§ 264. Mohawk basin, at Green Island. Whenever the owner or lessee of lands contiguous to lands of the state bordering on the Mohawk basin at Green Island, and lying between the lands of such owner or lessee and such basin, shall require the ice formed in such river between the center thereof and such lands of the state for the purpose of filling any icehouse now erected, or which may at the time of the formation of such ice hereafter be erected, on such lands contiguous to such state lands, such owner or lessee of such lands and icehouses shall have the exclusive privilege, and without obtaining any permit under any provision of the canal law, of cutting and harvesting all the ice so formed in such basin in said river in front of and adjacent to such lands of the state between the same and the center of the basin, and opposite such privately owned or leased lands; provided that the nearest boundary of said land is not more than fifty (50) feet removed from the shore line of the basin, and provided such owner or lessee shall have indicated his intention of exercising such privilege by staking out so much of said ice as shall be required for said purpose, which staking out shall not be required before the ice has a thickness of four inches, and provided, also, such owner or lessee shall surround any cuttings and openings with fences of bushes or other safeguards as a warning to all persons. It shall not be lawful for any person other than the owner or lessee of such lands and icehouses to take possession of or cut the ice so staked out within the area covered by the privilege above granted, and the same is prohibited after such owner or lessee shall have complied with the foregoing requirements. The provisions of section two hundred and sixty-one, relative to ice in the Hudson river, shall apply to ice within the area staked out in the Mohawk basin by an owner or lessee in compliance with the provisions of this section. This section shall not apply to that portion of the land where the nearest boundary recedes more than fifty (50) feet from the shore line of the basin.