16-325 Board of public works; appointment; oath; terms; duties; removal from office.
16-325. Board of public works; appointment; oath; terms; duties; removal from office.(1) There may be in each city a board of public works which shall consist of three members, each having a three-year term of office, or five members, each having a five-year term of office, the number to be set by ordinance, which members shall be residents of such city and be appointed by the mayor by and with the assent of the council. When such board is first established, one member shall be appointed for a term of one year, one for two years, and one for three years and, in the case of a five-member board, an additional member shall be so appointed for four years and another for five years. Thereafter, as their terms expire, all members shall be appointed for a full term of three or five years as the case may be. The mayor, by and with the assent of the council, shall designate one of the members of such board to be the chairperson thereof.(2) Each of the members of the board of public works shall, before entering upon the discharge of his or her duties, take an oath to discharge faithfully the duties of the office.(3) It shall be the duty of the board of public works to (a) make contracts on behalf of the city for the performance of all such work and erection of all such improvements in the manner provided in section 16-321, (b) superintend the performance of all such work and the erection of all such improvements, (c) approve the estimates of the city engineer, which may be made from time to time, of the value of the work as the same may progress, (d) accept any work done or improvements made when the same shall be fully completed according to contract, subject to the approval of the mayor and council, and (e) perform such other duties as may be conferred upon such board by ordinance.(4) Any member of the board of public works may at any time be removed from office by the mayor and a majority of the council, and the proceedings in regard thereto shall be entered in the journal of the council. SourceLaws 1901, c. 18, § 70, p. 283; R.S.1913, § 4891; C.S.1922, § 4059; Laws 1925, c. 44, § 2, p. 175; C.S.1929, § 16-321; R.S.1943, § 16-325; Laws 1947, c. 26, § 3, p. 129; Laws 1953, c. 26, § 2, p. 111; Laws 1965, c. 52, § 1, p. 255; Laws 1971, LB 494, § 2; Laws 1973, LB 24, § 1; Laws 1984, LB 682, § 6. AnnotationsA member of the board of public works is prohibited from being interested in purchase of any material to be used for municipal purposes. Arthur v. Trindel, 168 Neb. 429, 96 N.W.2d 208 (1959).Appointment of a board of public works is entirely optional. State ex rel. City of Grand Island v. Union Pacific R. R. Co., 152 Neb. 772, 42 N.W.2d 867 (1950).