366 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 178

land, but the returns thereof shall be made to Board of County
Commissioners of Montgomery County; all residents of said
village of Northwest Park for six months previous to said elec-
tion, and over the age of twenty-one years, shall be eligible to
vote at such election; said election shall be conducted by three
judges of election and two clerks, to be appointed by said com-
mittee, who shall serve without pay; and the polls of said elec-
tion shall be open from seven o'clock A. M., to nine o'clock
P. M., on the last Monday in March as hereinbefore provided.
Nothing herein shall be construed to exclude women as qualified
in this section from voting, or holding office.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, Th'at said Northwest
Park Citizens' Committee is empowered to grade, pave, ma-
cadamize, or otherwise improve any existing street, road, or
lane, which has been or which may be acquired and open, for
public use, and to lay sidewalks and curbs thereon, and after
determining the character of such improvements and the cost
thereof the Board of County Commissioners shall upon written
notice from said Citizens' Committee assess the cost of said
grading, paving, macadamizing, or improving, against the
property abutting on said street, ro'ad, lane, or sidewalk, in
proportion to the frontage of said abutting property on the
same; provided, that before any contract for work shall be en-
tered into, or obligation with respect thereto incurred, 10 days'
notice in writing shall be served upon the owners of said abut-
ting property; or in the case of non-residents, mailed to their
last known postoffice address, giving notice of the time and
place upon which a hearing upon said proposed work will be
held such hearing to be had before said Northwest Park Citi-
zens' Committee, who shall decide the matters properly before
them. Any party affected by the final decision of said North-
west Park Citizens' Committee, made after such hearing, shall
have the right of appeal therefrom within ten days to the Cir-
cuit Court for Montgomery County; and provided further,
that upon the petition of two-thirds of the resident property
owners residing upon any streets, roads, or lanes, for the grad-
ing, paving, macadamizing, or other improvement of such
streets, roads, or lanes, under the provisions of this section, it
shall be the duty of the said Northwest Park Citizens' Com-
mittee to make the assessments against the abutting property
owners to provide the funds for the necessary work or construc-
tion to be done, in accordance with the provisions hereinbefore
set forth. Any tax so assessed as above provided in this sec-