2312                                Municipal Charters

its decision thereon granting or denying the said application, as in its
judgment the public health, safety or comfort may require; provided,
however, that, in case the council shall grant such petition, it shall there-
upon proceed in all respects in the manner and in the form hereinafter
provided in this section.

(c)   Before entering upon the construction of any work or improve-
ment specified herein, the council shall, by ordinance, designate the loca-
tion, extent and kind of work or improvement proposed to be done or
made, the kind of materials to be used, the estimated cost of the improve-
ment and the real property which will be specially benefitted thereby and
which it is proposed to assess to pay all or any part of the cost thereof
and shall fix a time and place when and where the owner or owners of
the property to be so assessed therefor can be heard in reference thereto.
Notice of such hearing, embodying the substance of said ordinance, shall
be served upon the owners of said properties by mailing a copy thereof
to their last known post office address of record and by publishing said
notice two times in some newspaper of general circulation in said city,
the last publication to be not less than three days before said hearing.

(d)   If, after the hearing, the council shall be of the opinion that the
public health, safety or comfort requires the work or improvement pro-
posed to be done or made, they shall provide by ordinance for the same
and may charge the expense thereof or any part of such expense against
the property which they shall find to be specially benefitted thereby accord-
ing to the front foot rule of apportionment or some other equitable basis
as may be determined by them; and the council shall include as a part
of the cost of said work to be assessed against the benefitted property
the cost of said work embraced in street intersections and exemptions on
corner lots or irregular shaped lots, the actual interest charges covering
the term of indebtedness on the certificates issued for such public work and
a reasonable percentage for advertising, clerical work and other miscellan-
eous expenses in connection with said work, and the items above stated
are hereby declared to be a part of the cost of said public work. The
council shall also provide in said ordinance the time and terms upon
which payment of said assessments for said work and improvements shall
be made by said property owners, the rate of interest, if any, that shall be
charged upon deferred payments and shall provide penalties for failure
to pay any deferred payment when due. Assessments so levied as afore-
said shall be a lien upon the property against which they are charged
superior to all other liens from the date of the approval of such assess-
ments by the council.

(e)   In the event that provision shall be made for the payment of the
assessment aforesaid in installments, upon a failure to pay any one or
more of said installments when the same shall become due the whole amount
thereof and of such assessment shall immediately become due and payable.
All assessments levied hereunder whenever the same shall become overdue
according to the terms of the ordinance providing therefor, or by reason
of the non-payment of any installment thereof, may be collected by action
in equity to be brought in the county in which the land so assessed is
situated or in the same manner as general taxes due said town are now or
may hereafter be collected and any sale made for the non-payment of such
assessment and any deed made pursuant to such sale shall be entitled to all
the presumptions as to validity that now or may hereafter attach to sales
and deeds made for default in payment of general taxes due said city; and
when any real property assessed as herein provided for shall become liable
to sale for any other assessment of tax whatsoever, then the assessment