(A) Action requiring an ordinance. In addition to other acts required by law to be done by ordinance, those acts of the Town Council shall be by ordinance which:
(1) Adopt or amend an administrative code or establish, alter, or abolish any town office, agency, or commission;
(2) Provide for a fine and other penalty or establish a rule or regulation for violation of which a fine or penalty is imposed;
(3) Grant, renew, or extend a franchise;
(4) Regulate the rate charged for services by a public utility;
(5) Authorize the borrowing of money;
(6) Convey or lease or authorize the conveyance or lease of any lands of the town;
(7) Adopt with or without amendment ordinances proposed under the initiative power; and
(8) Amend or repeal any ordinance previously adopted, except otherwise provided by law.
(B) Ordinances in general.
(1) Form. Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing and the form required for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be “The Town of White Hall hereby ordains ...”
(2) Procedure.
(a) An ordinance may be introduced by any member at any regular or special meeting of the Council. Upon introduction of any ordinance, the Recorder shall read fully and distinctly the proposed ordinance in its entirety, shall distribute a copy to the presiding officer and each member of Council, shall file a reasonable number of copies in the town office, and shall publish the ordinance together with a notice setting out the time and place for a public hearing thereon and for its consideration by the Council. At the commencement of the public hearing, the Recorder shall read fully and distinctly the proposed ordinance by title.
(b) The public hearing shall follow the publication by at least seven days, may be held separately or in connection with a regular or special Council meeting, and may be adjourned from time to time; all persons interested shall have an opportunity to be heard.
(c) After the hearing, the Council may adopt the ordinance with or without amendment or reject it, but if it is amended as to any matter of substance, the Council may not adopt it until the ordinance or its amended sections have been subjected to all procedures hereinbefore required in the case of a newly introduced ordinance.
(3) Effective date. Except as otherwise provided, every adopted ordinance shall become effective upon passage.
(4) Published defined. As used in this section, the term PUBLISH means to print in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the town; the title of the ordinance and a brief summary thereof, and the places where copies of it have been filed and the times when available for public inspection.
(Ord. 99-01, passed 7-12-1999)