If the railway company or its receiver fails to pay the account within thirty days after presentation, as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 45:453, the owner of the land, farm, or plantation at whose expense the work has been done, has a right of action to recover the amount he has expended for the actual cost of doing the work, and in addition to the amount recovered in a judgment, shall receive an attorney’s fee not exceeding fifteen per cent, and damages suffered by the refusal or neglect of the railway company to do the work.