Sec. 1 Definitions.

Wherever used in this Charter,

   (a)   The word "State" shall mean the "State of Michigan;"

   (b)   The word "City" shall mean the "City of Southgate;"

   (c)   The word "Council" shall mean the "City Council;"

   (d)   Words referring to the several offices where not preceded by the word "City" shall be deemed to mean such offices of the City unless the context implies otherwise;

   (e)   The terms "Council" and "City Council" shall be construed as meaning "commission," "council," "common council" or "governing body" for the purpose of such general laws of the State as use one or the other of such latter terms in referring to the legislative body of the City;

   (f)   Words imparting the singular number only may extend to and embrace the plural number, the words imparting the plural number may be applied and limited to the singular number; words imparting the masculine gender only may extend and be applied to those of the feminine or neuter gender;

   (g)   The word "person" may extend and be applied to bodies corporate as well as to individuals;

   (h)   The words "written" and "in writing" may be construed to include printing, engraving, typewriting and lithographing, and telegraphic communications, except that this rule shall not apply to signatures.

   (i)   The word "advertisement" shall mean the solicitation by any of the usual means of publication in newspapers, by posting, or by letter.

Sec. 2 Boundaries.

   The following described territory, together with all territories that may hereafter be annexed thereto, shall be, continue and remain a municipal corporation of the State of Michigan under the official name and title of "City of Southgate" and shall be subject to the municipal control of said City in accordance with the provisions of this Charter and the Constitution and laws of the State which are applicable thereto: Said territory to be incorporated as the City of Southgate is described as follows:

   All that part of the Township of Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan, lying south of the southerly boundary of the Village of Allen Park and the southerly boundary of the City of Lincoln Park, more particularly described as beginning at the N.W. corner of Section 23 of said Township at the intersection of Allen and Goddard Roads; thence easterly along the established boundary line of the Village of Allen Park in Goddard Road and "Old Goddard Road" to the N. & S. 1/4 line of Section 24 of said Township in Fordline Road which 1/4 line is the boundary between said Township and the City of Lincoln Park; thence southerly along said boundary line to the center of said Section 24 in Brest Road; thence easterly in Brest Road along the boundary line between Lincoln Park and Ecorse Township to the established boundary line between Ecorse Township and the City of Wyandotte in Fort Street; thence southerly along said boundary line in Fort Street and Quarry Road to the S. 1/4 corner of Section 31 of said Township at the intersection of Quarry and Pennsylvania Roads; thence westerly along the S. boundary line of said Township in Pennsylvania Road to the W. boundary line of said Township in Allen Road; thence northerly along said W. boundary line in Allen Road to the point of beginning.

Sec. 3 Corporate seal; general powers.

The City of Southgate shall have a corporate seal, may sue and be sued, may contract and be contracted with, and shall have, exercise and enjoy such powers as are conferred by the Constitution and laws of the State of Michigan and by this Charter and also such powers as are necessarily or fairly implied in or incidental to those expressly granted or are essential to the declared objects and purposes of the City. The enumeration of specific powers in this Charter shall not be construed as a limitation upon the general powers granted by State law or by this Charter.

   The City and its officers shall have power to exercise all municipal powers in the management and control of Municipal property and in the administration of the Municipal government, whether such powers be expressly enumerated herein or not; to do any act to advance the interest of the City, the good government and property of the Municipality and its inhabitants; and through its regularly constituted authority, to pass and enforce all laws, ordinances and resolutions relating to its Municipal concerns, subject to the Constitution and statutes and the provisions of the Charter.

Sec. 4 Specific powers.

   (1)   Public improvements. To acquire by purchase, gift, condemnation, lease, construction or otherwise, either singly or in conjunction with other governmental bodies, either within or without its corporate limits and either within or without the corporate limits of the County of Wayne, the following improvements, including the necessary lands therefor, viz: City Hall, police stations, fire stations, boulevards, streets, alleys, public parks, recreation grounds, Municipal camps, libraries, airports, City prison, hospitals, water works plants and systems, sewage disposal plants and systems, market houses and market places, garbage disposal plants, rubbish disposal plants, office buildings for City officers and employees, public works, public buildings of all kinds and structures and grounds for any public use or purpose within the scope of its powers whether herein specifically mentioned or not. If condemnation proceedings are resorted to for the acquisition of private property, such condemnation proceedings may be brought under the provisions of any approximate statute now or hereafter existing, including Act No. 149 of the Public Acts of 1911, as now or hereafter amended;

   (2)   Maintenance and disposition of property. To hold, maintain, develop and operate its property and upon the discontinuance thereof to lease, sell or dispose of the same subject to any restrictions placed thereon by law or by this Charter;

   (3)   Ordinances and resolutions. To make and enforce ordinances and resolutions for the protection and control of property belonging to the City located within its corporate limits, and to make and enforce such ordinances and resolutions as to such property located without its corporate limits as is permissible under the laws of the State;

   (4)   Zoning. To establish by ordinance districts or zones within which the use of lands and structures, the height, the area, the size and the location of buildings and required open spaces for light and ventilation of such buildings, and the density of population, may be regulated by ordinance, and such regulations in one or more districts may differ from those in other districts;

   (5)   Building and housing code. To enact a building and housing code; to regulate the erection and repair of buildings and to require building permits therefor; to prevent the erection of unsafe buildings; to provide for the removal of unsafe buildings; and to regulate the maintenance and occupancy of buildings insofar as the same affects health and safety;

   (6)   Fire districts. To establish and maintain definite area limits and to prohibit within such limits the construction of buildings and other structures of wood and other materials easily inflammable; to enact ordinances in relation to the prevention and suppression of fires; and to provide for the inspection of private property for the purpose of determining whether a fire hazard exists;

   (7)   Billboards. To license, regulate, restrict and limit the number and location of billboards within the City;

   (8)   Gasoline stations. To regulate and restrict the location of oil and gasoline stations;

   (9)   Fences. To regulate the height, construction and location of fences, to provide for the building, rebuilding and maintenance of partition fences, to provide for a board of fence-viewers to determine all disputes between owners in relation to partition fences, and to enforce the decisions of such board.

   (10)   Garbage, rubbish and ashes. To regulate and control the disposition and handling of garbage, ashes and rubbish and to provide for the collection and disposal of the same;

   (11)   Food and beverages. To regulate and license the manufacture, sale and keeping for sale of foods, food supplies and beverages, and to provide for the inspection thereof;

   (12)   Nuisance abatement. To prevent, abate and prohibit all nuisances and all things and acts detrimental to the peace, health, safety, morals and welfare of the inhabitants of the City;

   (13)   Police and sanitary regulations. To make and enforce all such local, police, sanitary and other regulations as are not in conflict with the general laws of the State;

   (14)   Regulation of trades, occupations and amusements. To regulate trades, occupations and amusements within its boundaries not inconsistent with State and Federal laws, and for the prohibition of such trades, occupations and amusements as are detrimental to the health, morals or welfare of its inhabitants;

   (15)   Zoning of trades or businesses. To prescribe by ordinance the limits or districts within which shall be prohibited the location of any trade or business which, in the opinion of the Council, will be detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the inhabitants in such districts;

   (16)   Animals and dogs. To license dogs and other animals and to prevent their running at large;

   (17)   Vehicles for hire. To regulate and license vehicles used for the conveyance of persons and property for hire, and to regulate and license the drivers thereof;

   (18)   Streets, alleys and public ways. To use, provide for the use of, regulate, improve and control the surface of its streets, alleys and public ways and the space above and beneath them; to adopt a plan of streets and alleys within the City, which plan may provide for easements in lieu of alleys;

   (19)   Traffic; impounding vehicles. To regulate traffic and the parking of automobiles and other vehicles; to prohibit such parking where necessary for the public safety and convenience; to provide for the impounding of vehicles parked in violation of such regulations or prohibitions and of vehicles abandoned on the streets and alleys of the City; and to provide for the sale of any impounded vehicle which shall not be claimed within sixty days after being impounded;

   (20)   Storage and parking of vehicles. To acquire, establish, extend, operate and maintain facilities for the storage and parking of vehicles within the corporate limits of the City, including the fixing and collection of charges for services and use thereof on a public utility basis;

   (21)   Rents, tolls and excises. The City shall have power to lay and collect rents, tolls and excises.

   (22)   State law. The City shall have power to exercise all Municipal powers in the management and control of Municipal property and in the administration of the Municipal government, whether such powers be expressly enumerated or not; to do any act to advance the interests of the City and the good government and prosperity of the Municipality and its inhabitants; through its regularly constituted authority, to pass and enforce all laws and ordinances relating to its Municipal concerns subject to the Constitution and general laws of the State and the provisions of this Charter; and generally to do any act permitted by the provision of Act No. 279 of the Public Acts of 1909, as now or hereafter amended, whether such Act is specifically mentioned herein or not.

   (23)   Public peace, health and safety. The City of Southgate shall provide by whatever means they are required for the public peace and health and for the safety of persons and property.

Sec. 5 City records; public inspection.

   All records of the City shall be public and open to inspection at all reasonable times. All books, papers, records and accounts of any officer elected or appointed, or of any office or department of the City, shall be the property of the City, and shall at all times be subject to audit, examination or inspection by any member of the Council, or by any person employed or designated by the Council for that purpose. All such books, papers, records, files and accounts shall be kept in such place as may be designated by the Council.

Sec. 6 Use of City property by employees.

   No officer or employee of the City shall devote any City property or labor to his own personal use.

Sec. 7 Official time.

   Eastern Standard Time shall be the official time of the City, unless otherwise changed by the Council or by law. Any reference herein to time shall be construed to be according to the official time of the City.