§ 156-26. Procedure upon agreement.
Part 2. Petition under Agreement for Construction.
§ 156‑26. Procedure upon agreement.
(a) Agreement; Names Filed. Whenever a majority of thelandowners or the persons owning three fifths of all the lands in any well‑definedswamp or lowlands shall, by a written agreement, agree to give a part of theland situated in such swamp or lowlands as compensation to any person, firm, orcorporation who may propose to cut or dig any main drainway through such swampor lowlands, or shall, by written agreement, contract with any person, firm orcorporation to cut or dig any main drainway through such swamp or lowlands,then the person, firm, or corporation so proposing to cut or dig such maindrainway shall file with the clerk of the superior court of the county, or, ifthere be two or more counties, with the clerk of the superior court of eithercounty in or through which the proposed canal or drainway is to pass, the namesof the landowners, with the approximate number of acres owned by each to beaffected by the proposed drainway who have entered into the written agreementwith the person, firm, or corporation, together with a brief outline of theproposed improvement, and in addition thereto shall file with the clerk thenames and addresses, as far as can be ascertained, of the landowners, with thenumber of acres owned by each of them to be affected by the proposed drainway,who have not made any agreement with the person, firm, or corporation proposingto do the improvement.
(b) Notice. Upon the filing of such names, it shall be theduty of the clerk to forthwith issue a notice which shall be served by thesheriff to all landowners who have not made any agreement to appear before himat a certain date, which date shall be not less than 10 and not more than 20 daysfrom the service of such notice, or, in lieu of the personal servicehereinabove required, it shall be sufficient for the clerk to publish in anewspaper published in the county once a week for four weeks a notice to alllandowners who have not made any agreement to appear before him at a certaindate, which date shall be not less than 30 days and not more than 40 days fromthe first publication of notice, at which time and place the landowners shallstate their objections to the proposed improvement, and in addition theretomake an estimate of the amount of damage that might be done to the land ownedby each of them on account of the proposed drainway.
(c) Hearing; Viewers. Upon the hearing it shall be the duty ofthe clerk of the superior court to forthwith appoint three disinterestedpersons, none of whom shall own land to be affected by such drainway, ifrequested by the person, firm, or corporation proposing to do the improvement,whose duty it shall be to familiarize themselves with the proposed improvement,view the premises of the landowners, estimating damages, and make an estimatethemselves of the amount of damages that might accrue to the lands of eachlandowner filing objections on account of the proposed improvement, and reportthe same to the clerk of the superior court within 15 days from the date oftheir appointment.
(d) Report; Bond. Immediately upon the filing of the reportsthe clerk of the superior court shall forthwith notify the person, firm, orcorporation proposing to dig the drainway or canal of the estimated damagescontained in the reports, and the person, firm, or corporation shall executeand deliver a bond in a surety company authorized to do business in the Stateof North Carolina in twice the sum total of the estimated amount of damages,which bond shall be payable to the clerk of the superior court and conditionedupon the payment to the landowners of the amount of damages that may beassessed in the manner hereinafter provided.
(e) Construction Authorized. Upon the execution and deliveryto the clerk of the said bond, the person, firm, or corporation so proposing tocut or dig such main drainway shall be and they are hereby authorized toproceed with the cutting or digging of the drainway through any lands in itsproposed course, whether the owners of the land may have consented thereto ornot, and the person, firm, or corporation so proposing to cut or dig thedrainway shall have the proper and necessary right‑of‑way for thatpurpose and for all things incident thereto through any lands or timberssituated in such swamp or lowlands. (1917, c. 273, s. 1; C.S., s. 5284; 1969, c. 1046.)