OF DITCHES.

of

SECTION 6. That the managers shall proceed to make Duty and and open the ditch or ditches laid out by the commis-Managers. sioners, and clean and repair the same when necessary, and shall have all needful power for that purpose. They shall keep regular accounts of all expenditures, and render the same to the company at their annual meeting. All pay- Payments, ments shall be made by orders drawn by them on the treasurer. Any person assessed for a tax may discharge the Payment of same by work done by the direction of the managers, and tax by work, their certificate shall be received by the treasurer in payment of the tax.

how made.

etc.

and levying

SECTION 7. That the managers of said company for the Assessment time being are hereby authorized to levy an annual tax to of tax. the amount determined by the annual meeting upon the lands to be benefited in proportion to the assessment of said lands by the commissioners, to be expended upon the ditch or ditches of said company.

collect tax.

Treasurer.

SECTION 8. That the treasurer shall collect all sums Treasurer to apportioned and assessed, as aforesaid, and shall have the same power for making such collections as a collector of county rates. He shall give bond to the company, with Bond of surety to be approved by the managers, in double the amount of the taxes to be by him collected, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty, and for the payment to his successor of any money due from him. He shall settle Annual with the company at the annual meeting, and shall be entitled to retain five per centum of the amount received by Compensahim as his compensation.

settlement.

tion.

tion of Com

agers.

SECTION 9. That each commissioner and manager shall Compensabe allowed and shall be paid by the company one dollar missioners for every day actually spent in the discharge of his duties. and ManThe Recorder shall be paid one cent for every ten words he Fee of may record, and two dollars for copying the plot. The surveyor, if any be employed, shall receive two dollars for each Compensaday's service on the premises and ten dollars for making the tion of Surplot and return.

Recorder.

veyor.

company.

SECTION IO. That the said company is hereby created and Powers of declared to be a body politic and corporate, under the name of "The South Prong Ditch Company," and under and by that name shall be able to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded in any court of law or equity in this State, and shall

OF DITCHES.

possess and enjoy all the rights, incidents, privileges, liberties, franchises and immunities common to such corporations.

SECTION II. That if any person shall stop up or obstruct any ditch cut under this act, he shall forfeit and pay to the managers, who may recover the same in the name of the company and for its benefit as debts of like amount are recoverable, a sum of not less than two nor more than twenty dollars.

SECTION 12. revocation. reserved to the

That the power to revoke this act is hereby Legislature.

This shall be deemed and taken to be a

Passed at Dover, April 15, 1891.

Branch

CHAPTER 147.

OF DITCHES.

AN ACT to Incorporate the Tidberry Branch Ditch Company.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met (two-thirds of each branch thereof concurring):

Tidberry SECTION 1. That the owners, reputed owners, and pos Ditch Com-sessors of the swamps and low grounds situated in North pany incor- Murderkill hundred, Kent county, contiguous to or draining.

porated.

Powers.

into the branch known as Tidberry branch or any of its tributaries (and whose names may be included in any certificate to be made by the commissioners hereinafter provided for), and such persons as may succeed them in ownership or possession, are hereby incorporated and shall compose a company to be called "The Tidberry Branch Ditch Company, and by that name shall have power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded in any court of law or equity in this State or elsewhere.

OF DITCHES.

officers.

SECTION 2. The first meeting of said company shall be Time and place of held upon a day to be appointed by the commissioners herein Golding named at the schoolhouse in School District No. 25 in Kent meetings. county, and the annual meetings of the company shall be held on the second Saturday of April in every year thereafter, at such time and place as the company shall determine by a resolution to be adopted at any annual meeting. At the first Election of meeting held in pursuance of the call of the commissioners said company shall choose by ballot and a plurality of the votes cast a president, a treasurer, a secretary and two managers, all of whom shall be members of the company, and who shall hold office until the next ensuing annual Terms of meeting or until their successors shall be elected; thereafter, all officers of the company shall be elected annually at the meeting to be held in April of every year, but in case of failure to so elect, the officers then in office shall continue until others are chosen. Occasional meetings may be called Occasional by the managers or either of them, at such times and places as they may deem proper, by giving ten days notice by ad- Notice. vertisement, posted in five of the most public places in the neighborhood. If any officer shall cease to be a taxable by Vacancies. disposing of his lands, or shall vacate his office by death, resignation, or otherwise, his successor may be chosen at any occasional meeting.

office.

meetings.

to vote.

SECTION 3. That at all meetings of said company every Who entitled owner or possessor of any low ground, ratable and assessed in said company, may vote, if present, and if such owners or possessors do not reside upon the land which is ratable, he or she may vote by proxy; such proxies must be in writing, Proxies. under seal and attested by two witnesses. Every voter shall be entitled to one vote for every hundred dollars or fractional Apportionpart thereof to which his or her property may stand assessed at the time such vote is offered.

ment of votes

sioners.

Commissioners.

SECTION 4. That Thomas B. Coursey, J. Frank Wilds Commisand John W. Taylor be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to make valuation of so much of the aforesaid Duty of swamps and low grounds as in their judgment ought to be drained, and to view, ascertain, and determine the width, depth, and location of the ditches or drains that will be necessary and sufficient to drain said swamps and low grounds, so far as they may be able to judge under all the circumstances.

They shall determine the quantity held by each owner or

Valuation.

OF DITCHES.

owners of such swamps or low grounds, so to be drained, and shall appraise and determine the benefit and advantage which each owner will receive by reason of the cutting or making of such ditches or drains; and the said commisCertificates. sioners, or a majority of them, shall make two certificates. under their hands, containing the names of the respective owners of said swamps or low grounds, the quantity held by each, as aforesaid, and the appraisements of the benefits, profits and advantages to be derived by each owner or owners, and shall deliver one of the said certificates to the secretary of the company and shall return the other to the office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for Kent county, to be there recorded, which certificate shall be final and conclusive upon all parties, and shall be and remain the appraisement and valuation upon which all taxes which may be necessary to effect the purpose of this act shall be assessed, levied and raised until a new assessment shall be made, as hereinafter provided, and a copy of the record thereof, certified by the Recorder under his hand and seal of office, shall be evidence in any court of this State.

To be recorded.

commission.

Vacancies in If any of the commissioners refuse or fail to act for any cause, the others may fill the vacancy thereby caused as often as may be necessary, until all of the duties of the commissioners under this act are fully completed.

Meeting of company, time and place.

Notice.

When the commissioners shall have made the certificates as above provided, they shall call a meeting of the company at some suitable time named by them in the call, at the schoolhouse in school district No. 25, aforesaid, of which ten days' written notice shall be given by advertisement posted at five of the most public places in the neighborhood; and in said call and notices shall be stated the names of the owners contained in said certificates, and officers, as herein before specified, and at least one of said commissioners shall be present at the opening of said meeting with the certificate to be Plot of ditch delivered to the secretary. At the same time and place the said commissioners shall also deliver to said secretary a plot of the ditch or ditches determined upon by the commis

Duties and powers of

sioners.

SECTION 5. The managers to be elected at the meeting Managers. to be called by the commissioners as herein provided, shall cut and open all such ditches, drains, prongs, and outlets, as the said commissioners shall judge proper and sufficient to drain said swamps and low grounds, as aforesaid, and for

OF DITCHES.

this purpose shall have power to employ such workmen as they may deem necessary to complete the work, and shall pay the expenses attending the same. An exact account shall Accounts.

be kept by the said managers of their doings and expenditures, showing, among other things, the amount of labor and services performed by each employee and the money paid to him, the articles or material furnished and by whom, and the money paid therefor; and also the number of days which the commissioners, managers, or other persons were actually engaged in the discharge of their duties, respectively, which account shall be delivered to the treasurer of the company, and shall be recorded in the book of the said treasurer and kept by him as one of the papers of the company.

or as

of ditch.

SECTION 6. That at any annual meeting of the company New valuathe voters may determine by ballot upon a new valuation or sessment. assessment, and a majority of the votes cast shall be necessary to authorize such new assessment or valuation; and any such new assessment or valuation, when made, shall be the basis upon which any and every tax shall be levied and collected until another assessment is determined upon by a vote of the company, as is hereinbefore provided in this section. But extensions may be made by laying out new Extensions ditches, and additional owners of any marsh or low grounds may be added to the company, whose lands shall be appraised and valued in the same manner as the lands of persons already belonging to the company. Such appraisement Supplemenshall be classed as supplemental valuations, and shall form a tions. part of the basis upon which taxes shall be levied and collected, the same as upon original assessments, and shall be so treated until a new general assessment or valuation shall be made.

tal valua

raised.

The voters shall determine by ballot at every annual meet- Determinaing the amount of tax to be raised, if any, for the ensuing tion of year for the purposes which the company may deem neces- tax to be sary for the draining and improvement of the said marsh and low grounds, and a majority of all the votes cast shall be necessary to authorize the levying and collection of said tax.

duties of

SECTION 7. In addition to the other duties of the mana- Additional gers herein provided for, they shall annually, in the month Managers. of May, levy a tax upon the members of the company of the aggregate amount of the sum voted to be raised for the ensuing year, and shall prepare an alphabetical list of the persons ratable and assessed in the said company, together with