CITY LIABILITY:
Section 13.1 The City shall not be liable to pay damages for injuries which arise out of governmental functions, sustained by any person either to his person or property by reason of the negligence of the City, its officers or employees, not by reason of any defective condition of or obstruction in any public place unless such person shall serve or cause to be served upon the Clerk, within thirty (30) days after the injury resulting in such damages shall have occurred, a notice in writing, which notice shall set forth substantially the time and place of such injury, the manner in which it occurred, the extent of such damages as far as the same has become known, the names and addresses of witnesses known at the time by the claimant and statement that the person sustaining such damages intends to hold the City liable for such damages as may have been sustained by him.
The City shall not be liable for any damage to person or property arising out of any such injury unless there shall have been first presented to the Clerk a claim in writing and under oath setting forth particularly the time, place, nature and extent of such injury and the amount of damages claimed by reason thereof. No person shall bring any action against the City for any such damages until such claim shall have been filed with the Clerk and until the Council shall have been given reasonable opportunity to act thereon, either by allowing or refusing to allow the claim.
It shall be a sufficient bar and answer in any Court to any action or proceeding for the collection of any demand or claim against the City under this section that the notice of injury and the verified proof of claim as in this section required were not presented and filed within the time and in the manner herein provided. The foregoing language notwithstanding, the city retains the right to claim governmental immunity as a result of any injury to person(s) or property resulting from governmental functions.
UNOFFICIAL REPRESENTATION:
CITY RECORDS:
Section 13.3 All records of the city shall be public, except those exempted by state law, and shall be available for inspection by the public at all reasonable times, and shall be kept in city offices, except when required to be elsewhere for official reasons or for safekeeping. All records of the city shall be in the English language, including the legislative journal of the city.
HEADINGS:
SEPARABILITY:
Section 13.5 If any provision of this charter is held invalid, the other provisions of the charter shall not be affected thereby. If the application of the charter or any of its provisions to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the application of the charter and its provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
AMENDMENTS:
Section 13.6 This charter may be amended at any time in the manner provided in Act. No. 279 of the Public Acts of 1909, as amended. Should two (2) or more amendments, adopted at the same election, have conflicting provisions, the one receiving the largest affirmative vote shall prevail to those provisions.
DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS:
(a) The word “state” means the State of Michigan.
(b) The word “city” shall mean the City of Bronson.
(c) The word “council” shall mean the City Council of the City of Bronson.
(d) The word “officer” shall include, but shall not be limited to, the mayor, the members of the council, and as herein provided, the administrative officers, deputy administrative officers, members of city boards and commissions created by or pursuant to this charter.
(e) The word “person” may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate and to partnerships and associations, as well as to individuals.
(f) The words “printed” and “printing” shall include printing, engraving, stencil, duplicating, lithographing, typewriting, photostating, or any similar method.
(g) Except in reference to signature, the words “written” and “in writing” shall include hand written script, printing, typewriting and teletype and telegraphic communications.
(h) The words “publish” or “published” shall include publication of any matter required to be published in the manner provided by law, or where there is no applicable law, in one (1) or more newspapers of general circulation in the city, qualified by law for publication of legal notices.
(i) The words “public utility” shall include all common carriers in the public street and water, sewage disposal, electric light and power, gas, telephone and telegraph lines and systems, cable television, garbage and refuse collection and disposal facilities, transportation, and such other different enterprises as the council may determine or designate.
(j) All words indicating the present tense shall not be limited to the time of the adoption of this charter, but shall extend to and include the time of happening of any event or requirement to which any provision of this charter is applied.
(k) The singular shall include the plural and the plural shall include the singular, the masculine gender shall extend to and include the feminine gender and the neuter.
(l) All references to statute shall be considered to be references to such statutes as amended.