The city commission shall have power by ordinance to grant, amend, renew and extend all franchises, and to regulate all public utilities of every character within the City of Texas City, and for such purposes is granted full power. All ordinances granting, amending, renewing, or extending franchises for public utilities, shall be read at three separate regular meetings of the city commission, and shall not be finally passed until thirty days after the first reading; and no such ordinance shall take effect until sixty days after its final passage; and pending such time, the full text of such ordinance shall be published once each week for four consecutive weeks in the official newspaper of the City of Texas City, and the expenses of such publication shall be borne by the proponent of the franchise. No public utility franchise shall be transferable except with the approval of the commission expressed by ordinance; and copies of all transfers and mortgages or other documents affecting the title or use of public utilities shall be filed with the mayor or the city secretary within ten days after the execution thereof. Such franchise shall not be transferred indirectly through the acquisition of the capital stock of the grantee company by another corporation, except through such approval by the city commission and the filing of all documents relating to the purchase of such stock, including the corporate affiliations of the purchasing company.