§ 124 — Contracts for paving

§ 124. Contracts for paving. The common council shall, by general\nordinance, prescribe, approve and adopt the materials to be used in\npaving, repaving, repairing, surfacing or resurfacing the streets and\npublic places of the city, and fix the standard of excellence and test\nrequired for each such material. The city engineer shall prepare\nstandard specifications, in accordance with such ordinance, for the\nperformance of the work involved in such improvements with each kind of\nmaterials so prescribed, approved and adopted therefor. Whenever the\ncommon council shall determine to make any such improvement, and the\nproceedings provided by law as preliminary thereto shall have been\ntaken, the board of contract and supply shall advertise for proposals\nfor the furnishing of the materials and the performance of the work\ninvolved in such improvements, and specifications shall be prepared and\nproposals shall be invited, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter,\nfor the construction of such improvement with each kind of paving\nmaterial so prescribed, approved and adopted by the common council. In\ncase the expense of any such improvement is to be assessed upon the\nproperty abutting upon the street, or part thereof, to be improved and\nmore than one kind of material is prescribed, approved or adopted\ntherefor, the secretary of the board shall, within one week after\nproposals for such work have been received and opened, cause to be\npublished in a daily official paper for four successive days, exclusive\nof Sunday, a notice containing a summary statement of all such\nproposals. A majority of said property owners, owning not less than\none-third of the feet front of property abutting on such street,\nexclusive of city property, may present to the board of contract and\nsupply a petition or other writing designating the general kind of\npavement or material to be used in making said improvement. If no part\nof the expense of such improvement is to be assessed upon the property\nabutting upon said street, or if such expense is to be so assessed, but\nthe property owners shall not have made a designation or shall have made\nmore than one designation, as herein provided, the common council shall,\nnot later than at its next regular meeting after the expiration of ten\ndays from the service of such notice, designate the kind of pavement or\nmaterial to be used in making such improvement, and the contract for\nsuch improvement shall be awarded for the kind of pavement or material\nso designated by the property owners or common council as aforesaid, and\nto the lowest bidder for doing the work with the kind of pavement or\nmaterial so designated. In case, however, two-thirds of the owners of\nproperty, owning at least three-fifths of the linear feet fronting upon\nsaid street, or part thereof, shall designate a particular make, style\nor brand of the kind of pavement or material to be used in making such\nimprovement, the contract therefor shall be awarded to the lowest bidder\nfor such make, style or brand of such kind of pavement or material,\nalthough the same is not the lowest bid for such kind of pavement or\nmaterial so designated. Where a street surface railroad shall be laid in\nany street which it is determined to improve as herein provided, the\nproposals and contract for such improvement shall include the\nimprovement of the space between the tracks of such street surface\nrailroad, the rails of such tracks and two feet in width outside of such\ntracks, and the work of improvement in such space shall be done at the\nsame time and under the same supervision as the work of improvement of\nthe remainder of such street. After opportunity to be heard has been\ngiven to the company owning or operating such street surface railroad,\nthe board of contract and supply may prescribe the materials to be used\nin improving such street within the railroad space above described. The\nentire expense of the improvement within such railroad space shall be\nassessed and levied upon the property of the company owning or operating\nsuch railroad and shall be collected in the same manner as other\nexpenses for local improvements are assessed, levied and collected in\nthe city; and an action may also be maintained by the city against the\ncompany in any court of record for the collection of such expense and\nassessment.\n