The common council of said city shall have jurisdiction and authority to order and
cause to be made all local improvements including the construction, reconstruction,
repair, and cleaning of sewers, vaults, drains, bridges, arches, culverts, gutters
and sidewalks; the cleaning, grading, repairing, watering, sprinkling, flushing and
laying of dust and water or substances other than water on any street, or part thereof,
and the paving, surfacing, macadamizing, repaving, and resurfacing of any street,
or part thereof, and the regrading and/or the application of hot-mix asphalt overlay
over an unimproved street which is deemed a street without a concrete base, subject,
however, to the provisions of sections 31 and 32 of this act [sections 18-36 and 18-37 hereof], and to provide for and defray the expense thereof by local assessments to
be assessed, levied and collected in the form and manner hereinafter provided, except
(a) that the repaving, surfacing or resurfacing of any street or part thereof, the
paving of which has been heretofore assessed against any abutting property and the
repaving, surfacing or resurfacing of any street or part thereof laid on a cement
concrete foundation, the paving of which shall hereafter be assessed against the abutting
property, shall be a general city charge, or (b) the regarding and/or the application
of hot-mix asphalt overlay over an unimproved street which is deemed a street without
a concrete base shall be a general city charge upon certification by the commissioner
of public works that such improvement is appropriate due to a traffic volume, excessive
drainage problems, public safety or other reasons in the interest of the general public.
