paid in like manner as the same would have been Chap. 197. AN ACT to reorganize the Fire Department of the city of Albany. Passed March 29, 1867; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: missioners. en. SECTION 1. The common council of the city of Fire comAlbany shall appoint five citizens, residents of the said city, to be fire commissioners of said city, with whom the mayor of said city shall, ex officio, be associated as a fire commissioner also of said city, and, together, they and their successors in office, hereinafter provided for, shall form a board of fire commissioners in and for said city, with the powers and duties hereinafter imposed. Said fire commis- How chossioners shall be chosen by said common council by ballot, and no ballot cast shall contain the name of more than one candidate, and the persons receiving the five highest numbers of votes cast, respectively, shall be and be declared to be duly appointed, and shall hold the said office immediately from and after their appointment, which shall be made as soon as may be after the passage of this act, as follows: One Terms of until one year, one until two years, one until three years, one until four years, and one until five years, from the first Monday in June next, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the terms for which they shall serve, respectively, to be fixed by themselves, by lot; and annually thereafter on the first Monday of June Annual apin each year, in place of the commissioner whose pointment term shall then expire, there shall be appointed by sioner. said common council one person, a resident of said city, to be such fire commissioner and member of said board for the term of five years, and the said com- Vacancies. mon council shall also fill by ballot all vacancies in office. of commis President, &c. unexpired terms in said board of fire commissioners, and where there shall exist two or more vacancies at one time, no ballot shall contain more than one name, and the candidates, to the number of the vacancies to be filled, who shall receiver the highest pluralities of the votes cast shall be, and be declared to be duly appointed. $ 2. The mayor of said city shall be ex officio president of said board of fire commissioners, and said board of fire commissioners shall appoint from among themselves a secretary, who shall also act as clerk of the department created by this act, and shall fix the rate of his compensation, subject to the approval of the common council, but the remainder of said commissioners shall serve without pay or Quorum. emolument. Four members of said board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at all regular meetings, and the decision of a majority of a quorum present, at any such meeting, shall stand as the decision of the board, except as provided in section four of this act. Chief engineer, &c. Steam fire engine companies. S3. For the extinguishment of fires in said city, the said board of fire commissioners shall, from time to time, appoint from the exempt or active firemen of said city, one chief engineer and four assistant engineers, to serve for two years unless sooner removed for cause, and shall prescribe their duties, except as provided in section six of this act; and there shall be five steam fire engine companies, with steam fire engines, hose and apparatus complete, to be drawn by horses to be provided for that purpose; said companies to be numbered respectively, one, two, three, four and five, and to have a complement of men each, to be appointed by said board of fire Officers and; commissioners as follows: One engineman, one fireman, and one driver to be permanently employed; and one foreman of hose, one assistant foreman of hose, and fourteen hosemen, to do duty when alarmed, and serve with or without pay, as the common council shall hereafter determine. There shall also be two hook and ladder companies, with vehicles and apparatus complete, to be drawn by horses to be provided for that purpose; said companies to be firemen. Hook and Ladder companies. &c. who to con stitute fire depart ment, &c. office. numbered respectively, one and two, and to have a complement of men each, to be appointed by said board of fire commissioners, as follows, to wit: One officers of, driver, and, if necessary, one tillerman, to be permanently employed, and one foreman, one assistant foreman, four axemen, four rakemen, and thirteen members to do duty when alarmed, and serve with or without pay as the common council shall hereafter determine. The persons so to be appointed to the several posts of fire duty herein before provided, including the chief and assistant engineers, shall be known as the firemen of the city of Albany, and, together with said board, shall constitute the fire department of said city, and shall hold their respective Tenure of places and appointments under said board during good behavior; and the said board of fire commissioners shall fix the rates of their compensation, Rates of subject to the provisions and limitations in this act tion. contained; and they shall not be removed by said board of fire commissioners, except for cause, and after a reasonable opportunity to be heard in their defense. The common council may, from time to Increase of time, by a two-third vote of all the members thereof, companies. direct the said board of fire commissioners to increase the number of companies, or any of them, hereinbefore provided for; and such additional companies shall, in all respects, be organized and maintained pursuant to the provisions of this act. 34. The said board of fire commissioners shall have the control and management of the said fire department, its officers and men, and shall prescribe the rules for its discipline and government; and the said board of fire commissioners shall also have the control and management of the public property now pertaining to the fire department of said city, and that shall hereafter pertain to the department created by this act; and shall, from to time, in their sound. discretion, add to, acquire, and, subject to the approval of the common council, sell or dispose of said property, both real and personal, as the provisions of this act and the exigencies of the department, not inconsistent with this act, may require; and shall pay over to the city treasurer all moneys compensa- . number of Powers and commis duties of fire sioners. that may come to their hands. The said board of fire commissioners are also hereby invested with all the discretionary powers necessary to the faithful execution of this act, including the proper selection and location of all needful buildings and offices, and the complete equipment of the several companies with horses, engines, vehicles and other apparatus, and by a two-third vote of all the members of said board, shall prescribe, control and regulate the expenditures of every kind of the department, created by this act; provided, nevertheless, anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding, that in case of any proring certain posed expenditure, not including repairs and supplies, Duty of commis sioners be fore incur expendi tures.. Duty of chamber but including the schedule of compensation to be established for the employés of the department, and any increase therein, the same shall first be presented by said board to the common council aforesaid, for their approval of the same, at the meeting of said common council at which it shall be so presented; and if said common council shall, at said meeting, or, at the farthest, at the next regular meeting thereafter, upon a call of the yeas and nays, by a majority vote of all the members thereof, disapprove of the same, it shall not be lawful for said board of fire commissioners to incur or contract said expenditure; otherwise it shall be lawful for said board so to do. $5. The chamberlain of the city of Albany shall lain of city audit and pay the bills contracted or incurred by said board of fire commissioners under the provisions of this act, upon production of their warrant therefor, signed by at least four of said commissioners, with the proper vouchers attached, and the moneys required for the said department shall be raised as heretofore by tax, as a part of the current expenses of said city. Duty of chief engl neer. $6. The chief engineer, or, while he shall be absent, the assistant engineer who shall be first at any fire, shall have sole direction and control of the firemen, hose, trucks, vehicles and apparatus of the department during the existence of said fire; always provided, nevertheless, that he shall be subject to, and shall obey and cause to be obeyed by the firemen under his direction, the lawful authority of the mayor in case of riot or other public disturbance. 37. The said board of fire commissioners shall, when required by the common council, report to them the condition of the department, and, on or before the first day of November in each year, shall report in detail to said common council the receipts and expenditures of said department, with other matters pertaining thereto of public interest, including a complete inventory of all the property under their charge; and said report shall also exhibit a particular statement of all fire alarms and fires which have occurred in said city during the preceding year, together with the canses of all such fires, as far as the same shall have been ascertained. It shall also exhibit a particular statement of all losses caused by such fires, and of all insurance thereon. It shall also show the amount of hose which shall have been used; the Sources whence the supply of water was derived; the number and names of all companies under their direction; the names of all members and officers of such companies; the names of all persons in the employ of said board, and the compensation paid to them, and a statement of all expenses paid or incurred under the direction of said board during the year; and shall set forth such other information relating to the fire department as to the board shall seem important. $8. Causes of action upon contract, or for damages arising out of, or pertaining or incident to, the official administration of the department created by this act, shall be brought directly by and against the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of Albany; and the said board of fire commissioners shall not be sued as such, except to compel or to restrain the performance of acts proper to be compelled or restrained under, and not within the discretion intended to be Conferred by this act. from office. $9. The common council, by a two-thirds vote of Removal all the members thereof, may, in case of misconduct, remove from office the said commissioners, or any of them, and declare their places vacant. $10. Chapter one hundred and ninety-four of the |