(a) Form. Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing and the form required for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be “the City of Fairmont hereby ordains ............” . Any ordinance which repeals or amends an existing ordinance or part of the City Code shall set out in full the ordinance, sections, or subsections to be repealed or amended, and shall include the matter to be omitted by enclosing it in brackets or by strikeout type and shall indicate new matter by underscoring or by italics.
(b) Procedure. An ordinance may be introduced by any member at any regular or special meeting of the Council. Upon introduction of any ordinance, the City Clerk shall read fully and distinctly the proposed ordinance in its entirety. When the introducer of an ordinance considers it to be of such technical nature, or of such length that the intent will be more fully understood in synopsis form the Council member may request the Clerk to read the synopsis in lieu of the entire ordinance. Provided however, the ordinance will be read in its entirety instead of in synopsis upon request of the majority of the Council members present. The City Clerk shall distribute a copy to each Council member and to the Manager, shall file a reasonable number of copies in the office of the City Clerk, and shall publish the ordinance together with a notice setting out the time and place for a public hearing thereon and for its consideration by the Council. At the commencement of the public hearing the Clerk shall read the title only of the proposed ordinance, unless a request is made by any person present at the public hearing that the proposed ordinance be read, upon which request the Clerk shall read fully and distinctly the proposed ordinance in its entirety. Copies of the proposed ordinance shall be made available to those in attendance at the public hearing. The public hearing shall follow the publication by at least seven days, may be held separately or in connection with a regular or special Council meeting and may be adjourned from time to time; all persons interested shall have an opportunity to be heard. After the hearing, the Council may adopt the ordinance with or without amendment or reject it, but if it is amended as to any matter of substance, the Council may not adopt it until the ordinance or its amended sections have been subjected to all the procedures hereinbefore required in the case of a newly introduced ordinance.
(Passed by Council 6-17-80; 11-15-83; 5-23-89)
(c) Effective Date. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, every adopted ordinance shall become effective at the expiration of 30 days after adoption or at any later date specified therein.
(d) "Published" Defined. As used in this section, the term "publish" means to print in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City: (1) the title of the ordinance and a brief summary thereof, and (2) the places where copies of it have been filed and the times when they are available for public inspection.