1868. CHAPTER 291. AN ACT CONCERNING THE MILL-DAM ROAD, AND THE ROADS CONNECTED Be it enacted, etc.: Mill-dam 10ad SECTION 1. The city of Boston and the towns of Brookline, to be laid out as Brighton, and Watertown, are hereby authorized, within one year a highway. from the passage of this act, to lay out and accept as highways, so much of the Mill-dam road and the roads and bridges heretofore connected therewith in toll franchise, excepting the road known as the Cross-dam, as lies within the respective limits of the said city and towns; the said road being the same which was conveyed to the said commonwealth by the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation by indenture dated the ninth day of June, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and also by indenture dated the thirtieth day of December, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-six. The said highways and the said Watertown turnpike may be laid out of the same width as they were originally laid out; and the said towns and city shall not be liable in so doing for any land damages to any owner or abutter on said ways or turnpike; and upon such laying out and acceptance of the same, all tolls thereon shall be discontinued, and Tolls to be disthe property of the commonwealth therein, excepting said cross-dam, shall become vested, severally, in the city and towns aforesaid. Watertown turnpike. continued. able for dam maintain por SECT. 2. Upon such laying out and acceptance of said roads and Towns to be liabridges as aforesaid, the said city and towns shall severally be ages for defects liable for damages which may be incurred by reason of any defect in in road. the same, within their respective limits, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as cities and towns are now liable, by law, for defects in town ways; and the town of Watertown shall also assume Watertown to the charge and maintenance of that portion of the Watertown turn- tion of turnpike. pike lying within the territory heretofore ceded to the United States, and shall be liable, in the same manner, and to the same extent aforesaid, for any defects therein, except as far as they may be controlled or prevented by the authority of the United States; and the bridge Bridge over over Charles river shall be maintained with a sufficient draw therein maintained by for the convenient passage of vessels, and a suitable draw-tender be Watertown and provided therefor, by and at the expense of said towns of Watertown and Brighton. Charles river Brighton. ance as high among towns. SECT. 3. Whenever the governor shall be satisfied that the afore- Upon acceptsaid roads and bridges have been laid out and accepted as town ways ways, $50,000 ta or highways as aforesaid, there shall be paid to the towns of Water- be divided town, Brighton, and Brookline, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, to be divided as follows, to wit: to the town of Watertown, twenty thousand dollars; to the town of Brighton, fifteen thousand dollars; to the town of Brookline, fifteen thousand dollars. amount to to be paid over. If the amount of tolls paid into the treasury of the commonwealth If tolls do not under the provisions of the second section of chapter two hundred $50,000, and one of the acts of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty- amount received one, shall not amount to the sum of fifty thousand dollars at the time said roads and bridges are laid out and accepted by said towns as aforesaid, then the full amount of the tolls so paid into the treasury shall be paid to said towns, in the proportion aforesaid; and the tolls so received into the treasury from said roads, not exceeding the amount of fifty thousand dollars, are hereby appropriated for the purpose aforesaid. SECT. 4. If the city of Boston shall not lay out and accept the If Boston does 1 See Back Bay Agreements, pp. 37, 66. not accept road within one year, portion of said road within its limits, excepting said cross-dam, etc., to be highway as though within one year from the passage of this act, or within six months laid out by city. after the towns of Watertown, Brighton, and Brookline, have laid out and accepted the portions within their respective limits, then said roads so lying and being within the limits of the city of Boston, shall be and become a public highway to all intents and purposes whatsocver, and the said city shall be liable therefor in the same manner and to the same extent as if the same had been laid out and accepted by said city, according to the provisions of the first section of this act. SECT. 5. Nothing in this act contained shall affect the rights or duties of any railroad corporation having tracks upon said road: but the town ways and highways which may be located under the provisions hereof, may cross such railroad tracks at grade, wherever grade crossings now exist thereon. Right of railroads not to be affected. SECT. 6. This act shall take effect upon its passage. 1825, 40, § 3, amended. AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TRUSTEES OF THE Be it enacted, etc. : Chapter forty of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and twentyfive is hereby amended by striking out from the third section of said chapter, the words "provided, however, that the annual income of said fund shall not exceed the sum of two thousand dollars." Harbor commis. sioners may con ton harbor. AN ACT IN ADDITION TO "AN ACT FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SECTION 1. The harbor commissioners are hereby authorized to tract for state to contract in the name of the commonwealth with any person or fill flats in Bos- persons, or with the city of Boston, for the filling of any portion of the lands or flats in Boston harbor which lie northerly of South Boston and easterly of Fort Point channel, and within the exterior line laid down on the plan for the occupation of the flats owned by the commonwealth in Boston harbor, approved by the legislature in the eighty-first chapter of the resolves of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and for building wharves, docks, sea-walls, basins, streets, bridges, or sewers, and for dredging or doing any work upon or in relation to said flats, and to pay for the same by conveyances of any portion of said flats, or the granting of any rights or privileges therein, and for laying out and building streets and sewers to and over said flats or any part thereof, reserving and laying out channels; and they may authorize any corporations or persons to lay and use railroad tracks over any parts of said flats, for the purpose of transporting materials for filling up the said flats, and of any other work -may settle by in relation thereto, and shall have full power to determine and settle, flicting rights. by agreement, arbitration, or process of law, the relative rights and interests of the commonwealth and all other parties in and to and over said flats and any parts thereof; and said commissioners shall have power to enter into any contracts in regard to the occupation and improvement of said flats which said commissioners think best: provided, that every conveyance made and the terms thereof, every contract entered into, every authority given for laying railroad tracks -may allow railroad tracks to be laid, etc. arbitration con -may make contracts in regard to occupa. tion, etc. Proviso. and otherwise, every plan for the occupation of said flats, and building docks, sea-walls, basins, wharves, streets, and sewers, thereon, adopted by said commissioners, shall be submitted to the governor and council, and shall not be binding on the commonwealth, and shall not have any force or effect, until the same have been approved by the governor and council. sioners may owners for ex flats. SECT. 2 Said commissioners may make any contract which they Harbor commis. think judicious, with any of the riparian owners in South Boston, and make contracts with the Boston Wharf Company, for the purchase or exchange of with riparian lands or flats, and they shall have full authority to release, for moucy change, etc., of or other valuable consideration, upon such terms and conditions as they shall deem fit, and convey by deed, with warranty or otherwise, to be duly executed by them in behalf of the commonwealth, the right, title, and interest, of the commonwealth in the whole or any part of said lands or flats; but all sales of lands or flats, unless otherwise ordered by the governor and council, shall be by public auction, and the manner, terms, and conditions, of such sales shall be prescribed by the governor and council. and how to be SECT. 3. The sea-wall authorized to be erected under chapter three Sea-wall, where hundred and fifty-four of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and built. sixty-seven may be commenced at any point on Fort Point channel 1867, 354. considered expedient by the commissioners, and shall be built on the exterior line laid down on the plan designated in said act, as subsequently modified, or within said line at a distance not exceeding fifty feet therefrom. Said wall may be constructed with openings in the same, filled with sheet pilings or otherwise, between such points as said board shall determine. And said commissioners may erect a Temporary suitable temporary bulkhead of wood to retain the dredged material, be erected. previous to the construction of said wall, at such a distance in the rear thereof as will not interfere with the construction of said wall and the docks and wharves connected therewith. And the commissioners may use the unexpended balance of the appropriation made in the act aforesaid for these purposes. bulkhead may SECT. 4. All contracts for filling section one, as shown upon Contracts for filling section plan number one, dated the twelfth day of December, in the year one, etc. eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, annexed to the report of the committee on the commonwealth flats, near South Boston, appointed under chapter ninety-three of the resolves of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, shall require the whole of that portion of the upper harbor of Boston, colored red upon plan number two, annexed to said report, to be dredged, as nearly as practicable, to the depth of twenty-three feet below mean low-water thereon, and the materials thus obtained to be used in filling said section one. And all contracts for filling sections two and three, as shown upon Contracts for filling sections said plan number one, shall require a portion of said upper harbor two and three. to be dredged in the same manner and to the same depth as aforesaid, and the materials thus obtained to be used in filling said sections two and three; and the number of cubic yards of material so required to be dredged and used in filling said sections two and three, respectively, shall bear the same proportion to the respective areas of said sections two and three that the number of cubic yards herein required to be dredged from said locality, colored red, shall bear to the area of said section one. All said contracts for filling said sections shall require the additional materials therefor to be dredged from the reserve channel, as shown upon said plan number two, and also from such other parts of the harbor or taken from such other sources as said commissioners may deem expedient. And the dredging Dredging, etc. so done in said upper harbor shall be full compensation for the tidewater displaced by the work authorized under this act: provided, Proviso. Proceeds of sales to be paid into treasury and apfund. however, it shall appear from hydrographical and physical surveys that injury to the harbor has resulted from the work herein authorized, then such injury shall be repaired, by dredging or otherwise, in such manner and to such an extent as the legislature shall hereafter determine. SECT. 5. All money received from the sale of lands and flats or otherwise, under this act, shall be paid into the treasury of the complied to sinking- monwealth, and shall be applied to the sinking-fund as provided for by section thrce of chapter one hundred and twenty-two of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five. Eastern avenue, with bridge over street. 1 SECT. 6. The city of Boston is hereby authorized to build and Fort Point chan. lay out as a public street, Eastern avenue, with a bridge over Fort nel, to be public Point channel, having suitable draws, said avenue and bridge to be located and constructed at such places and upon such plans and upon such terms and conditions as the harbor commissioners may make, the same to be subject to the approval of the governor and council. SECT. 7. All plans and specifications for the improvement of the ject to approval flats and for work in connection therewith, and all contracts made in carrying out the authority given by this act, shall be subject to the approval of the governor and council. Contracts sub of governor and council. Money not to be paid, except SECT. 8. Nothing herein contained shall authorize said commisas provided in sioners, by any stipulation or contract, to require the payment of any money from the treasury of the commonwealth except as provided in the third section of this act. act. Repeal. SECT. 9. Chapter ninety-three of the resolves of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, also sections three and five of the three hundred and fifty-fourth chapter of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, are hereby repealed. SECT. 10. This act shall take effect upon its passage. June 9, 1868. May build a pile bridge across South bay. Draws to be provided. 1869. CHAPTER 78. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY OF BOSTON TO LAY OUT A PUBLIC Be it enacted, etc.: SECTION 1. The city of Boston is hereby authorized to lay out a public street or way across South bay, and for that purpose to build a pile bridge, not exceeding one hundred feet in width, from the westerly side of South bay at or near the southerly end of Pine island wharf, so called, to the easterly side of said bay; the said bridge to be located in such a direction that, if continued eastwardly, it would intersect Federal street at or near Dorchester street; and for that purpose the said city of Boston may drive piles in the said bay necessary therefor, and also for such draw-piers as may be deemed necessary and proper for the public welfare and its own convenience; and said bridge so constructed shall be provided with such good and suitable draws as the harbor commissioners may direct, which said city shall open and close at all times for the accommodation of vessels having occasion to pass the same: provided, that all things done under proval of harbor this act shall be subject to the determination and approval of the harbor commissioners, as provided in the fourth section of chapter one hundred and forty-nine of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six; [and provided, further, that this act shall in no wise impair the legal rights of any person."] Subject to ap. commissioners. Proviso. 1 Eastern avenue bridge was completed and opened to public travel in 1875. By an ordinance passed May 22, 1876, it was named Congress street bridge. See Statutes and Ordinances (ed. 1876), p. 80, note. This proviso was stricken out by St. 1869, c. 447, § 2. built in five years. SECT. 2. The authority hereby granted to said city may be re- Bridge to be voked at any time; and if said city shall neglect for the space of five years to build and finish said bridge, then this act shall be void. SECT. 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [1869, 447; 1874, 114.] March 17, 1869. 1869. - CHAPTER 94. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY OF BOSTON TO CONSTRUCT DRAINS Be it enacted, etc.: struct sewers Fort Hill terri SECTION 1. The city of Boston is hereby authorized to construct City may conand maintain such new drains or sewers for the efficient and proper for drainage of drainage of Fort Hill territory, so called, in the city of Boston, over tory. any lots of land of said territory as the board of aldermen may deem necessary, and shall allow compensation for any damages occasioned Damages. thereby, in the same manner as is now provided by law in relation to the construction of common sewers. reduce the grade buildings. SECT. 2. The board of aldermen of the city of Boston may reduce Aldermen may the grade of estates that require excavation upon Fort Hill, to the of estates on level which has been or may hereafter be determined upon for the Fort Hill. improvement of said territory; and for such purpose may cause the May remove removal of buildings, whether abutting on streets or otherwise, in the same manner and with the same provision for damages as is now provided in relation to buildings upon lands taken for streets. SECT. 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage. 1869. - CHAPTER 155. March 20, 1869. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF THE PROPERTY OF THE EAST Be it enacted, etc.: franchise and East Boston SECTION 1. The city council of the city of Boston, for the purpose City of Boston of improving private property, and of protecting the same and the may puchase travel and business between the mainland in said city and East Bos- property of ton from the disabilities and burdens of the ferry communications Ferry Comheretofore existing between said parts of the city, and of furnishing pany. additional facilities to said travel and business, are hereby authorized to purchase the boats and so much of the other property, including the franchise, of the East Boston Ferry Company,' as they shall think expedient, at such price as may be agreed upon between them and the said ferry company, with the approval of the mayor of said city, and to ordain and establish the present or such other lines of ferry May establish travel as they may see fit between the said parts of said city, and to rates of fercause the said ferry to be maintained thereon in such manner and upon such rates of ferriage as the board of aldermen of said city shall from time to time judge the best interests of the said city to require, excepting only as hereinafter provided. riage. tolls. SECT. 2. Upon the completion of said purchase, the said city May maintain council shall consider and determine whether the interests of said ferry free of city will be best promoted by maintaining said ferry thereafter free of tolls, and in case they shall decide the same in the affirmative, then 1 Incorporated by St. 1852, c. 244. |