48-507. Protests; filing; presentation to council; hearing

A. Any person interested and objecting to the improvement, or to the extent of the assessment district, may file a written protest with the city or town clerk within fifteen days after completion of posting the notice, or within fifteen days after the date of the last publication of the notice if such date is subsequent to the completion of the posting.

B. The protest shall contain a description of the property in which each signer thereof is interested and the nature of his interest therein, and shall be accompanied by the affidavit of one of the signers thereof that each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name is thereto subscribed. If a signature is made by an agent, there shall be attached to the protest the affidavit of the agent that he is duly authorized to sign the protest. A protest not complying with the foregoing requirements shall not be considered. If property is held by tenancy in common, and a cotenant signs the protest, only the proportionate share of the frontage represented by his interest shall be counted in determining the amount of frontage represented by the protest.

C. The clerk shall endorse on the protest the date of its filing, and, at the next meeting of the council after the expiration of the time for filing protests, shall present to the council all protests filed with him. If the protests are against the improvement, and the council finds that they are signed by the owners of a majority of the frontage of the property fronting on streets or parts of streets within the assessment district, all further proceedings under the resolution of intention, excepting in the cases otherwise provided in this article, shall be barred, unless the owners of a majority of the frontage of the property fronting on streets or parts of streets within the assessment district shall in the meantime petition therefor.

D. The council at the meeting shall fix a time for hearing protests, not less than ten days thereafter, in the following cases:

1. If the protests are against the improvement, and the council finds that they are not signed by the owners of a majority of the property fronting on streets or parts of streets within the assessment district.

2. If the protests are only against the extent of the assessment district.

3. If the proposed improvement is for opening or extending a street for a distance of not more than two blocks intervening between the terminations of two different streets, or two portions of the same street, both of which are at least five blocks in length, and which existed at the time the resolution of intention for the proposed improvement was adopted, and the opening or extending of the streets will, together with the different streets or portions of the same street so existing, make, as nearly as practicable, one connecting or continuous street.

4. If the proposed improvement is for opening or extending a street into a different street for a distance of not more than one block intervening, and the street so proposed to be opened or extended through the intervening block existed for a distance of at least five blocks at the time the resolution of intention was adopted.

5. If the proposed improvement is for opening or extending a public street, lane, alley, court or place through the remainder of a block when the public street, lane, alley, court or place existed at the time the resolution of intention was adopted for at least one half the distance through the block.

E. The council shall cause notice of the time of the hearing to be published for at least two days in a daily newspaper published and circulated in the city or town, or if there is no daily newspaper, by at least one publication in a weekly newspaper so published and circulated, the first publication to be not less than five days before the hearing.

F. The council shall hear the protest at the time appointed, or any time to which the hearing thereof may be adjourned, and pass upon it, and its decision thereon shall be final and conclusive. If any protests are sustained, no further proceedings shall be had under the resolution of intention, but a new resolution of intention for the same improvement may be passed at any time. If the protests are denied, the proceedings shall continue as if such protests had not been made.

G. At the expiration of the time within which protests may be filed, if none are filed, or if protests are filed and are denied, the council shall acquire jurisdiction to order the improvement described in the resolution of intention.