Moultrie Street Improvements.

the purpose herein specified. One tenth in amount of any such series of bonds, with the interest upon the Maturities. whole amount of such series up to the first day of November next succeeding the maturity of the first installment of the assessment as hereinbefore provided, shall be payable on that date; and one tenth in amount of such issue of bonds, together with the annual interest upon the whole amount thereof remaining unpaid, shall be payable on the first day of November in each succeeding year until all of said installments shall have been paid. Such bonds shall bear interest at a rate not ex- Interest. ceeding a rate of seven per cent per annum from their date until maturity, payable annually, and shall be designated "Street Improvement Bonds," and shall on their face recite the streets or other public places for the improvements of which they have been issued and that they are payable solely from assessments which have been levied upon lots, parcels,. and tracts of land benefitted by such improvements under authority of this Act. Said bonds shall be signed by the mayor and attested by the city clerk, and shall have the impression seal. of the corporate seal of said city thereon, and shall have interest coupons attached; and all bonds issued by authority of this Act shall be payable at such place either within or without the State of Georgia as may be designated by the mayor and council. Said bonds shall be sold at not less than par, and the proceeds thereof applied to the payment of the contract price and other expenses incurred in the making of such improvements, or such bonds may in whole or in part be negotiated and Disposal. delivered to the contractor at not less than par value, in payment of any amount due him on his contract. And any portion of the bonds not so negotiated or turned over to the contractor may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the mayor and council at not less than par value, and the proceeds applied to any expense incident to and incurred by the city in providing for such improvements. Said bonds may, at the option of the holder thereof, be registered by the city clerk in a book to be Registry.

Signature and

Sale price.

Moultrie Street Improvements.

Time for paying assessments.

Account of collections.

Penalty.

Execution.

Levy and sale.

Title.

Affidavit of illegality.

provided for that purpose, and a certificate of registration by the clerk shall be by him endorsed upon each of said bonds.

Sec. 11. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the assessments provided for and levied under the provisions of this Act shall be payable by the person owning the said lot, parcel, or tract of land, on the first day of October of each year, together with the interest thereon, to the clerk of the City of Moultrie, who shall give proper receipts for such payments; it shall be the duty of the city clerk to keep an accurate account of all such collections made by him, and such collections shall be kept in a separate fund to be used and applied for the payment of such bonds and the interest thereon, and for no other purpose. Any misapplication or misappropriation of such fund by any one shall constitute a misdemeanor, and be punishable as such under the criminal laws of this State providing for the trial and punishment of persons committing any misdemeanor. It shall be the duty of said clerk, upon default of payment of the principal or interest of any assessment or installment herein provided for, at the maturity thereof, to promptly issue an execution against the lot, parcel, or tract of land assessed for such payment, or against the owner of the property for the full amount thus becoming due and unpaid, and to forthwith turn such execution to the city marshal, who shall promptly levy the same upon the real estate liable for the assessment and previously assessed for such improvements; and, after advertisement and other proceedings as in the case of sales for city taxes, the same shall be sold at public outcry, to the highest bidder, and such sales shall vest an absolute title in the purchaser, subject to the lien of the remaining unpaid installments, with interest; provided, that the defendant in execution shall have the right to file an affidavit of illegality, denying that the whole or any part of the amount for which the execution issued is due, stating what amount (if any) he admits to be

Moultrie Street Improvements.

trial.

due, which amount so admitted to be due shall be paid before the affidavit is received. All such affidavits shall set forth in detail the reasons why the affiant claims the execution is proceeding illegally, and when received Return for by the marshal said affidavit shall be returned by him to the Justice's Court of the 1151st District G. M., of Colquitt County or to the Superior Court of said county, if the amount of the execution is one hundred dollars or less, and the Superior court only if the amount contested is over one hundred dollars, and there tried and the issue determined as in cases of illegality, subject to all fines and penalties provided by law in such cases for delay.

Sec. 12. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the mayor and city council in its discretion, Semi-annual by proper written resolution, provide for and require interest on the payment of interest on the bonds authorized to be issued in accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of this Act, semi-annually, on the first day of November and May, instead of annually; and, in levying the assessments against property owners for such public improvements as authorized by this Act, the mayor and city council may likewise require the installments to be paid semi-annually on the first day of October and April of each year, instead of annually, as provided in Section 9 and 11 of this Act.

repave, etc.

Sec. 13. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in all cases where the City of Moultrie, by Authority to its mayor and council, shall deem it necessary to repave, redrain, remacadamize, and otherwise improve any street, alley, avenue, lane, or other public place, which had been paved or improved prior to the passage of this law, such pavement or improvement is hereby authorized to be done under and in pursuance of the provision of this Act, and in such cases all provisions of this Act for making such improvements and levying assessments therefor and the issuance of bonds shall apply.

Moultrie Street Improvements.

Railroads.

Sec. 14. Be it further enacted, that where the right of way or any railway company crosses any public thoroughfare within the corporate limits of the City of Moultrie, such company is to be deemed for all the purposes of this Act as the owner of the property on both sides of such thoroughfare to the extent of the entire width of the right of way, irrespective of the use to which the same may be put or the portion thereof actually occupied by its track or tracks; and where the right of way, or other occupied or unoccupied land of any railway company lies longitudinally along and abuts upon any street or thoroughfare in said city, such company and its said abutting property shall be subject to all the provisions of this Act in the same manner and to the same extent as other persons, firms, and corporations owning property in the City of Moultrie. That whenever the abutting landowners of any street, alley, avenue, or lane of said city petition the City of Moultrie as herein set out, or the mayor and council or said city pass the resolution or ordinance provided for in section 3 of this Act, for the pavement of any said street, avenue, alley, or lane or other public place, where the State, or any of its polito City, Coun- tical subdivisions, is the owner of any property on said street, the frontage so owned is to be counted as if owned by an individual, and shall be likewise treated for the purposes of assessment; and where the State is the owner of the property, the Governor is authorized to sign any petition provided for in this Act, for and in behalf of the State; and where the county is the owner, the chairman of the Board of Roads and Revenues of Colquitt County is authorized to sign in behalf of the county; and where the City of Moltrie is the owner, the mayor of Moultrie is authorized to sign in behalf of the city.

Assessment

ty, or State.

action.

Sec. 15. Be it further enacted by the authority aforeLimitation of said, that no suit shall be sustained to set aside any such assessment or to enjoin the said City of Moultrie or its mayor and council from making any such assessment or levying or collecting any such assessments, or issuing

Moultrie Street Improvements.

such bonds or providing for their payment as herein authorized, or contesting the validity thereof on any ground or for any reason other than for the failure of the City of Moultrie, by its mayor and council, to adopt and publish the preliminary resolution or ordinance provided for in Section 3 of this Act in cases requiring such resolution or ordinance and its publication, and to give the notice of the hearing of the appraisers as herein provided for, unless such suit shall be commenced within sixty days after the passage of the ordinance making such final assessment; provided, that in the event any special assessment shall be found to be invalid or insufficient for any reason whatsoever, the said mayor and council may, at any time in the manner provided New assessfor the levying an original assessment, proceed to cause a new assessment to be made and levied, which shall have like force and effect as an original assessment.

ment.

Contracts.

Sec. 16. Be it further enacted, that the mayor and city council of said city shall have the power and authori- Agency. ty to create between itself and any person, firm, corporation, or governmental agency, division, or department thereof, the relation of principal and agent for the making of any and all contracts for the doing of said improvements, so that the city may authorize any person, firm, corporation, or governmental agency, division, or department thereof to make for it and in its behalf any and all contracts and agreements for the making of said improvements. Said city shall have the right to accept and receive any gift, donation, or contribution Donations. from any source whatever for the purpose of making any of said improvements, and the mayor and council of said city are hereby authorized to use and appropriate any such gift, donation, or contribution, in their discretion either in reduction of any assessments which it Reduction. may see fit to make against said city as its proportion of the assessments for making any of said improvements, or in reduction of any of the assessments which may be made against the owners and their abutting property.