1

Proviso.

May distribute
water, fix and
collect rates,

etc.

Certain rights
of town not
affected.

When to take
effect, etc.

Chap.440

R. L. 111, § 149,
amended.

proper purposes of this act, the Great Barrington Fire District may enter upon and dig up any such lands and ways: provided, however, that the said fire district shall not enter upon or dig up any public way in the town of Egremont, except with the consent of the board of selectmen thereof; and the said fire district shall restore to the satisfaction of the selectmen of the said town the public ways dug up or otherwise disturbed therein, and shall pay all damages sustained by any person in consequence of any act or neglect upon the part of the Great Barrington Fire District, its agents or employees, in digging up or otherwise disturbing any lands or public or private ways within the town of Egremont.

SECTION 2. The Great Barrington Fire District may distribute water through the town of Egremont or any part thereof, and may regulate the use of such water and fix and collect rates for the use of the same; and the town of Egremont or any fire district now or hereafter established therein, or any individual or corporation, may make such contract with the Great Barrington Fire District for the extinguishment of fires and for other purposes as may be agreed upon between said town, fire district, individual or corporation, and the Great Barrington Fire District; and the said fire district may establish and maintain fountains and hydrants in the town of Egremont and relocate or discontinue the same.

SECTION 3. Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to prevent or hinder the town of Egremont from hereafter establishing a system of public water works of its own or from obtaining a supply of water for the use of its inhabitants from some other source than said Great Barrington Fire District.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect its upon passage, but shall become void unless the Great Barrington Fire District shall begin to distribute water through its pipes to consumers in the town of Egremont within three years after the date of the passage of this act.

Approved June 3, 1902.

AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE ABOLITION OF GRADE CROSSINGS. Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. Section one hundred and forty-nine of chapter one hundred and eleven of the Revised Laws is

SO

a

hereby amended by inserting after the word "corpora-
tion", in the third line, the words or the directors of
a street railway company having a location in that part
of the public way where such crossing exists, also by
adding at the end of said section the words:- Upon all
petitions hereafter filed, and upon all now pending, on
which no commission has been appointed, for the aboli-
tion, discontinuance or alteration of grade crossings, in
cases where any street railway company has tracks duly
located in that part of the public way in which the cross-
ing or crossings sought to be abolished, discontinued or
altered, are situated, such street railway company shall
be made a party and entitled to be heard as such,
as to read as follows: Section 149. The mayor and
aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town in which
public or private way and a railroad cross each other at
grade, the directors of the railroad corporation, or the
directors of a street railway company having a location
in that part of the public way where such crossing exists,
or, upon instructions from the governor and council given
after notice to parties interested and a hearing, the
attorney-general, may file a petition in the superior court
stating that the petitioners are of opinion that it is neces-
sary for the security and convenience of the public that
an alteration should be so made in such crossing, in the
approaches thereto, in the location of the railroad or pub-
lic or private way, or in the grades thereof, as to avoid
a crossing at grade, or that such crossing should be dis-
continued with or without building a new way in sub-
stitution therefor. The superior court shall thereupon
have jurisdiction in equity, after notice by the petitioner
to the board of railroad commissioners of the entry, of
such petition, and after such notice by advertisement or
otherwise as the court shall order and a hearing, in its
discretion, to appoint a commission of three disinterested
persons. Upon all petitions hereafter filed, and upon all
now pending on which no commission has been appointed,
for the abolition, discontinuance or alteration of grade
crossings, in cases where any street railway company has
tracks duly located in that part of the public way in
which the crossing or crossings sought to be abolished,
discontinued or altered, are situated, such street railway
company shall be made a party and entitled to be heard
as such.

Commission to crossings, ap

abolish grade

pointment, etc.

R. L. 111, § 151, amended.

SECTION 2. Section one hundred and fifty-one of said chapter one hundred and eleven is hereby amended by inserting after the word "construction", in the eleventh line, the words: - the actual cost to the street railway company of changing its railway and location to conform to the decree of the court, - by inserting after the word "provided", in the thirteenth line, the words :Said commission may, subject to a right of appeal to the superior court by the street railway company or by the Commonwealth for a revision by a jury of the amount of such assessment, if a claim therefor is duly filed in the clerk's office of said court within thirty days after the making of such assessment, assess upon any street railway company duly made a party to the proceedings such percentage of said total cost, not exceeding fifteen per cent thereof, as may, in the judgment of said commission, be just and equitable; and such assessment, as confirmed by the court, shall be in lieu of any assessment or contribution required by any special act or grant of location,

by striking out the words "remaining thirty-five per cent", in the thirteenth line, and inserting in place thereof the words: remainder of said total cost, by inserting after the word "cent", in the sixteenth line, the words: - of said total cost, and by adding at the end of said section the following words:- Whenever in any case in which a street railway company has been required to contribute to the expense of abolishing a grade crossing, any of its locations shall be so changed or revoked by any board of aldermen or selectmen without its consent as to render impossible, or in the opinion of the board of railroad commissioners unprofitable, the further exercise of the privilege of operating its railway in that part of the public way where such grade crossing has been abolished, the amount contributed by such company to the expense of abolishing such grade crossing shall be ascertained by the board of railroad commissioners and certified to the treasurer of the Commonwealth, who shall pay the same to the company from the treasury of the Commonwealth; and any amount so received by the company shall be expended only for such construction or equipment purposes as said railroad commissioners shall approve, so Commission to as to read as follows: Section 151. The commission appointed under the provisions of section one hundred aits of alter and forty-nine shall meet at once, and if, after notice and

prescribe

manner and

ations, etc.

cost, etc.

a hearing, it decides that the security and convenience of the public require the alterations, including the change or discontinuance of a private way, if any, to be made, it shall prescribe the manner and limits thereof and shall determine which of the parties shall do the work, or shall apportion the work to be done between each of the railroad corporations and the city or town. The railroad Payment of corporations shall pay sixty-five per cent of the total actual cost of the alterations as aforesaid, including therein in addition to the cost of construction, the actual cost to the street railway company of changing its railway and location to conform to the decree of the court, the cost of the hearing, the compensation of the commissioners and auditors and all damages, except as otherwise provided. Said commission may, subject to a right of appeal to the superior court by the street railway company or by the Commonwealth for a revision by a jury of the amount of such assessment, if a claim therefor is duly filed in the clerk's office of said court within thirty days after the making of such assessment, assess upon any street railway company duly made a party to the proceedings such percentage of said total cost, not exceeding fifteen per cent thereof, as may, in the judgment of said commission, be just and equitable; and such assessment, as confirmed by the court, shall be in lieu of any assessment or contribution required by any special act or grant of location. The remainder of said total cost shall be apportioned by the commission between the Commonwealth and the city or town in which the crossing or crossings are situated, but not more than ten per cent of said total cost shall be apportioned to such city or town. The commission shall equitably apportion the sixty-five per cent to be paid by the railroad corporation between the several railroads which may be parties to the proceedings. If the crossing was established after the twenty-first day of June in the year eighteen hundred and ninety, no part of said cost shall be charged to the Commonwealth. If the crossing is of a railroad and a private way, and no crossing of a public way is abolished in connection therewith, the entire cost as aforesaid shall be paid by the railroad corporation. Whenever in any case in which a street railway company has been required to contribute to the expense of abolishing a grade crossing, any of its locations shall be so changed or revoked

R. L. 111, § 152, amended.

by any board of aldermen or selectmen without its consent as to render impossible, or in the opinion of the board of railroad commissioners unprofitable, the further exercise of the privilege of operating its railway in that part of the public way where such grade crossing has been abolished, the amount contributed by such company to the expense of abolishing such grade crossing shall be ascertained by the board of railroad commissioners and certified to the treasurer of the Commonwealth, who shall pay the same to the company from the treasury of the Commonwealth; and any amount so received by the company shall be expended only for such construction or equipment purposes as said railroad commissioners shall approve. SECTION 3. Section one hundred and fifty-two of said chapter one hundred and eleven is hereby amended by inserting after the word "way", in the third line, the words: the changes to be made in the location and grades of the street railway in such public way, and by inserting after the word "binding", in the ninth line, the words: If the commission decides that the location of the street railway shall be changed the decree of the court confirming such decision shall duly establish the location as thus changed, - so as to read as follows: specify changes Section 152. The commission shall specify what portion, if any, of an existing public or private way shall be discontinued, the grades for the railroad and the way, the changes to be made in the location and grades of the street railway in such public way, the general method of construction and what land or other property it considers necessary to be taken; but if such decision involves a change in the grade of the railroad, the consent of the board of railroad commissioners to such change shall first be obtained. Said commission shall forthwith return its decision to the superior court, the decree of which, confirming such decision, shall be final and binding. If the commission decides that the location of the street railway shall be changed the decree of the court confirming such decision shall duly establish the location as thus changed. If the commission decides that the location of the railroad or of the public or private way shall be changed, the decree of the court confirming such decision shall constitute a taking of the specified land or other property; and the clerk of said court shall, within thirty days after said

Commission to

to be made in locations, method of construction, etc.