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Franchises Remain in Effect:
Granting the Public Utility Franchises:
No franchise ordinance which is not subject to revocation at the will of the Council shall be enacted nor become operative until the same shall have first been referred to the people at a regular or special election and received the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the electors voting thereon. No such franchise ordinance shall be approved by the Council for referral to the electorate before thirty days after application therefor has been filed with the Council nor until a public hearing has been held thereon, nor until the grantee named therein has filed with the Clerk his unconditional acceptance of all terms of such franchise. No special election for such purpose shall be ordered unless the expense of holding such election, as determined by the Council, shall have first been paid to the Treasurer by the grantee
A franchise ordinance or renewal or extension thereof or amendment thereto which is subject to revocation at the will of the Council may be enacted by the Council without referral to the voters, but shall not be enacted unless it shall have been complete in the form in which it is finally enacted and shall have so been on file in the office of the Clerk for public inspection for at least four weeks after publication of a notice that such ordinance is on file.
Conditions of Public Utility Franchises:
Section 14.3 All public utility franchises granted after the adoption of this charter, whether it be so provided in the granting ordinance or not, shall be subject to the following rights of the city, but this enumeration shall not be exclusive or impair the right of the Council to insert in such franchise any provision within the power of the city to impose or require:
(a) To repeal the same for misuse; non-use or failure to comply with the provisions thereof;
(b) To require proper and adequate extension of plant and service and maintenance thereof at the highest practicable standard of efficiency;
(c) To establish reasonable standards of service and quality of products and prevent unjust discrimination in service or rates;
(d) To require continuous and uninterrupted service to the public in accordance with the terms of the franchise throughout the entire period thereof;
(e) To use, control and regulate the use of its streets, alleys, bridges and other public places and the space above and beneath them;
(f) To impose such other regulations as may be determined by the Council to be conducive to the safety, welfare and accommodation of the public.
Regulation of Rates:
Section 14.4 All public utility franchises shall make provision therein for fixing rates, fares and charges, and may provide for readjustments thereof at periodic intervals. The value of the property of the utility used as a basis for fixing such rates, fares and charges, shall in no event include a value predicated upon the franchise, goodwill or prospective profits.
Use of Public Places by Utilities:
Section 14.5 Every public utility whether it has a franchise or not shall pay such part of the cost of improvement or maintenance of streets, alleys, bridges and other public places as shall arise from its use thereof and shall protect and save the city harmless from all damages arising from said use. Every such public utility may be required by the city to permit joint use of its property and appurtenances located in the streets, alleys and other public places of the city by the city and by other utilities insofar as such joint use may be reasonably practicable and upon payment of reasonable rental therefor. In the absence of agreement and upon application by any public utility, the Council shall provide for arbitration of the terms and conditions of such joint use and the compensation to be paid therefor, and the arbitration award shall be final.
City Liability:
Section 17.1 The city shall not be liable for damages sustained by any person either to his person or property by reason of negligence of the city, its officers or employees, nor by reason of any defective highway, street, bridge, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert, or by reason of any obstruction, ice, snow or other encumbrance upon such highway, street, bridge, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert, situated in the city, unless such person shall serve or cause to be served upon the Clerk within sixty days after such damages shall have occurred a notice in writing and a statement that the person sustaining such damages intends to hold the city liable for such damages as may have been sustained by him. Such notice shall set forth substantially the time and place of the damages, the manner in which they occurred, the extent of such damages as far as the same has become known, and the names and addresses of the witnesses known at the time by the claimant. No person shall bring any action against the city for any damages to person or property arising out of any of the reasons or circumstances aforesaid unless he shall have first presented to the Clerk his claim in writing and under oath setting forth particularly the nature and extent of such injury and the amount of damages claimed by reason thereof, which claim shall be presented to the Council by the Clerk and the Council given opportunity to act thereon either by allowing or refusing to allow such claim.
It shall be a sufficient bar and answer in any court to any action or proceeding for the collection or any demand or claim against the city under this section that the notice of damages and the verified proof of the claim as in this section required were not presented and filed within the time and in the manner as herein provided.
No Estoppel:
Processes Against City:
Vested Rights Continued:
No right or liability, either in favor of or against the city, existing at the time this charter becomes effective and no suit or prosecution of any character shall in any manner be affected by any change, resulting from the adoption of this charter, but the same shall stand or proceed as if no change had been made. All debts and liabilities of the city shall be the debts and liabilities of the city and all fines and penalties imposed at the time of such change shall be collected.
Trusts:
Section 17.5 All trusts established for any municipal purpose shall be used and continued in accordance with the terms of such trust, subject to the cy pres doctrine. The Council may in its discretion receive and hold any property in trust for any municipal purpose and shall apply the same to the execution of such trust and for no other purposes except in cases where the cy pres doctrine shall apply.
Vacancies in Appointive Boards and Commissions:
Section 17.6 Except as otherwise provided in this charter, if a vacancy occurs in the membership of any appointive board or commission, the authority responsible for the appointment of the person whose position has become vacant shall fill such vacancy by appointment of a qualified person for the unexpired term of such person.
Quorum:
Records to be Public:
Definition of Publication; Mailing of Notices:
Section 17.9 The requirement contained in this charter for the publishing or publication of notices, ordinances or proceedings shall be met by publishing an appropriate insertion in a newspaper published in the English language for the dissemination of news of a general character which newspaper shall have had a general circulation at regular intervals in the city for at least two years immediately preceding the time that it is used for such publication purposes. The affidavit of the printer or publisher of such newspaper, or of his foreman or principal clerk, annexed to a printed copy of such notice, ordinance or proceeding taken from the paper in which it was published and specifying the times of publication shall be prima facie evidence of such publication.
In any case in which this charter requires the mailing of notices, the affidavit of the officer or employee responsible for such mailing that such notice was mailed shall be prima facie evidence of such mailing.
Sundays and Holidays:
Chapter and Section Headings:
Interpretations:
(a) All words used in this charter 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 the happening of any event or requirement for which provision is made herein.
(b) The singular number shall include the plural, the plural number shall include the singular and the masculine gender shall extend to and include the feminine gender and the neuter.
(c) The word "person" may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate and to partnerships as well as to individuals.
(d) The words "printed" and "printing" shall include reproductions by printing, engraving, stencil duplicating, lithographing or any similar method
(e) Except in reference to signatures, the words "written" and "in writing" shall include printing and typewriting.
(f) The word "officer" shall include the Mayor and other members of the Council, the administrative officers, members of city boards and commissions created by or pursuant to this charter, and the Justices of the Peace.
(g) The word "freeholder" shall be defined to include any person and his spouse who is purchasing property on land contract among its meanings.
(h) The word "default" shall be defined to include being delinquent in taxes among its meanings.
(i) The word "statute" shall denote the Public Acts of the State of Michigan in effect at the time the provision of the charter containing the word "statute" is to be applied.
(j) All references to specific Public Acts of the State of Michigan shall be to such acts as are in effect at the time the reference to such act is to be applied.
(k) The words "law" or "general laws of the state" shall denote the Constitution and the Public Acts of the State of Michigan in effect at the time the provision of the charter containing the words "law" or "general laws of the state" is to be applied, and applicable common law.
(l) All references to section numbers shall refer to section numbers of this charter.
Penalties for Violation of Charter:
Section 17.13 Any officer of the city found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction of any act declared by this charter to constitute misconduct in office may be punished by a fine of not to exceed five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not to exceed ninety days or both in the discretion of the court. The punishment provided in this section shall be in addition to that of having the office declared vacant as provided in Sections 5.2 and 5.3.
Amendments:
Severability of Charter Provisions:
Section 17.15 If any provision, section, article or clause of this charter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be found to be invalid by a court, such invalidity shall not affect any remaining portion or application of the charter which can be given effect without the invalid portion or application, provided such remaining portions or applications are not determined by the court to be inoperable and to this end this charter is declared to be servable.
Status of Schedule Chapter:
Election to Adopt This Charter:
Section 18.2 This charter shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of the City of Reed City at the regular municipal election to be held on April 1, 1957. This election shall be conducted by the officers under the existing charter charged with the conduct and supervision of elections, and shall follow the election procedure and be canvassed in the manner provided in the existing city charter.
Form of Ballot:
Instructions: A cross (X) in the square G before the word "Yes" is in favor of the proposed charter, and a cross (X) in the square G before the word "No" is against the proposed charter.
Shall the proposed charter for the City of Reed City drafted by the Charter Commission elected on May 28, 1956, be adopted?
G Yes
G No
Effective Date of This Charter:
First Officers Under Charter:
(a) The Mayor, each member of the Council and the Justices of the Peace, who held office at the time that this charter became law as the charter of the City of Reed City shall continue in the office so held by them for the balance of the term of office to which they were elected. Thereafter, their successors shall be elected and shall qualify for, assume, and hold offices to which they have been elected or appointed in accordance with the provisions of this charter.
(b) The Mayor and the Councilmen of the City of Reed City who held such offices at the time this charter became law as the charter of the city, shall constitute the Council of the City of Reed City subject to the provisions of this charter, until such time as the terms of office to which they were elected or appointed shall expire and their successors in office have been elected or appointed and have assumed the duties of such office as provided in this charter.
(c) The City Clerk, Treasurer, Supervisors and Constables who held office at the time this charter became law as the charter of the City of Reed City shall continue in the office for the balance of the term of office to which they were elected. Thereafter, their successors shall be appointed in accordance with the provision of this charter.
Continuation of Appointed Officers and Employees:
Section 18.6 Except as otherwise provided herein, after the effective date of this charter all appointive officers and all employees of the city shall continue in that city office or employment which corresponds to the city office or employment which they held prior to the effective date of the charter as though they had been appointed or employed in the manner provided in this charter, and they shall in all respects be subject to the provisions of this charter; except that the terms of office of all members of the Board of Review shall terminate as provided in Section 18.7, and except that any officer or employee who holds a position which this charter provides be held at the pleasure of the appointing officer or body shall hold such position only at such pleasure regardless of the term for which originally appointed.
First Board of Review:
Section 18.7 The terms of all members of the Board of Review existing under the previous charter of the city shall expire on May 7, 1957. On May 7, 1957, the Council shall appoint a Board of Review of three freeholders who meet the qualifications for such office provided in this charter, and shall fix their compensation. One such member shall be designated to serve for a term expiring in May, 1958, one for a term expiring in May, 1959, and one for a term expiring in May, 1960.
Interim Financial Provision:
Section 18.8 The Council shall, at its first meeting on May 7, 1957, by resolution continue as city appropriations the unencumbered balances of the appropriations made pursuant to the previous charter until June 30, 1957, and these appropriations shall then be deemed to be city appropriations and the fiscal year under the previous charter shall be completed by the city as though no governmental change had been made. At the close of business on June 30, 1957, the balances of all appropriations not encumbered shall, subject to statutory restrictions, revert to the general fund of the city for reappropriation during the next fiscal period.
The period from July 1, 1957 to June 30, 1958, inclusive, shall constitute a special interim fiscal budget and tax period to accomplish the transition from the previously existing fiscal period. A budget for such special fiscal period shall be prepared, adopted and administered in accordance with Section 8.2 to 8.5, inclusive, except that the City Manager shall submit the budget to the Council on or before June 11, 1957, and the budget shall be adopted not later than June 25, 1957. At the time of the adoption of the budget, the Council shall appropriate the money needed for municipal purposes for the three-month interim fiscal period and shall provide a tax levy of the amount necessary to be raised by taxes upon real and personal property for such purposes. Such levy shall not exceed one-fourth of the annual limit of one and one-half per cent of the assessed value of all real and personal property subject to taxation in the city. Such levy shall be spread on the tax roll which becomes due and payable on July 1, 1957, in addition to the regular taxes for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1957, and the amounts of taxes for these two levies may be combined for the purpose of convenience in spreading of the roll and preparation of the tax bills. Taxes for the interim period shall be collected in all respects as provided in this charter for the collection of city taxes. There shall be an audit of this interim fiscal period in accordance with the provisions of Section 8.7.
Approved Jan. 29, 1957. G. MENNEN WILLIAMS, Governor.
Resolution of Adoption
At a regular meeting of the Charter Commission of the City of Reed City held on January 15, 1957, the following resolution was offered by Commissioner Abendroth:
RESOLVED, that the Charter Commission of the City of Reed City does hereby adopt the foregoing proposed charter for the City of Reed City and the Secretary of this Commission is directed (1) to transmit copies of this charter to the Governor of the State of Michigan for his approval in accordance with statute, (2) to file with the City Clerk a copy of this charter on January 30, 1957, and (3) to cause this proposed charter to be published in the Osceola County Herald of Reed City, Michigan, on March 14, 1957
The resolution was seconded by Commissioner Tucker, and adopted by the following vote:
YEAS: Adamy, Abendroth, Savidge, Tucker, Benkert, Dobben, Harrison, Pearson, Porteous.
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
The Chairman declared the foregoing resolution carried and requested the members of the Charter Commission to authenticate said resolution and also the copies of the charter to be presented to the Governor and filed with the City Clerk by attesting their names thereto in the following manner:
Curtiss Adamy
Walter C. Abendroth
James Savidge
Edward A. Tucker
Joseph H. Benkert
Henry G. Dobben
Robert Harrison
William Pearson
William L. Porteous
ELECTION CERTIFICATION
I, the City Clerk of the City of Reed City, Michigan, do hereby certify that at a special election duly called and held in the City of Reed City on the twenty-eighth day of May, 1956, the following named persons were duly elected as the Charter Commission to frame a revised charter for the city, namely:
Curtiss Adamy Edward A. Tucker
Walter C. Abendroth Joseph H. Benkert
James Savidge Henry G. Dobben
Robert Harrison
William Pearson
William L. Porteous
ORAMEL J. GRAY
City Clerk
City of Reed City, Mich.
Dated: May 31, 1956
GOVERNOR'S APPROVAL
I do hereby approve the above and foregoing Charter of the City of Reed City.
APPROVED: G. MENNEN WILLIAMS
Dated: Jan. 29, 1957 Governor of the State of Michigan
CHARTER ADOPTED
I hereby certify that at the annual city election held on April 1, 1957, the foregoing charter was adopted by the qualified electors of the City of Reed City by a vote of 369 in favor of its adoption and 211 against its adoption.
ORAMEL J. GRAY
City Clerk.
Dated: April 4, 1957.