LAW S RELATING TO THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF HEALTH. CHAPTER 74, 1866. AN ACT to Create a Metropolitan Sanitary District and Board of Health therein, for the Preservation of Life and Health, and to Prevent the Spread of Disease. Passed February 26, 1866, threefifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTION 1. So much of the territory of the State of New York, and of the cities, villages, and towns thereof, as now composes the Metropolitan Police District of the State of New York, shall constitute, and is hereby declared, a district to be known as "The Metropolitan Sanitary District of the State of New York." SEC. 2. Within fifteen days after the passage of this act the Governor shall nominate, and, by and with the consent of the Senate, shall appoint four suitable persons, residents of said District, three of whom must be physicians, and one of whom shall be a resident of the city of Brooklyn, who, with the Health Officer of the port of New York for the time being, shall be Sanitary Commissioners in and for said District; and the said Sanitary Commissioners, together with the Commissioners, for any time being, of the Metropolitan Police (not exceeding four, and being the present four and their successors), shall constitute a board of health for the said Metropolitan Sanitary District, and said board shall be denominated "The Metropolitan Board of Health;" any five members of which, at any regularly called or adjourned meeting, shall organize and constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; and the phrase "said board," or "the board," when used herein, unless clearly referring to some other body, shall be construed to mean said "The Metropolitan Board of Health;" and the phrase "said district," or "the district," unless the same clearly refers to some other district, shall be construed to refer to said "The Metropolitan Sanitary District of the State of New York." And the term "sanitary commissioners" shall refer to the members of said board who are not also members of the Board of Police, and whenever the words "police," "board of police," or "police commissioners" are used in this act, they shall be taken and construed to mean the "Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police District of the State of New York." And whenever the words "place, matter, or thing," or either two of said words, are used in this act, they shall, unless the sense plainly requires a different construction, be construed to include whatever is embraced in the enumeration with which they are connected in either and both clauses of the fourteenth section of this act. SEC. 3. The said four persons so appointed shall hold office as such Sanitary Commissioners respectively for the terms following, namely: One for one year, one for two years, one for three years, and one for four years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified. Immediately after the appointment of said four persons as aforesaid, they shall meet in the office of the Secretary of State, and shall proceed, under his direction, to determine by lot which of them shall hold, for the respective terms of one, two, three, and four years, the said office of Sanitary Commissioner. Immediately, and before entering upon the duties of the office, they shall take the oath prescribed for State officers by the Constitution of the State, and shall file the same in the office of the Secretary of State, who, upon re ceiving the said oath of office, shall issue to each of said commissioners a certificate of appointment for his respective term of office so determined as aforesaid; upon receiving which they shall severally be and become Sanitary Commissioners, and shall possess and exercise the powers and perform the duties of said board as defined in this act. SEC. 4. The term of office of each of the said Sanitary Commissioners, after the expiration of the terms aforesaid, shall be four years, and they shall be appointed upon the nomination of the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Any vacancies that may occur by reason of death, resignation, removal from office or otherwise, shall be filled in like manner. But if any vacancy shall occur during the recess of the Senate, the Governor may fill such vacancy by appointment, and the person so appointed shall hold office until twenty days after the next meeting of the Senate. * SEC. 5. Immediately after the four appointed Sanitary Commissioners shall have taken the oath of office as above provided, they shall meet with the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police, and the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police with them, and the Health Officer of the port of New York, and organize as a board of health by electing one of said Board to be President, and one of said board to be Treasurer thereof, and by appointing a proper person to be Secretary of said Board. And the successive Presidents of said Board of Health shall be annually elected by said Board from the members thereof, and the successive Treasurers shall be members of said Board; but the Secretary shall not be a member of the Board. The Treasurer and Secretary shall respectively continue in office as such until removed by the election of a successor or otherwise. The said Sanitary Commissioners shall each receive a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars a year; and each Police Commissioner who may be a member of said Board of Health, and the Health Officer, shall as such receive a salary of five hundred dollars a year; † and the member of said Board of Health, who acts as Treasurer, shall receive an additional compensation of five hundred dollars a year for his services as Treasurer. All salaries allowed under this law shall be payable as the Board shall provide. But for every regular or special meeting of said Board which any Sanitary Commissioner or the Secre *As amended, Laws of 1866, Chapter 686, Section 4. tary shall fail to attend, there shall be deducted from the salary of the person so failing the sum of ten dollars; and for every failure of a Police Commissioner or of said Health Officer to attend any such meeting, there shall be deducted from his said salary the sum of two dollars; but these provisions shall not apply to any adjourned meeting, and it shall be the duty of the Treasurer to see that all such deductions are made before payments of said salaries. The Board may appoint a Corresponding Secretary at an annual salary not exceeding one thousand dollars. SEC. 6. The President of the said Board shall preside and preserve order at the meetings of the Board; and, in case of the absence of or inability of the regular Secretary to attend, he shall appoint a Secretary pro tem., who, for the time being, may perform any duty of the Secretary. * The President shal! have all the power and authority given to the " City Inspector," in the six hundred and forty-sixth chapter of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-five (passed' May first, eighteen hundred and sixty-five), in respect to the making, awarding, or executing of a contract or contracts for street cleaning, or any matter thereto pertaining. But nothing herein contained shall be construed as affecting in any manner the validity of any contract heretofore made by virtue of said act. And the Board at any time, in the absence of the President or Secretary, may elect a President or Secretary pro tem. from their number, who shall exercise the powers of such officers respectively.* The Secretary shall, subject to the direction of said Board, keep and authenticate its acts, records, papers, and proceedings, preserve its books and papers, conduct its correspondence, and aid in accomplishing the purposes of this law, as the Board may direct; and said officer (as well as the other officers and agents appointed by said Board) shall be subject to removal by the Board for cause, to be entered in its minutes, and said Board may appoint his or their successor; and his salary, to be fixed from time to time by the Board, shall not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars annually. Said Board may design and adopt a seal and use the same in the authenti * Amended, Laws of 1867, Chapter 956, Section 1. cation of its orders and proceedings, commissioning its officers and agents, and otherwise, as the rules of the Board may provide. SEC. 7. The Treasurer of said Board shall be the fiscal officer of the Board. He shall hold, and on check and voucher, duly disburse, as said Board may order, and for the purposes of and in conformity to this act, the moneys he may receive or belonging to the fund herein provided; and shall deposit the same when paid to him by the Treasurer of the State of New York, or otherwise, and pending the regular disbursement thereof, in a bank or banks in the City of New York designated by such last-named officer. He shall execute a bond, with not less than two sureties, conditioned in a penalty of thirty thousand dollars, to the people of the State of New York, for the faithful discharge of his duties as such Treasurer. The sureties, not less than two in number, shall justify before a Justice of the Supreme Court, in the aggregate in a sum not less than twice the last-named amount; but before the said Treasurer shall enter upon his duties, the said bond shall be approved by and filed with the Comptroller of the State. The Treasurer shall keep, or cause to be kept, books showing all his receipts and payments, and shall preserve his vouchers therefor; and should any collections ever be made on such bond, or in suits or proceedings, or otherwise, by said Board, the amount thereof shall be received and accounted for by the Treasurer, or in case of collection on his bond, by the recipient thereof, to the State Treasurer, and be deposited in the bank or banks aforesaid, applied for the legitimate uses of said Board, or as herein elsewhere provided. SEC. 8. Any Sanitary Commissioner of said Board who shall accept or hold any political or municipal office during his term of office, or shall be publicly nominated for any office elective by the people, and shall not, within ten days succeeding his knowledge thereof, publicly decline the said nomination, shall, in either case, be deemed thereby to have vacated his membership of said Board, and the vacancy so created shall be filled as is provided as to other vacancies; but membership of this Board shall not affect membership in the Board of Police or the office of Health Oficer. |