A. D. 1911 The law and rules of the Civil Code shall be applicable to this Act so far as may be practicable. The summons may be served by publication as to any defendants who cannot be personally served as provided by law. The services of such notice upon the station agent of any railroad, interurban, or other companies in any county in which the right of way of such company will be affected by such drainage, will be sufficient notice to such railroad or other company, and in case there be no agent of such company in such county, such company shall be notified in the same manner as nonresident landowners. SEC. 3. Examination-Preliminary Report.-The Board of Examination. Viewers shall proceed to examine the land described in said petition, and other land, if necessary, to locate properly such improvement or improvements as are petitioned for, along the route described in the petition, or any other route answering the same purpose if found more practicable or feasible, and may make surveys such as may be necessary to determine the boundaries and elevations of the several parts of the district, and shall make and return to the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas within thirty days, unless the time shall be extended by the said clerk, a written report, which shall set forth: Preliminary report. 1. Whether the proposed drainage is practicable or not. 2. Whether it will benefit the public health or any public highway, or be conducive to the general welfare of the community. 3. Whether the improvements proposed will benefit the land sought to be benefited. 4. Whether or not all the lands that are benefited are included in the proposed drainage district. They shall also file with this report a map of the proposed drainage district, showing the location of the ditch or ditches or other improvement to be constructed in the lands that will be affected thereby, and such other information as they may have collected that will tend to show the correctness of their findings. SEC. 4. Filing Preliminary Report.-The Clerk of Court, Filing prelimi- as aforesaid, shall consider this report. If the viewers report that the drainage is not practicable or that it will not benefit nary report. the public health or any public highway, or be conducive to the general welfare of the community, and the Clerk of Court shall approve such findings, the petition shall be dismissed. Such petition or proceedings may again be instituted by the same or additional landowners at any time after six months, upon proper allegations that conditions have changed or that material facts were omitted or overlocked. If the viewers report that the drainage is practicable and that it will benefit the public health or any public highway, or be conducive to the general welfare of the community, and the Clerk of Court shall so find, then the said clerk shall fix a day when the report will be further heard and considered. A. D. 1911 SEC. 5. Notice.-If the petition is entertained by the aforesaid Clerk of Court, notice shall be given by publication for Notice. two consecutive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation within the county or counties, if one shall be published in such counties, and also by posting a written or printed notice at the door of the courthouse, and at five conspicuous places within the drainage district, that on the date set, naming the day, the said Clerk of Court will consider and pass upon the report of the viewers. At least fifteen days shall intervene between the date of publication and the posting of notices and the date set for the hearing. preliminary SEC. 6. Hearing Preliminary Report.-At the date appointed for the hearing, the Clerk of Court, as aforesaid, shall hear Hearing and determine any objections that may be offered to the report reports. of the viewers. If it appear that there is any land within the proposed levee or drainage district that will not be affected by the leveeing or drainage thereof, such lands shall be excluded and the names of the owners withdrawn from such proceedings; and if it shall be shown that there is any land not within the proposed district that will be affected by the constructing of the proposed levee or drain, the boundary of the district shall be so changed as to include such land, and such additional landowners shall be made parties plaintiff or defendant, respectively, and summons shall issue accordingly, as hereinbefore provided. After such change in the boundaries is made, the sufficiency of the petition shall be verified, to determine whether or not it conforms to the requirements A. D. 1911 land. of the statute as provided in Section 2. The efficiency of the drainage or levees may also be determined, and if it appears that the location of any levee or drain can be changed so as to make it more effective, or that other branches or spurs should be constructed, or that any branch or spur projected may be eliminated or other changes made that will tend to increase the benefits of the proposed work, such modification and changes shall be made by the board. The engineer and the other two viewers may attend this meeting and give any information or evidence that may be sought to verify and to substantiate their reports. If necessary, the petition, as amended, shall be referred by the Clerk of the Court to the engineer and two viewers for further report. The above facts having been determined to the satisfaction of the Clerk of the Court, and the boundaries of the proposed district, so determined, he shall declare the establishment of the drainage or levee district, which shall be designated by a name or number, for the object and purpose as herein set forth. SEC. 7. May Condemn Land.-If it shall be necessary to May condemn acquire a right of way or an outlet over and through lands not affected by the drainage, and the same cannot be acquired by purchase, then, and in such event, the proceeding to secure the condemnation of any right of way which may be necessary for the proper drainage of any drainage district, or any part thereof, and to fix the compensation of the same, shall be the same as that provided by Article IX, Section 20 of the Constitution of 1895, and the statutes enacted pursuant thereto, except that such compensation shall be ascertained by a jury of twelve men, in a court of record, and such damages as may be awarded as compensation shall be paid by the Board of Drainage Commissioners out of the first funds which shall be available from the proceeds of sale of bonds or otherwise. Right of appeal. SEC. 8. Right of Appeal.-Any person or corporation owning lands within the drainage or levee district which he or it thinks will not be benefited by the improvement and should not be included in the district, may appeal from the decision of the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of such county, in term time or at chambers, by filing an appeal, accompanied by a bond conditioned for the payment of the costs, if the appeal should be decided against him, for such sum as the court may require, not exceeding two hundred dollars, signed by two or more solvent sureties, or in some approved surety company, to be approved by the court. A. D. 1911 report. SEC. 9. Complete Survey.-After the district is established Complete the Clerk of the Court shall refer the report of the engineer survey. and viewers back to them to make a complete survey, plans and specifications for the drains or levees or other improvements, and fix a time when said engineer and viewers shall complete and file their report, not exceeding sixty days. SEC. 10. Complete Report.-The engineer and viewers shall Complete have power to employ such assistants as may be necessary to make a complete, survey of the drainage district, and shall enter upon the ground and make a survey of the main drain or drains and all its laterals. The line of each ditch, drain or levee shall be plainly and substantially marked on the ground. The course and distance of each ditch shall be carefully noted and sufficient notes made, so that it may be accurately platted and mapped. A line of levels shall be run for the entire work and sufficient data secured from which accurate profiles and plans may be made. Frequent bench marks shall be established along the line, on permanent objects, and their elevation recorded in the field books. If it is deemed expedient by the engineer and viewers, other levels may be run to determine the fall from one part of the district to another. If an old watercourse, ditch or channel is being widened, deepened or straightened, it shall be accurately cross-sectioned, so as to compute the amount of cubic yards saved by the use of such old channel. A drainage map of the district shall then be completed, showing the location of the ditch or ditches and other improvements and the boundary, as closely as may be determined by the records of the lands owned by each individual landowner within the district. The location of any railroads or public highways and the boundary of any incorporated town or village within the district shall be shown on the map. There shall also be prepared to accompany this map a profile of each levee, drain or watercourse, showing the surface of the ground, the bottom or grade of the proposed A. D. 1911 improvement and the number of cubic yards of excavation or fill in each mile or fraction thereof, and the total yards in the proposed improvement and the estimated cost thereof, and plans and specifications, and the cost of any other work required to be done. damages. SEC. 11. Assessment of Damages. It shall be the further Assessment of duty of the engineer and viewers to assess the damages claimed by any one that is justly right and due to them for land taken or for inconvenience imposed because of the construction of the improvement, or for any other legal damages sustained, such damage shall be considered separate and apart from any benefit the land would receive because of the proposed work. and shall be paid by the Board of Drainage Commissioners when funds shall come into their hands. SEC. 12. Classification of Land According to Benefits.-It shall be the further duty of the engineer and viewers to personally examine the land in the district and classify it with reference to the benfit it will receive from the construction of the levee, ditch, drain or watercourse or other improvement. In the case of drainage, the degree of wetness of the land, its proximity to the ditch or a natural outlet and the fertility of the soil and its effect upon health conditions in the district, shall be considered in determining the amount of benefit it will receive by the construction of the ditch. The land benefited shall be separated in five classes. The land receiving the highest benefit, "Class A;" that receiving the next highest benefit, "Class B;" that receiving the next highest benefit, "Class C;" that receiving the next highest benefit, "Class D," and that receiving the smallest benefit, "Class E." The holdings of any one landowner need not necessarily be all in one class, but the number of acres in each class be ascertained, though its boundary need not be marked on the ground or shown on the map. The total number of acres owned by one person in each class and the total number of acres benefited shall be determined. The total number of acres of each class in the entire district shall be obtained and presented in tabulated form. The scale of assessment upon the several classes of land returned by the engineer and viewers shall be in the ratio of five, four, three, two and one; that is to say, as often |