FERRIES, CANALS AND PUBLIC LANDINGS

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title XIV, ch. c. 88

in effect

M.G.L. c. 88, § 1 Ferryman; license

c. 88, § 1. Ferryman; license Section 1. The county commissioners may license for such time as they determine any suitable person to keep a ferry for hire, and may revoke such license when necessary. Each ferryman shall give to the state treasurer a bond with sufficient sureties for the faithful performance of his duty.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 2 Fares and tolls

c. 88, § 2. Fares and tolls Section 2. The commissioners shall establish at each ferry the fares or tolls for passengers, horses, vehicles and other things there transported, having regard to the length and situation of the ferry and to the number of persons using the same. This and the preceding section shall not apply to ferries established by law prior to April thirtieth, eighteen hundred and thirty-six.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 3 Sufficiency and safety of boats

c. 88, § 3. Sufficiency and safety of boats Section 3. Each ferryman shall keep sufficient and safe boats in good repair and shall give ready attendance on passengers on all occasions according to the regulations established for his ferry. If he neglects to keep such boats or to give such attendance, he shall forfeit not more than twenty dollars, and be liable for all damages caused thereby.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 4 Remedy for damage from negligence or default of ferryman

c. 88, § 4. Remedy for damage from negligence or default of ferryman Section 4. Whoever suffers damage by the negligence or default of a ferryman may recover the same by an action upon his bond; which may be prosecuted as an action brought on the bond of a sheriff is prosecuted.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 5 Keeping ferry without license; liability

c. 88, § 5. Keeping ferry without license; liability Section 5. Whoever without license keeps a ferry and demands or receives pay or toll therefor shall forfeit not more than five dollars for each day during which he keeps such ferry, and shall be liable for all damages caused thereby to any person authorized to keep a ferry.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 6 Maintenance of ferry by towns

c. 88, § 6. Maintenance of ferry by towns Section 6. If the commissioners determine that it is necessary to establish a ferry, and no person appears to keep it for the profits thereof, the town in which such ferry is required shall provide a person to keep it at such place and seasons as the commissioners order. Such person shall be licensed as aforesaid, and the expense of maintaining such ferry, in excess of the amount received for tolls, shall be paid by the town.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 7 Apportionment of expense of maintenance of ferry

c. 88, § 7. Apportionment of expense of maintenance of ferry Section 7. The commissioners may, either when such ferry is established between two towns or thereafter, upon the application of ten voters of either town and after notice to both towns and a hearing, order that such towns shall maintain said ferry either jointly or alternately, and shall adjudge in what proportion they shall bear the expense of such maintenance; and the commissioners may, upon a new application and after notice and a hearing, revise such order. Their determination shall be final.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 8 Negligence in maintaining ferry

c. 88, § 8. Negligence in maintaining ferry Section 8. A town which neglects to maintain a ferry as provided in the two preceding sections shall forfeit not more than one hundred dollars for each month such neglect continues.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 9 Certificate of character of load

c. 88, § 9. Certificate of character of load Section 9. The master of a boat laden with goods, wares or merchandise which enters the waters of a canal to be carried thereon, shall exhibit a certificate signed by him to the collector of tolls, stating the name of the owner of the boat, the name of the place to which it is destined and the quantity or weight of the respective articles laden on board, distinguishing each article, as to quantity or weight, according to the toll which it is liable to pay. A master who neglects or refuses to exhibit such certificate, or knowingly, and with intent to defraud the proprietors of the canal, makes or delivers a false certificate of the kind or quantity of goods, wares or merchandise laden on board such boat, shall forfeit one hundred dollars. The proprietors shall prepare the proper blank forms of certificates of loading; and masters of boats shall be entitled to use them without expense.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 10 False statement as to quantity or quality of goods laden

c. 88, § 10. False statement as to quantity or quality of goods laden Section 10. Whoever knowingly and with intent to defraud such proprietors makes or causes to be made a false statement of the quantity or quality of goods, wares or merchandise laden or to be laden on board of a boat used on such canal shall forfeit one hundred dollars.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 11 Examination of load

c. 88, § 11. Examination of load Section 11. A collector of tolls on a canal may detain a boat and cause the goods, wares and merchandise laden on board to be weighed; and if it is found that the loading is greater than the quantity stated in the certificate, the master of the boat, in addition to the penalty hereinbefore provided, shall pay the costs and charges of unloading, weighing and reloading such goods, wares or merchandise; otherwise the proprietors of the canal shall pay all such costs and charges, and be liable in tort for all damages caused by such detention.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 12 Fencing dangerous canals

c. 88, § 12. Fencing dangerous canals Section 12. The city council of a city or the selectmen of a town may, for the purpose of determining whether a canal or waterway within the limits of the city or town is dangerous to the public, give a public hearing thereon, after notice in writing, to the person owning, operating or controlling said canal or waterway, and if after such hearing the council or selectmen shall adjudge said canal or waterway to be dangerous to the public, they shall order that a suitable fence be erected along said canal or waterway or any portion thereof. The person so ordered to erect the fence may within thirty days after written notice of said order, appeal therefrom to the department of highways, which shall thereupon give due notice and hear all parties interested, and its decision thereon shall be final.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 13 Failure to comply with fencing order

c. 88, § 13. Failure to comply with fencing order Section 13. If such order of the city council or selectmen is not complied with within sixty days after written notice of it has been given, or, in the event of an appeal to said department, within sixty days after written notice of its decision affirming such order, the city council or selectmen shall cause a suitable fence to be erected and shall recover the cost thereof in contract from the person required to erect it, who, for such neglect, shall also be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 14 Laying out or alteration of common landing places; erection and maintenance of structures thereon

c. 88, § 14. Laying out or alteration of common landing places; erection and maintenance of structures thereon Section 14. In every city or town where the tide ebbs and flows there shall be provided on a tidal shore thereof at least one common landing place and where no common landing place exists the city council or board of selectmen shall lay out at least one common landing place and may from time to time alter the same, but the layout or alteration of such landing place shall not extend below low water mark. In any such city or town the city council or board of selectmen may, upon petition of ten or more voters of the city or town, lay out additional common landing places and alter the same or those already existing, but no layout or alteration of such landing place shall extend below low water mark. All the provisions of law relating to the laying out and alteration of town ways shall apply to the laying out or alteration of common landing places. Any person who is damaged in his property by such laying out or alteration may recover damages under chapter seventy-nine. In any city or town where a common landing place exists or where a layout or alteration is made in accordance with the provisions of this section, the city council or board of selectmen shall file a plan and a description of each such common landing place or layout or alteration with the city clerk or town clerk, with the county commissioners of the county where said city or town is located, and with the department of environmental management and shall record the same in the registry of deeds for said county. A city or town may erect and maintain structures on any such common landing place in keeping with the public nature thereof, but any such structures extending into tidewater shall be subject to the provisions of chapter ninety-one. The city council or board of selectmen shall make rules and regulations governing the operation and use of structures on a common landing place and may appoint a custodian thereof and fix his salary, or it may, on behalf of the city or town, lease said structures.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 15 Failure to lay out; appeal to county commissioners

c. 88, § 15. Failure to lay out; appeal to county commissioners Section 15. Any person aggrieved by the failure of the selectmen of a town to lay out suitable landing places therein, after petition therefor, or by the failure of a town to accept a common landing place laid out by the selectmen, may, if an inhabitant of such town or of an adjoining town, within six months after such petition to the selectmen or after such failure of the town, appeal by petition in writing to the county commissioners, who, unless sufficient cause to the contrary is shown, may lay out suitable common landing places, or may approve a landing place laid out by the selectmen, and may direct the laying out of such landing places to be recorded by the clerk of the town, and such laying out or approval shall have the same effect as a laying out by the selectmen and an acceptance by the town. The proceedings of the county commissioners upon such an appeal shall, so far as is practicable, be the same as those provided by law in regard to the laying out of highways by county commissioners.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 16 Ascertainment of location of common landing place

c. 88, § 16. Ascertainment of location of common landing place Section 16. Upon the representation of ten or more inhabitants of a county to the county commissioners that the exact location of a common landing place in such county cannot be readily ascertained, they shall, after giving the notice required in laying out highways, ascertain the correct location of such landing place, erect the necessary bounds thereof and make a record thereof as in laying out highways.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 17 Discontinuance; appeal

c. 88, § 17. Discontinuance; appeal Section 17. A town at a meeting called for the purpose may discontinue any common landing place laid out under this chapter. Any resident of the town, or of an adjoining town aggrieved by such discontinuance may, within six months thereafter, appeal to the county commissioners, who shall give notice to the clerk of the town in which such landing place is situated, and to the clerks of every adjoining town, of a hearing on such appeal and of the time and place appointed therefor, at least thirty days before the time appointed for the hearing, and they shall also cause copies of the petition, or abstracts thereof, and of the notice, to be posted in two public places in each of said towns, and to be published three weeks successively in such newspaper as they shall order; the posting and the last publication to be fourteen days at least before any view, hearing or adjudication on such appeal. The proceedings of the county commissioners shall, so far as is practicable, be in accordance with the law regarding the discontinuance of a way by county commissioners, and the decision of the county commissioners shall be final.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 18 Recognizance for costs

c. 88, § 18. Recognizance for costs Section 18. Before any action is taken upon an appeal under section fifteen or seventeen the appellants shall cause a sufficient recognizance to be given to the county, with sureties to the satisfaction of the county commissioners, for the payment of all costs and expenses to the county which shall arise by reason of the proceedings on such appeal, if the appellants do not prevail.

M.G.L. c. 88, § 19 Use of common landing places

c. 88, § 19. Use of common landing places Section 19. The city council of a city and the selectmen of a town may make rules and regulations concerning the use of a common landing place laid out under this chapter; provided, that no such rule or regulation shall be effective unless it shall have been published in one or more newspapers, if there be any published in the city or town in which the public landing is located, otherwise in one or more newspapers published in the county in which the city or town is situated. Any person convicted of a violation of any such rule or regulation shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty dollars.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter88Fetched: 10/20/2026