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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 11-JLEVYING assessments against property abutting on Miller Street from east line of Grand Avenue to west line of Pine Street; in the City of Beaumont in Jefferson County, Texas, and the owners thereof; and against railroad property and the owners thereof for a share of the cost of improving said portions of said street; fixing personal liability on the respective owners thereof and fixing liens on said respective parcels of property; providing the time and terms of payment of said assessments and penalties for default; authoriz- ing the issuance of special assessment certificates to the contract- or, evidencing said obligations and liens; accepting the work of said improvement, and declaring an emergency. WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Beaumont in Jefferson County, Texas, heretofore ordered the 'improvement of Miller Street from the east line of Grand Avenue to west line of Pine Street (except street.intersections already paved and improved), all as specified in the Resolution ordering such improvement, to which refer- ence is here made; and, WHEREAS, after due advertisement for bids as required by the Charter of said City, contract for making said improvements was award- ed to Scott Shambaugh, who entered into contract with said City under date of the 28th day of July, 1931; and said contractor executed and delivered to the City proper construction and maintenance bonds which were duly approved by the City Commission o Z aid City; and, WHEREAS, as -''provided for in the Charter of said City, the City Engineer furnished to the City Commission a written statement showing a descripti6n of property and the names of the owners thereof, with ang estimate of the cost of such improvement to each property owner as required by said Charter, which statement was duly approved by the City Commission and a time and place was fixed by the City Commission for a hearing to be given to such owners, and notice of the time, place. and purpose of such hearing was duly and legally given as required by said Charter; and, WI-EREAS, said hearing was held at the time and place specified in said notice, and after all owners and others interested had been given a full and fair hearing, said hearing was closed, and all pro- tests acted upon as shown by the proceedings of the bity Commission heretofore had and entered on the minutes of said City, to all of which reference is here made; and, VVEREAS, thereafter said contractor commenced and completed said improvements to the satisfaction of the City Engineer and the City Commission of said City; and, V.TEREAS, the City Engineer has furnished the City Commission with a revised statement showing a description of the respective parcels of property abutting said portion of said street aforesaid, together with the names of the owners of said respective parcels of property, and a description of railroad and street railway property and the names of the owners thereof; which statement also shows the number of frontfeet of each parcel of property abutting said portions of said street as correct- ed by him from actual measurements on the ground during construction work, and an itemized statement of the actual cost of said improvements in front of each respective parcel of property as the property owners share of the cost thereof, as well as a statement of the railroad and street railway share of such costs; and, OF THE CITY OF BE ATJMONT Section 1. That the work of improving said Miller Street from east line of Grand Avenue to west line of Pine Street, be, and the same is here now accepted as being complete, in compliance with the plans and specifications and contract for said improvement. Section 2. That there be and there is hereby levied and assessed against each respective parcel of property above named, abutting said portions of said street aforesaid, as well as against the property of any railroad or street railway company using, occupy- ing or crossing the same, and again'-st the respective owners of said respective parcels of abutting property and the owners of said rail- road or railway property, the respective sums of money mentioned -and itemized in said statement aforesaid, with the total amount assessed set opposite the description of the respective parcels of property. Section 3. The sums of money hereby assessed against the property of railroads and street railways and the owners thereof, (otherwise than abutting property) is for the improvements made between and under the rails and tracks, and two feet on each side thereof, and the sums so assessed is the cost of such improvement in such area and shall be payable at the times and in the manner hereinafter specified for the payment of the abutting owner's share of the -cost of such im- provement. And to secure the payment of said assessment, a lien is hereby fixed and created against and upon the rails, tracks, fixtures, rights, franchises and other property of said railroads and street railways, which lien is hereby made first and superior to any other lien, claim or title, except liens for ad valorem taxes. raid assess- ments are hereby declared to be and are hereby made the personal ob- ligation and liability of the real and true owners of said railroad or railway property, and such personal obligation and liability as well as the lien hereby fixed to secure the payment of said assess- ments, may be enforced in any court of competent jursidiction. Section 4. That the respective sums of money hereby assessed against said respective parcels of abutting property and the owners thereof, as aforesaid and interest thereon at the rate of seven per cent per annum, payable annually as it accrues, togethwr with reasonable attorney's fees and costs of collection, if incurred, 'are hereby de- clared to be and are hereby made the personal obligation and liability of the real and true owner or owners of said respective parcels of property so assessed, whether correctly named or not above and a lien is hereby created and fixed upon said respective parcels of property to secure the payment, of said respective assessments; which lien is hereby declared to be superior to all other liens, claims, or titles, except City, County and State taxes, and said personal liability and charge, as well as said lien, may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction. The owners of property named above are hereby declared to be personally obligated to pay said assessments.' The lien hereby created against said respective parcels of property shall exist against the same, regardless of whether the name of the owner be correctly given above or not, and regardless of whether such property may be correctly described or not. except asmaybe modified_ by any applicable general law relating to such relating back) and shall operate from and after said date r. in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of said City. Section 6. The sums of money hereby assessed against abutting and rail- way property and the respective owners thereof, shall become due and payable (except as hereinafter stated) as of the date of the com- pletion of said work and the acceptance thereof by said City aseviden- ced by a resolution of acceptance, and if said assessments are not paid at said time, they shall bear interest from such date until paid at the rate of seven per cent per annum, payable :annually as it accrues, and all past due interest shall bear interest from the maturity thereof, until paid, at the same rate per auun, payable annually as it accrues. Provided, however, that if the owners of any of said respective parcels of property shall have contracted with the contractor making said improvements for the privilegeof paying said assessments on the deferred payment plan, then said respective assessments shall mature at the times and in the manner provided for in said contracts, in which event said assessments shall bear interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum from date until paid, payable annually as it accrues, and all past due interest shall bear interest from the maturity thereof until paid, at the same rate, payable annually as it accrueg.- In all cases of deferred payments, each such owner or her, his or its successor in the title thereto, or any one interested therein, shall have the privilege of discharging the whole amount assessed against him, or any installment thereof, at any time before maturity upon payment thereof with accrued interest. In theevent of default in the payment of any installment of either principal or interest on said respective assessments, then at the option of the holder thereof, the whole of the same maybe declared due and payable, without notice, whereupon all unpaid principal and interest together with all costs and reasonable expenses for collecting the same including reasonable attorney's fres, if incurred, shall be collectible as a personal obligation of the owner of said respective parcp-ts of pro- perty and shall be secured by a lien on said respective parcels of pro- perty, with the superiorities hereinbefore set forth andsta.ted, and such personal liability and lien may be enforced in any court having juris- diction. Section 7. If default shall be made in the payment of any installment of either principal or interest, when due, then at the option of the con- tractor or other legal owner and holder thereof, said. obligation shall at once mature in full, without notice, and the full amount of the principal thereof then unpaid, shall be collectible with accrued interest costs and expenses of collection, including reasonable attorney's fees, if incurred. Section S. The City of Beaumont shall not in any manner be liable to the contractor or other holder of said obligation and liens, for the payment of any of the sums of money so assess ed as aforesaid by said contractor and his assigns or other holder thereof shall look solely and only to said property and the owners thereof for the payments of said sums of money, but the City of Beaumont, shall, upon request of the holder of any of said obligations and liens, exercise all of its lawful powers to aid in the enforcement of said obligations and liens; provided, however, that before said City shall be required to render such aid, it shall be first indemnified to its entire satisfaction against the payment of all costs and expenses of such aid, in whatever manner such aid may be rendered. Section 8. For the purpo; e of evidencing the obligations and liens afore- said and to aid in the enforcement thereof, assignable certificates shall be issued by said City to said Contractor or his assigns, upon the completion of said improvement aforesaid and its acceptance by the City Commission, which said certificates shall be executed in the name of said City by its Mayor and attested by its City Clerkwith its corporate seal affixed to each certificate , , but it shall not be necessary to affix the seal to any coupon. Said certificates shall be payable to the Contractor or his assigns, at the times and in the manner hereinbefore specified, and shall state the total amount of the assessment, the name or names of the respective owners of such proper- ty, with a description of said respective parcE�hs of property by lot and block number and addition to said city or by such other description as shall be sufficient to properly identify the same; shall state the rate of and how the principal and interest shall be payable; shall pro- vide that the owner or any successor in the title may pay off the whole of the same at any time or any installment thereof upon payment of un- paid principal with aaeupd accrued interest; shall reciteX the date of the ordinance by virtue- of which said certificate is issuedas well as the date of the contract f or such improvements, and the date of the , completion_ of same and acceptance by the City; shall provide for accellera.tive maturity in the event of default in payment of any install- ment of principal or interest when due, with penalties for such default, including costs of collection and reasonable attorney's fees, iffincurred: shall recite the personal liabilityT and liens and the superiority thereof as provided for in the Charter of said City and shall further recite that the proceedings with reference to making said improvements have been regularly had in compliance with the terms of the Charter of said City and that all prerequisites to the fixing of the lien and claim of personal liability shall be prima facie evidence of the facts so recited, and no other proof shall without further. proof, be presumad to have been had and performed. Said certificates, in the event owners have contract- ed for deferred payments as aforesaid, may have coupons attached to said certificates evidencing said deferred payments in such formas may be satisfact-ory to the Mayor and City Clerk and shall be signed with the fac similie signatures of the Mayor and City Clerk of said City. Said certificates need not be in the exact language specified above, but may be in any form sufficient to carry into effect, under the provisions of the Charter of said City, all recitals necessary to make the same prima facie evidence of said obligation and lien and the right to enforce the same as hereinbefore providedand if substantial conformity= with the , provisions of the Charier and of this ordinance shall be sufficient. Section 10. The fact that said portions of said street have been completed and should be opened to traffic for the safety of the traveling public and the further fact that said work should be accepted at once and settlement made with the contractor so as to prevent the City from be- coming liable for interest on the assessments, creates an imperative public emergency necessitating the suspension of the rule requiring all ordinances to be read more than one time or at more than one meeting, wheref ore, such rule is hereby suspended and this ordinance shall be in full force and effect immediately from and after its passage and approval. Passed and approved, this the 6th day of OctoberA. D. 193119 by the affirmative vote of all members of the City Commission. �[ — MAYRR., City 16f.Bea mont. Texas.