The Council shall have plenary power and authority therein by ordinance or resolution, as the case may require, so far as such power or authority is not in conflict with the Constitution and laws of the State or the United States, and, in addition, they shall exercise the following powers:
1. Survey. To have the City surveyed.
2. Streets, sidewalks, sewers, generally. To open, vacate, broaden, change grade of, grade and pave streets, sidewalks and gutters for public use, and to alter, improve, embellish and ornament and light the same, and to construct and maintain public sewers, laterals and sewerage disposal systems, and shall, in all cases, have power and authority to assess upon and collect from the property benefited thereby, all, or such part of the expenses thereof as shall be fixed by ordinance, except as hereinafter provided.
3. Regulation of use of streets, etc., generally; obstructions, pollution, litter. To have control of all streets, avenues, roads, alleys and grounds for public use in the City, and to regulate the use thereof and driving thereon, and to have the same kept in good order and free from obstruction, pollution or litter on or over them.
4. Bridges generally. To have the right to control all bridges within the City and the traffic passing thereover.
5. Street names; renumbering of houses. To change the name of any street, avenue or road within the City, and to cause the renumbering of houses on any street, avenue or road therein.
6. Width of streets, etc. To regulate and determine the width of streets, sidewalks, roads and alleys.
7. Curbing and paving of sidewalks and footways. To order and direct the curbing and paving of sidewalks and footways for public use in the City to be done and kept clean and in good order by the owners of adjacent property.
8. Abuse of animals. To prohibit and punish the abuse of animals.
9. Vagrants, beggars, prostitutes, etc. To restrain and punish vagrants, mendicants, beggars, tramps, prostitutes, drunken or disorderly persons within the City, and to provide for their arrest and manner of punishment.
10. Bringing person or animal afflicted with contagious disease into the City. To prohibit by ordinance the bringing into the City of any person or animal afflicted with contagious or infectious disease, and to punish any violator of said ordinance who knows or has reason to believe such person or animal to be so afflicted.
11. Houses of ill fame, etc.; gaming houses; gaming. To suppress disorderly houses of prostitution or ill fame, houses of assignation, and gaming houses or any part thereof, and to punish gaming.
12. Slaughterhouses, etc., generally. To prohibit within the City or within three miles thereof, slaughterhouses, soap or glue factories and houses of like kind.
13. Construction and repair of houses, etc., generally. To control the construction and repair of all houses, basements, walls, bridges, culverts and sewers, and to prescribe and enforce all reasonable regulations affecting the construction of the same, and to require permits to be obtained for such buildings and structures, and plans and specifications thereof to be first submitted to the Inspections Department.
14. Construction, maintenance, etc., of ditches, drains, etc. To control the opening and construction of ditches, drains, sewers, cesspools and gutters, and to deepen, widen and clear the same of stagnant water or filth, and to prevent obstructions therein, and to determine at whose expense the same shall be done.
15. Public grounds, squares and parks generally. To acquire, lay off, appropriate and control public grounds, squares and parks, either within or without the City limits as herein defined.
16. Purchase, sale, etc., of public buildings and real estate. To purchase, sell, lease, build or contract for, take care and regulate the management of all public buildings, structures and real estate, including libraries and hospitals, deemed proper for use of the City.
17. Removal of unsafe walls or buildings; excavations. To cause the removal of unsafe walls or buildings and the filling of excavations for the protection of the public.
18. Prevention of injury, etc., to business, etc., from anything dangerous, etc. To prevent injury or annoyance to the business of individuals from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome.
19. Intoxicating liquors. To prohibit the manufacture, transportation, possession, sale and keeping for sale of intoxicating liquors, except as the same may be authorized or permitted under the general laws of the State.
20. Abatement, etc., of things detrimental to health, morals, etc., of inhabitants of City. To define, prohibit, abate, suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals, comfort, safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the City and all nuisances and causes thereof, and to that end and thereabout to summon witnesses and hear testimony.
21. Quarantine. To declare and enforce quarantine against the introduction of any contagious or infectious disease prevailing in any other state, county or place, and of any and all persons and things likely to spread such contagion or infection.
22. Gunpowder, combustibles and dangerous articles. To regulate the keeping of gunpowder and other combustible or dangerous articles.
23. Explosives, firecrackers, fireworks; dangerous or annoying noises or performances. To regulate, restrain or prohibit the use of firecrackers or other explosives or fireworks, and all noises or performances which may be dangerous, annoying to persons, or tend to frighten horses or other animals.
24. Cemeteries and burial. To provide and maintain proper places for the burial of the dead and to regulate interments therein upon such terms and conditions as to price and otherwise as may be determined.
25. Trees. To provide for shade and ornamental trees and the protection of the same.
26. Division fences. To provide for the making of division fences.
27. Protection against fires. To make proper regulations for guarding against danger or damage from fires.
28. Maintenance of the poor. To provide for the poor of the City, and to that end, may contract with the proper authorities of Hancock County to keep and maintain the poor, or any number thereof, upon terms to be agreed upon.
29. Taxis, busses, streetcars, and railroad engines and cars. To make suitable and proper regulations in regard to the use of the streets and alleys for taxis, busses, streetcars, railroad engines and cars, and to regulate the running and operation of the same so as to prevent injury, inconvenience or annoyance to the public.
30. Prize fighting; cock and dog fighting. To prohibit prize fighting, cock and dog fighting.
31. Theaters, circuses, shows, etc. To license, tax, regulate or prohibit theaters, circuses, the exhibition of showmen and shows of any kind and the exhibition of natural or artificial curiosities, caravans, menageries, pictures, motion pictures and musical exhibitions and performances.
32. Further provisions as to construction, etc., of buildings. To regulate the construction, height and material used in all buildings and the maintenance and occupancy thereof.
33. Further provisions as to use of streets, etc. To regulate and control the use for whatever purpose of the streets and other public places.
34. Employment; compensation of employees. To create, establish, abolish and organize employments and fix the compensation of all employees of the City.
35. Fire companies and apparatus, etc. To organize and maintain fire companies and to provide necessary apparatus, engines and implements for the same.
36. Plumbing and electric wiring. To regulate and control the kind and manner of plumbing and electric wiring for the protection of the health and safety of the City.
37. Licensing, etc., of dogs and other animals. To license and tax dogs and other animals and regulate, restrain and prohibit them and all other animals and fowls from running at large.
38. Taxes for general and special purposes. To assess, levy and collect taxes for general and special purposes upon all the subjects or objects which the City may lawfully tax.
39. Assessments for local improvements. To levy and collect assessments for local improvements.
40. Bond issues. To borrow money on the faith and credit of the City by the issue and sale of bonds in the manner prescribed by law.
41. Appropriation of City money. To appropriate the money of the City for all lawful purposes.
42. Public works and improvements generally. To create, provide for, and regulate and maintain all things in the nature of public works and improvements.
43. Rules for transaction of business, etc. To adopt rules for the transaction of business and for its own regulation and government.
44. Promotion of general welfare and protection of persons and property. To promote the general welfare of the City and to protect the persons and property of citizens therein.
45. Weighing of produce, etc.; transportation of articles through streets. To regulate and provide for the weighing and inspection of produce and other articles sold in the City, and to regulate the transportation thereof, and other things, through the streets.
46. Licensing of business licensed by State. To have the sole and exclusive right to grant, refuse or revoke any and all licenses for the carrying on of any business within the City on which the State exacts a license tax.
47. Markets. To establish and regulate City markets and to prescribe the time for holding the same, and what shall be sold in such market, and to acquire and hold property for market purposes.
48. Placing of signs, etc., in or over streets or public grounds. To regulate or prohibit the placing of signs, billboards, posters and advertisements, in, on, or over the streets, alleys, sidewalks and public grounds of the City.
49. Preservation of peace, etc.; sale and use of certain drugs. To preserve and protect the peace, order and safety and health of the City and its inhabitants, including the right to regulate the sale and use of cocaine, morphine, opium and poisonous drugs.
50. Police, etc., regulations; exercise of police power. To make, enforce and provide local police, sanitary and other regulations, and fully exercise all lawful police powers.
51. City elections. To appoint and fix the place of holding City elections.
52. Gasworks, telephone plant and electric light works. To erect, own, lease, authorize or prohibit the erection of gasworks, telephone plant or electric light works in or near the City, and to operate the same and sell the products or services thereof, and to do any and all things necessary and incidental to the conduct of such business.
53. Purity of milk, meats and provisions. To provide for the purity of milk, meats and provisions offered for sale in the City, and to that end, provide for a system of inspecting the same and making and enforcing rules for the regulation of their sale, and to prohibit the sale of any unwholesome or tainted milk, meats, fish, fruit, vegetables, or the sale of milk containing water or other things not constituting a part of pure milk.
54. Inspection of dairies and slaughterhouses. To provide for inspecting dairies and slaughterhouses whether in or outside of the City, where the milk and meat therefrom are offered for sale within the City.
55. Ordinances and rules for protection of health, property, places of divine worship, etc. To prescribe and enforce ordinances and rules for the purposes of protecting the health, property, lives, decency, morality and good order of the City and its inhabitants, and to protect places of divine worship in and about the premises where held, and to punish violations of such ordinances even if the offense under and against the same shall constitute offense under the law of the State of West Virginia or the common law.
56. Working prisoners. To provide for the employment and safekeeping of persons who may be committed in default of the payment of fines, penalties or costs under this Charter, who are otherwise unable or fail to discharge the same, by putting them to work for the benefit of the City upon the streets or other places provided by the City, and to use such means to prevent their escape while at work as the Council may deem expedient; and the Council may fix a reasonable rate per day as wages to be allowed such person until the fine and costs against him are thereby discharged.
57. Compelling attendance of members at Council meetings. To compel the attendance at public meetings of the members of the Council.
58. Pollution of water supply. To prevent any person, association or corporation from polluting, in any manner, any pond, lake, basin, reservoir, stream, spring, creek or other body of water from which the City shall take water to be used for domestic purposes by the inhabitants thereof, or from casting into any such body of water, or on the bank thereof or in such proximity thereto that the same may enter therein any filthy, unwholesome or obnoxious substances, object or liquid, or anything whatsoever injurious to the health of the people of the City.
59. Other powers granted to municipalities by State Constitution or laws; how powers to be exercised. To exercise all other powers that now are or hereafter may be granted to the City of Weirton or to municipalities by the Constitution or the laws of the State of West Virginia; and all such powers, whether expressed or implied, shall be exercised and enforced in the manner prescribed by this Charter, or when not prescribed herein, in such manner as shall be provided by the ordinance or resolution of the Council.
The enumeration of particular powers of this Charter shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive, but, in addition to the powers enumerated herein, impliedly thereby, or appropriate to the exercise thereof, the Council shall have and exercise all other powers, which under the Constitution and laws of the State of West Virginia, it would be competent for this Charter specifically to enumerate.