and remains unpaid, shall immediately issue a warrant of distress, directed to some one of the constables of said county, commanding him within thirty days to levy upon and seize the goods and chattels of such delinquent, and make sale of so much thereof as may be necessary to pay such sum of money, together with the costs, and pay the same over to the managers, or one of them, and the justice and constable shall be entitled to the same fees and subject to the same penalties as in other cases of taxation.

lected, how

6. And be it enacted, That the said managers shall apply Moneys colthe moneys assessed and collected under this act to clear to be appli

ed.

Election of managers.

out and remove obstructions in said river and its branches aforesaid, as well as to procure the extension of county bridges, where the passage of the river has not sufficient room; also in such cases as where it evidently appears that any of these causeways or the embankments to said bridges have been formed so high above the flat land as to act as dams to interrupt the flow of the freshet waters and force the same back upon the lands, then and in that case said managers to proceed and open sluices through embankments of sufficient depth to let the surplus water through the same and bridge over said sluices so as not to impede the public travel; and said managers shall keep just and true accounts of all moneys by them received, expenses incurred and payments made, which accounts the said managers shall lay before a committee to be chosen as hereinafter directed at the annual meeting of the owners of the flowed lands, when this committee shall report upon the same, and the balances there may be, if any, shall be paid over to their successors in office, and upon neglect or refusal so to do, the same may be recovered of them by action of debt, to be prosecuted in the proper name of any one of the committee aforesaid, before any court having cognizance thereof, to be applied to the purpose of removing obstructions in said river.

7. And be it enacted, That the owners and possessors of the flowed lands between the turnpike bridge in the village of Chatham and the northeast end of an island in the river Passaic below Cook's bridge, in Hanover, belonging to Charles Hopping and John Cook, shall meet on the fourth Tuesday of April next after the passage of this act, at one o'clock in the afternoon at the school-house in Squiretown, in Livingston, Essex county, and then and there, by a majority of votes of those met, choose three persons, being owners of the said lands overflowed, to be managers under this act for the ensuing year, and also three other persons to constitute a committee to examine the accounts of said managers, and the subsequent annual meetings shall be held on the fourth Tuesday of April, at such place as a