Section 1. Control over sidewalks, curbs, shade trees, etc.: The Council may, by resolution, declare that certain specific sidewalks, curbings, gutters and shade trees adjacent to any property abutting upon any public street, shall be constructed, repaired, planted or removed. Upon the passage of such resolution the City Council shall cause written notice of the passage thereof to be served upon the owner or agent of the owner, of each parcel of land abutting upon such street, who may be a resident of the City, in the manner provided by law for the service of summons in civil actions. He shall return a copy of the notice, with the time and manner of service, endorsed thereon, signed by the person serving it, to the City Clerk, who shall file and preserve such return. For the purpose of such service, if the owner of such property, be not a resident of the City, any person charged by such owner with the collection of rent or the payment of taxes on such property, or having control thereof in any way, shall be regarded as the agent of the owner, and service upon such person shall have the like force and effect as though personal service was made upon the owner thereof. If it appears in any such return, however, that the owner is a nonresident, or that neither agent nor said owner could be found one publication of a copy of the resolution in a newspaper of general circulation in the City shall be deemed sufficient notice to such owner.
Section 2. Special Assessment for Sidewalks, Curbs and Trees: If such sidewalks, curbings or gutters be not constructed or repaired, or such trees planted or removed within fifteen days of the service of the notice provided for in the preceding section, or the completion of the publication thereof. The Council may proceed by direct employment of labor or by contract to carry out the said construction or repair at the expense of the owner as in the case of other improvements; and all such expense shall be reported to the Council. The Council shall thereupon, by ordinance or resolution, assess the cost and expense thereof upon the owner or owners of all the property bounding or abutting thereon or benefited thereby, and such assessment shall be collected in the same manner as other assessments, with a penalty of five percent and interest for failure to pay at the time fixed by the assessment resolution.
Section 3. May Borrow Money For: The Council may, at any time, borrow money and authorize issuance of notes, or bonds therefor, in anticipation of the collection of assessments levied for the purpose of paying the cost of constructing or repairing sidewalks, curbings and gutters, which are to be or have been constructed by the Council upon the failure of the owners of the property to construct or repair the same, pursuant to notice as hereinbefore provided.
Section 4. Control Streets and Public Places: The Council shall provide by ordinance for the care, supervision, control and improvement of public highways, streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, public grounds, bridges, aqueducts and viaducts within the City, and shall cause them to be kept open, in repair, and free from nuisance.
Section 5. Same: When it deems it necessary, the Council may cause any street, alley, or public highway to be opened, straightened, altered, diverted, narrowed, widened, or vacated.
Section 6. Acceptance of Street Dedication: No street or alley hereafter dedicated to public use by the proprietor of ground platted in the City shall be deemed a public street or alley, or under the care and control of the Council unless the dedication be accepted and confirmed by resolution or ordinance passed for such purpose.
Section 7. Vacating Streets: The Council, in vacating any street or part of street or changing the name of any street, may include in one resolution or ordinance the change of name, or the vacation or narrowing of more than one street, avenue, or alley, but before vacating any street or part thereof, or narrowing any street, the Council shall first pass a resolution declaring its intention to do so. The Council shall cause notice of such resolution to be served in the manner provided in Section 1 of this chapter. Said notice shall state the time and place at which objections can be heard before the Council. The Council may, by resolution or ordinance, declare such vacation or narrowing, and such order of the Council vacating or narrowing a street or alley which has been dedicated to public use by the proprietor shall, to the extent which it is vacated or narrowed operate as a revocation of the acceptance thereof by the Council.
Section 8. The Council shall be empowered to regulate, require and enforce the setting of shade trees in the streets of said City, and to provide for the preservation of the same.
Section 9. Chapter XI of the Fourth Class Cities Incorporation Act Adopted. Excepting as they may be in conflict with this Charter, or with the Act under which the City of Grand Blanc is incorporated, said Council shall have all the powers and authority vested upon City Councils by the provisions of Chapter XI of Act 215 of the Public Acts of 1895 of the State of Michigan entitled “An Act to provide for the incorporation of cities of the fourth class,” and all acts amendatory thereof. The powers conferred on the City Council under this section are in addition to the other powers conferred on said Council in this charter.
Section 10. Proceedings to Acquire Private Property for Public Use. And any additional power or authority (if any, and same not being inconsistent with the foregoing provisions of this chapter) heretofore or hereafter granted to or conferred upon the common council of cities of the fourth class by the general laws of this State, and including specifically the power and authority to appropriate private property for public use, as provided by Chapter XXV of said Fourth Class City Act, is hereby adopted and granted to and conferred upon the Council of the City of Grand Blanc, or the City of Grand Blanc at its option may acquire private property for any public use, whether within or without the corporate limits of the City, under the provisions of Act 149 of the Public Acts of 1911 as amended, entitled, “An Act to provide for the condemnation by State agencies and public corporations of private property for the use or benefit of the public, and to define the terms “public corporations,” “State agencies,” and “private property” as used herein.
Section 11. The Council shall be the judge of election and qualification of its own members, subject to review of the courts in case of contest.
Section 12. The Council shall determine its own rules of procedure, may punish its members for disorderly conduct and may compel the attendance of the members.
Section 13. Council Meetings, General and Special: The Council shall prescribe the time of its regular meetings at least one of which shall be held each month, in the City Hall.
The Mayor or any two members of the Council may appoint special meetings thereof, notice of which, in writing, shall be given each Councilman or left at his place of residence at least six hours before the meeting; provided that if all members of the Council be present at any special meeting due notice shall be presumed to have been given.
Section 14. Journal to be Kept: The Council shall cause to be kept in the English language, a written or printed journal of every session of said Council.
Section 15. May Designate Bank: The Council is authorized to negotiate with one or more banks within the City given sufficient security to have all, or such portion of the City funds as may be agreed upon deposited with such bank, and to receive from such bank interest on daily or other periodical balances at such rate of interest as may be agreed upon, and thereafter to cause such City money to be deposited and remain in such bank during the time agreed upon, except such amounts as may be withdrawn by warrants issued in the ordinary course of business under the provisions of this Charter.
Section 16. The Council may annually cause to be levied and collected taxes in a sum not to exceed two per centum of the assessed value of all real and personal property in the City of Grand Blanc.
Section 17. The City Council may provide for the punishment of those who violate laws or ordinances of the City of Grand Blanc, but no punishment shall exceed a fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment for ninety days, or both, in the discretion of court: said imprisonment may be in the County Jail or City Prison, or in any workhouse in the State authorized by law to receive prisoners from such City.