Chapter 17 Miscellaneous

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:

Section 17.2 No estoppel may be created against the city.

Processes Against City:

Section 17.3 All process against the city shall run against the city in the corporate name thereof and may be served by leaving a true copy with the Mayor, Clerk or Attorney.

Vested Rights Continued:

Section 17.4 After the effective date of this charter, the city shall be vested with all the property, moneys, contracts, rights, credits, effects and the records, files, books and papers belonging to the city.

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:

Section 17.7 Except as provided otherwise in this charter, a quorum of any board or commission created by or pursuant to this charter shall be a majority of the members of such board or commission in office at the time, but not less than two members.

Records to be Public:

Section 17.8 All records of the city shall be public, shall be kept in city offices except when required for official reasons or for purposes of safe keeping to be elsewhere and shall be available for inspection at all reasonable times.

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:

Section 17.10 Whenever the date fixed by this charter for the doing or completion of any act falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, such act shall be done or completed on the next succeeding day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.

Chapter and Section Headings:

Section 17.11 The chapter, section and sub-section headings used in this charter are for convenience only and shall not be considered as part of the charter.

Interpretations:

Section 17.12 Except as otherwise specifically provided or indicated by the context:

   (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:

Section 17.14 This charter may be amended at any time in the manner provided by statute. Should two or more amendments adopted at the same election have conflicting provisions, the one receiving the largest affirmative vote shall prevail as to those provisions.

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.