three shall be owners of lots in a public burial ground in said city. The said commissioners shall serve without compensation and shall be appointed in the first instance for terms of one, two, three, four and five years respectively, and thereafter as vacancies occur they shall be filled by the appointment of a commissioner for the term of five years. The commissioners shall elect one of their number chairman and shall appoint such other officers as they may deem expedient. SECTION 2. The said commissioners shall annually in To make January present a report to the mayor of their doings for the annual report. preceding year, including a detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures of each cemetery under their control and of all gifts and bequests, in trust or otherwise, made to said city for the care of any of the cemeteries under the charge of said commissioners, or of any lot therein, or for any other purpose relative thereto. SECTION 3. So much of chapter six hundred and forty- Repeal. SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon its passage. AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Chap.286 commissioners SECTION 1. The sums hereinafter mentioned are appro- Appropriation, priated, to be paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth board of from the ordinary revenue, for expenditures incurred by the on fisheries board of commissioners on fisheries and game, for the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth day of November, nineteen hundred and fifteen, to wit: and game. For compensation of the commissioners, a sum not ex- Commisceeding sixty-one hundred and twenty dollars. sioners, salaries. For travelling and incidental office expenses, including Travelling printing and binding the annual report, a sum not exceeding expenses, etc. sixty-two hundred dollars. services. For clerical services, a sum not exceeding fifty-one hundred Clerical dollars. of laws, etc. For enforcement of the laws relating to fisheries and game, Enforcement including the salaries and expenses of deputies, forty-eight thousand dollars. Stocking of ponds, etc. Fish hatcheries. Maintenance, etc. For stocking great ponds with food fish, a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars. For the establishment of fish hatcheries, as authorized by chapter six of the resolves of the year nineteen hundred and twelve, a sum not exceeding eight thousand dollars. For the maintenance of fish hatcheries, the propagation of food and game fish, and for the purchase of lobsters with eggs attached, and for the establishment of bird and game preserves and for the maintenance of game farms for the protection and propagation of wild birds and quadrupeds, a sum not exceeding sixty-six thousand and eighty dollars. SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Approved April 19, 1915. Chap.287 AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE TOWN OF BELCHERTOWN TO Town of Belchertown may supply itself with water, etc. May purchase waters of ponds, etc. SUPPLY ITSELF AND ITS INHABITANTS WITH WATER. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: SECTION 1. The town of Belchertown may supply itself and its inhabitants with water for the extinguishment of fires and for domestic, manufacturing and other purposes; may establish fountains and hydrants and relocate or discontinue the same, and may regulate the use of such water, and fix and collect rates to be paid therefor. SECTION 2. Said town, for the purposes aforesaid, may take, or acquire by purchase or otherwise, and hold the waters of any pond or stream, or of any ground sources of supply, taken by means of driven, artesian or other wells, within the limits of the said town not already owned or acquired by the city of Springfield, acting under its statutory rights, and the water rights connected with any such water sources, and may also take, or acquire by purchase or otherwise, and hold all lands, rights of way and easements necessary for collecting, storing, holding, purifying and preserving the purity of the water, and for conveying the same to any part of said town: provided, however, that no source of water supply and no lands necessary for preserving the quality of the water shall be taken or used without first obtaining the advice and approval of the state department of health, and that the situation of all dams, reservoirs and wells to be used as sources of water supply under this act shall be May construct subject to the approval of said department. Said town may construct on the lands acquired and held under the provisions of this act proper dams, reservoirs, standpipes, tanks, Proviso. dams, etc. buildings, fixtures and other structures, and may make excavations, procure and operate machinery and provide such other means and appliances and do such other things as may be necessary for the establishment and maintenance of complete and effective water works; and for that purpose may construct wells and reservoirs and establish pumping works, and may construct, lay and maintain aqueducts, conduits, pipes and other works under or over any land, water courses, railroads, railways and public or other ways, and along such ways in the town of Belchertown, in such manner as not unnecessarily to obstruct the same; and for the purpose of constructing, laying, maintaining, operating and repairing such conduits, pipes and other works, and for all proper purposes of this act, said town may dig up or raise and embank any such lands, highways, or other ways in such manner as to cause the least hindrance to public travel on such ways. Said town shall not enter upon, con- Restrictions. struct or lay any conduits, pipes or other works within the location of any railroad corporation, except at such time and in such manner as it may agree upon with such corporation or, in case of failure so to agree, as may be approved by the public service commission. property taken SECTION 3. Said town shall, within ninety days after the Description of taking of any lands, rights of way, water rights, water to be recorded, sources or easements as aforesaid, file and cause to be re- etc. corded in the registry of deeds for the county and district within which the same are situated, a description thereof sufficiently accurate for identification, with a statement of the purpose for which the same were taken, signed by the water commissioners hereinafter provided for. The title to Title, how all land taken or acquired in any way under the provisions vested. of this act shall vest in the town of Belchertown, and the land so acquired may be managed, improved and controlled by the board of water commissioners hereinafter provided for, in such manner as they shall deem for the best interest of the town. SECTION 4. Said town shall pay all damages to property Damages. sustained by any person or corporation by the taking of any land, right of way, water, water source, water right or easement, or by any other thing done by the town under authority of this act. Any person or corporation sustaining damages as aforesaid, and failing to agree with said town as to the amount thereof, may have the same determined in the manner provided by law in the case of land taken Damages. May purchase property of Belchertown Water Company. Town of Payment of loan. for the laying out of highways, on application at any time within the period of two years after the taking of such land or other property or the doing of other injury under authority of this act; but no such application shall be made after the expiration of the said two years, and no assessment of damages shall be made for the taking of any water or water right, or for any injury thereto, until the water is actually withdrawn or diverted by said town under authority of this act. Said town may by vote, from time to time, determine what amount or quantity of water it proposes to take and appropriate under this act; in which case any damages caused by such taking shall be based upon such amount or quantity until the same shall be increased by vote or otherwise, and in such event the town shall be further liable only for the additional damages caused by such additional taking. SECTION 5. The said town may purchase the water rights, estate, franchises, and privileges of the Belchertown Water Company, which was incorporated by chapter three hundred and fifty of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and twelve. SECTION 6. Said town, for the purpose of paying the necessary expenses and liabilities incurred or to be incurred under the provisions of this act, may issue from time to time bonds or notes to an amount not exceeding fifty thousand dollars. Such bonds or notes shall bear on their face the words, Town of Belchertown Water Loan, Act of 1915; shall be payable by such annual payments, beginning not more than one year after the date thereof, as will extinguish each loan within thirty years from its date, shall bear interest, payable semi-annually, at a rate not exceeding four and one half per cent per annum; and shall be signed by the treasurer of the town and countersigned by the water commissioners hereinafter provided for. Each authorized issue of bonds or notes shall constitute a separate loan, and the amount of the annual payment in any year shall not be less than the amount of principal payable in any subsequent year. Said town may sell the said securities at public or private sale, upon such terms and conditions as it may deem proper, but they shall not be sold for less than their par value. SECTION 7. Said town shall, at the time of authorizing said loan, provide for the payment thereof in such annual payments, beginning not more than one year after the first issue of said bonds or notes, as will extinguish the same within the time prescribed by this act; and when a vote to that effect has been passed a sum which, with the income derived from water rates, will be sufficient to pay the annual expense of operating its water works and the interest as it accrues on the bonds or notes issued as aforesaid, and to make such payments on the principal as may be required under the provisions of this act, shall, without further vote be assessed by the assessors of the town annually thereafter, in the same manner in which other taxes are assessed, until the debt incurred by said loan is extinguished. SECTION 8. Whoever wilfully or wantonly corrupts, pol- Penalty. lutes or diverts any water taken or held under this act, or injures any structure, work or other property, owned, held or used by said town under authority of this act, shall forfeit and pay to the said town three times the amount of damages assessed therefor, to be recovered in an action of tort; and upon being convicted of any of the above wilful or wanton acts shall be punished by a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars or by imprisonment in jail for a term not exceeding one year. sioners, term, SECTION 9. Said town shall, after the acceptance of this Commisact, at a legal meeting called for the purpose, elect by ballot election, etc. three persons to hold office, one until the expiration of three years, one until the expiration of two years and one until the expiration of one year from the next succeeding annual town meeting, to constitute a board of water commissioners; and at each annual town meeting thereafter one such commissioner shall be elected by ballot for the term of three years. All the authority granted to the said town by this act and not otherwise specifically provided for shall be vested in said water commissioners, who shall be subject however to such instructions, rules and regulations as the town may impose by its vote. A majority of said commissioners shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Any vacancy occurring in said board from any Vacancies. cause may be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by the town at any legal town meeting called for the purpose. Any such vacancy may be filled temporarily by a majority vote of the selectmen, and the person so appointed shall hold office until the town fills the vacancy in the manner herein provided for. duties. SECTION 10. Said commissioners shall fix just and Powers and equitable prices and rates for the use of water, and shall |