When the occupants or owners of adjacent lands disagree respecting their rights in partition fences and their obligation to maintain them, on application of either party, 2 or more fence viewers of the town where the lands lie, after reasonable notice to each party, may in writing under their hands assign to each the occupants’ or owners’ share thereof and limit the time in which each shall build or repair each occupant’s or owner’s part of the fence, not exceeding 30 days. Such assignment and all other assignments of proprietors of partition fences provided for, recorded in the town clerk’s office, shall be binding upon the parties and they shall thereafter maintain their part of the fence. If such fence has been built and maintained by the parties in unequal proportions and the fence viewers adjudge it to be good and sufficient, they may, after notice in writing under their hands, award to the party who built and maintained the larger portion the value of such excess, to be recovered in a civil action against the other party if not paid within 6 months after demand. Parties to assignments shall pay the fees of the fence viewers certified under their hands in equal proportions, and if either party neglects to pay the party’s proportion within one month after demand, the party applying to the fence viewers may pay the same and recover of the delinquent party, in a civil action, double the amount of that party’s proportion thereof. [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).]