Notice of Defects Law in Windham, Police Expand Headquarters

WINDHAM - It wasn’t exactly exhilarating, being a government official in Windham, one recent evening, evidenced by the enactment of a new “Notice of Defects Law.”

On the other hand, it is an exciting time for local police officers with expansion of their headquarters at the municipal hall.

Town council members, earlier this month, approved the flaws legislation following a public hearing where a clarification of the procedure was requested and delivered. Otherwise, it was wholly uneventful.

Over the years, the town has relied upon a State law when dealing with personal injury issues which are infrequent but can arise.

While it served the purpose, the town’s insurer lately recommended a closer-to-home approach which has now been achieved.

The redundant measure states, “no civil actions shall be maintained against the town or town superintendent of highways for damages or injuries to person or property” under certain circumstances.

Those circumstances encompass injuries to person or property, “sustained by reason of any highway, bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed.”

That blanket protection applies, “unless written notice of such defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition of such highway, bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert was actually given to the town clerk or superintendent of highways,” the law states

There would also have to be, “a failure or neglect, within a reasonable time after the giving of such notice, to repair or remove the defect, danger, or obstruction complained of,” the law states.

A civil action could have merit for, “a failure or neglect” to fix the problem, “within a reasonable time,” but “no such action shall be maintained for damages or injuries to person or property sustained solely in consequence of the existence of snow or ice,” the law states.

Snow or ice could gather, without necessarily becoming litigious, “upon any highway, bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert.”

Once again, the town would bear no liability, “unless written notice thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given to the town clerk or town superintendent of highways,” the law states.

And similarly, the complaint might have merit if, “there was failure or neglect to cause such snow or ice to be removed, or to make the place otherwise reasonably safe within a reasonable time after the receipt of  such notice,” the law states.

Continuing to make everything as plain as day, the law states, “the town superintendent of highways shall transmit in writing to the town clerk within ten days after the receipt thereof all written notices received pursuant to this local law.

“The town clerk of each town shall keep an indexed record, in a separate book, of all written notices received of the existence of a defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition,” the law states.

In cases you’ve forgotten, those conditions apply when there is, “in or upon, or of an accumulation of ice or snow upon, any town highway, bridge, culvert or sidewalk, which record shall state the date of receipt of the notice,” the law states.

The record shall also show, “the nature and location of the condition stated to exist, and the name and address of the person from whom the notice is received,” the law states.

Further, “all such written notices shall be indexed according to the location of the alleged defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition, or the location of accumulated snow or ice,” the law states.

“The record of each notice shall be preserved for a period of five years after the date it is received,” the law states.

Catching their collective breath, council members approved a request from Windham police chief Richard Selner for help, relocating and reorganizing the department which has primarily moved downstairs.

For many years, the department has been crammed into a small space on the second floor of the municipal building, on Main Street in Hensonville.

A large room formerly occupied by the WAJPL Senior Citizens Association was vacated on the ground floor after that group was given a new home inside the town’s new ambulance headquarters.

The police chief will continue to have his or her office in the same spot, sharing it with court officers when applicable, while the evidence room, record-keeping, etc , will be shifted downstairs.

Officers will have a separate interrogation room along with lockers and a shower, should they get rumply in the line of duty.

Selner, in a letter to the town board, asked for and received authority to hire Michael Harte as a parttime and temporary administrative aid, noting, “the police department is in transition.

“All record-keeping, old and new, needs to be catalogued so the department stays in compliance with Department of Criminal Justice Services and all other agencies that we answer to on a daily basis,” Selner wrote, adding Harte, “will be an asset to the town of Windham.”

In a final matter, council members observed a respectful Moment of Silence for longtime resident, former town councilman and Korean War veteran Kenneth Smith, who recently passed away.