CHAPTER XII.
CITY ENGINEER.
Sec. 129. Election, term and duties.
The Council may elect a City Engineer, whose term of office
shall be for two years and who shall continue in office until
his successor be elected and qualified, unless sooner removed
from office, and who shall receive such salary as may be fixed
by the Council. His duties shall be to give a general supervision
to all streets, grounds, buildings, water works, sewers, and all
other property belonging to the city, and to make such surveys
and estimates, and do such other things in the line of his profession
as the Council and the various committees thereof may
direct, or the necessities of the city may require, whether such
duties be specially prescribed in these ordinances or not. He
may also be the architect of the city as to all public buildings
and improvements. He shall also perform such engineering
work for the gas department as may be necessary.
Sec. 130. Furniture, stationery, etc.
He shall be supplied by the city with all necessary furniture,
blank books and stationery; but all such articles, together with
all maps, plans, estimates and papers pertaining to his office,
shall be turned over by him to his successor, who shall hold the
same in like manner as the property of the city; or they shall
belong to the city in case of a vacancy in the office or the abolition
of the same.
Sec. 131. Employees, employment of.
He shall be held responsible for all work done in his department.
He shall have power of appointment and removal of all
assistants or employees; but the number of assistants and employees
in said department and the salaries paid the same, shall
be subject to the control of the Council. All inspectors employed
on public works of the city shall be considered employees
of the City Engineer's office, and shall report directly to said
Engineer. All foremen, laborers, teams and mechanics employed
to work on the streets, or public buildings of the city, shall be
employed by the City Engineer and shall be under his control,
subject to the regulations prescribed by the Council. The number
of foremen, men or teams employed on said work or improvements,
and the wages thereof agreed to be paid, shall in
like manner be prescribed by the Council. All persons so employed
may be dismissed by the City Engineer as he may deem
proper and expedient.
Sec. 132. General supervision, plans, estimates, repairs,
etc.
He shall look after the physical condition of the city, shall
prepare plans, estimates and specifications for the opening of
streets and all public works of whatsoever character, the conducting
of such surveys as shall be required for the proper preparation
of said plans, estimates and specifications, and the supervision
of all work in his department ordered by the Council.
He shall have general and professional supervision over all public
work to be done for or by the city, as the same may be ordered
by the Council; and shall make and superintend the repairs
to all bridges, streets, and public buildings of the city requiring
immediate attention; provided, however, that an amount exceeding
twenty-five dollars shall not be expended on any one
piece of work without the approval of the Council. But the
City Engineer shall make no repairs or improvements whatever
on the bridges, streets, or public buildings of the city at any
time, except in cases of absolute necessity or emergency (and
then in any such case to be subject to the limitation of cost
above prescribed), unless he is authorized by the Council or a
committee thereof vested with authority by order of the Council.
He shall have charge, and be the custodian, of all real and
personal property not in charge of regularly appointed officers
of departments to which said property belongs, and shall report
the amount and condition of the same to the Council, or
appropriate committee thereof, at least once a year.
Sec. 133. Map of the streets.
He shall make and keep in his office, as the property of the
city, a map showing the location of all public streets, the extent
to which they may have been paved, macadamized or graded,
and the grades of same when established.
Sec. 134. Map of culverts and sewers.
He shall make and preserve in his office, as the property of
the city, a map showing the location and dimensions of all
culverts and sewers constructed or used by the city; and shall
place upon said map each new sewer and culvert as made.
Sec. 135. Map of water mains.
He shall make and keep in his office as the property of the
city, a map showing the location, course and dimensions of each
water main in the city, and shall note thereon every change and
extension thereof.
The superintendent of the water works shall furnish all information
necessary to enable him to make such map, and shall
promptly report to him, in writing, any such change or extension,
and a copy of such map shall be furnished by the Engineer
to said superintendent.
Sec. 136. Map of gas mains.
He shall make and keep in his office as the property of the
city a map showing the location, course and dimension of each
gas main in the city, and shall note thereon every change and
extension thereof. The superintendent of the gas works shall
furnish all information necessary to enable him to make such
map, and shall promptly report to him, in writing, any such
change or extension, and a copy of such map shall be furnished
by the Engineer to said superintendent.
Sec. 137. Surveys, building lines or grades.
He shall, when required to do so by the owner of any abutting
property, give the building line or grade line of any street
or alley on which said property abuts, and shall survey any lot
for the owner thereof, and for such services the following fees
shall be charged for the city; and shall be collected by him and
paid into the city treasury: for giving building lines or grade
lines, 50 feet or less, $1.50, and 2 cents per lineal foot for any
excess; and survey of any lot, $5, and $2 for each additional adjacent
lot surveyed at the same time.
Sec. 138. Interest in contracts, etc., forbidden.
It shall be unlawful for the City Engineer, or any person employed
by him as overseer of work, to directly or indirectly for
himself or others, or by others in trust for him, to have any interest
or concern in any contract or agreement for the purchase
or sale to the city of any material to be used by the city, or for
any work to be done for the city for any purpose whatsoever;
neither shall he be surety upon any bond for the performance
of any such work, or purchase or sale of any material to the city.
Sec. 139. To take notice of encroachment on streets by
buildings, etc.
It shall be the duty of the City Engineer to take notice of any
encroachment upon the line of any street or highway, by any
building or buildings and of projecting doors, steps or windows
from the same, and shall give notice to the person causing such
encroachment to remove the same, and upon his failure to do
so said Engineer shall report the facts to the Mayor for such
action as he may deem necessary in the premises.
Sec. 140. Report to council monthly particulars of work.
He shall keep a record of all transactions in his department,
and report to the Council once a month and at such other times
as the Council may require, or he may deem proper, all particulars
of the work under his charge, and such other information
as he may deem important or the Council may require; and the
records of said Engineer shall at all times be open to the inspection
of any member of the Council or officer of the city.
Sec. 141. Building permits.
He shall issue permits for all buildings to be erected within
the city as prescribed by the ordinances; and a record of such
permits shall be kept in his office.
Sec. 142. Inspection of buildings for business purposes.
He shall inspect all buildings erected for business purposes
within the city limits before the same shall be occupied, and
shall see that such buildings are so constructed as not to be a
menace to life or property. Whenever he shall discover any
building in course of erection, which in his opinion is dangerous,
or likely to become so, he shall immediately order a cessation
of work thereon, and require any defect in the manner of
its construction to be remedied.
Sec. 143. Inspection of telephone, telegraph and other
poles.
He shall at least once a year, make a careful inspection of all
telegraph, telephone and other poles carrying wire, erected within
the corporate limits of the city, and if any pole be found to be
defective or dangerous from any cause, he shall notify the corporation,
firm or individual owning such pole; and it or they shall
forthwith replace the same with a sound pole; and if such owner
or owners neglect or refuse to replace such defective pole within
twenty-four hours after receiving such notice, the person or corporation
so offending shall be fined $5 for each and every day
during which said neglect or refusal shall continue.
Sec. 144. Annual report by.
At the first regular meeting in September of each year he shall
make a report to the Council, setting forth the condition of the
streets, and of all the public property, what improvements and repairs
have been made during the past year, and the cost thereof,
and make such suggestions as he may think proper for the improvement
of his department and of the public property under
his supervision. It shall further be his duty to call the attention
of the Mayor and police to all infractions coming to his knowledge
of the ordinances affecting his department, the streets, and
other public property.
Sec. 145. Vacancy in office of city engineer—who to
perform duties.
In the event of a vacancy in the office of City Engineer the duties
and authority pertaining to said office, as outlined in this
and other chapters of these ordinances, shall, as far as practicable,
be performed by the officials or committees to whose department
said duties properly pertain.
