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(A) It is hereby provided that, in the event the city enters into a contract with a private attorney or a public or private vendor for the purpose of providing collection services for debts and accounts receivables such as fines, fees, restitution, and other debts or costs, other than forfeited bonds that have been ordered to be paid by the Municipal Court, the city is authorized to add an additional collection fee as provided in Tex. Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 103.0031, as amended.
(B) Where the city contracts with an attorney or vendor, the city is hereby authorized to add, as additional collection fee, 30% of each debt or receivable that is more than 60 days past due and has been referred to the attorney or vendor for collection.
(C) A person is not liable for the collection fees authorized under divisions (A) and (B) above if the Municipal Court has determined that the defendant is indigent or has insufficient resources or income, or is otherwise unable to pay all or part of the underlying fine or costs.
(D) If a private attorney or private vendor collects from a person owing costs ordered paid by the Court an amount that is less than the total costs owed by the person, including collection costs permitted under the attorney's or vendor's contract with the city, the amount of costs collected otherwise required to be sent to the comptroller and the amount permitted to be retained by the city are reduced by an equal percentage in order to fully compensate the attorney or vendor, not to exceed the percentage specified as allowable collection costs in the attorney's or vendor's contract with the county or municipality.
(Ord. 01-0918, passed 9-18-2001)
(A) All persons desiring to have the City Council exercise its powers under Tex. Trans. Code, §§ 311.001–311.008, regarding the abandoning, altering, closing, and vacating streets, alleys, easements and other public rights-of-way, or portions thereof, shall file their application with the Director of Public Works, in writing, directed to the City Council. The application shall contain a description of the street, alley, easement or portion thereof, as the case may be, and attached to the application shall be a list of all owners abutting the street, alley, easement or portion thereof, as the case may be, together with the last known address of all the owners. In the event that all abutting property owners do not join in the petition, a statement shall be attached to the request showing the reason for non-participation of those who have not signed. In the event the requested abandonment or alteration pertains to or involves an easement, the applicant must acquire written approval with no objections documented from each utility providing service in the city. In any case where alteration or abandonment of easement(s) is requested, if approved, all costs associated with the relocation or alteration of any utilities shall be borne by the person making the request (applicant).
(B) Upon the filing of the application with the Director of Public Works, as provided in division (A) above, an administration fee shall be deposited with the City Secretary in the amount of $200 or more, in an amount sufficient to cover the expense of administering the procedure outlined in this section, plus costs of publication and preparation of appropriate documents, and the cost of mailing notices and release forms to all abutting property owners. The fee is nonrefundable.
(C) Upon the filing of the application and fee as provided in divisions (A) and (B) above, the City Secretary shall mail notices of the request and release forms by certified mail, return receipt requested, to all abutting property owners.
(D) In the event the application requests that on a portion of a through street, alley, easement or public way open to public access from either direction is to be abandoned, altered, closed, or vacated, then it shall be necessary for the applicant to provide the City Secretary with the names and last known mailing addresses of all abutting property owners, both for the portion to be closed and for that portion to remain open in either direction up to the next intersection with another street, alley, or public way. Notices and release forms will be mailed to all the abutting property owners for the closed and open portions of the street, alley, or public way as provided in division (C) above.
(E) The proposed action by the City Council shall be placed on the agenda for the next public meeting of the City Council after the completed application has been processed, provided that there are at least ten days between the date the completed application was received and processed until the date of the next City Council meeting. The City Council shall not act on the application until the City Secretary has received an executed release form from each of the abutting property owners listed in the petition and the completed application.
(F) The City Council may, in its discretion, require a public hearing before the application is considered. In such event, notice of the hearing shall be published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least 15 days before the hearing, and posted for 15 days before the hearing at the City Hall.
(G) The application, if not acted upon at the first public meeting at which it appears on the agenda, may be continued on the agenda to subsequent public meetings if it is in the best interest of the parties and the public as the City Council may, in its sole discretion, determine.
(H) The City Council may elect to retain its fee simple ownership of any closed or abandoned street, alley, easement, or public right-of-way.
(I) In the event that it is determined that the city owns in fee simple the closed or abandoned street, alley, easement, or public right-of-way, the City Council may sell the property to all abutting property owners in an equitable manner as provided by Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code, § 272.001(c), by either determining the appraised fair market value of the property, or by selling the property at a public auction with two separate dates of publication as provided by Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code, § 272.001(a). The notice must include a description of the property to be sold and its location.
(J) Nothing in this section should be construed as preventing the City Council from abandoning, closing, altering, or vacating a street, alley, easement, or other public right-of-way on its own initiative without the need for submission of an application by abutting property owners.
(Ord. 94-816-A, passed 8-16-1994; Ord. 13-0820, passed 8-20-2013)
(A) Definition. For the purpose of this section, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
SMOKING. The lighting, holding or carrying of, emitting, or exhaling the smoke of a pipe, cigar, or cigarette of any kind.
(B) Prohibition. Smoking is unlawful within any enclosed area within the County Residential Treatment Center located at 115 Business Park Drive within the city.
(C) Enforcement.
(1) The person having the authority to manage and control the County Residential Treatment Center, or a designated agent of the manager, shall inform persons smoking in restricted areas that they are in violation of the law.
(2) The City Police Department, or person having authority to manage and control the County Residential Treatment Center itself, shall enforce the provisions of this section by either of the following actions:
(a) Issuing a citation and/or requiring the smoker to extinguish smoking material; or
(b) Calling upon the City Attorney to maintain action for assessment and recovery of the civil penalty.
(Ord. 91-115, passed 1-15-1991) Penalty, see § 30.99
(A) The city shall never be liable for any claim for property damage or for personal injury, whether the personal injury results in death or not, unless the person damaged or injured, or someone in his or her behalf, or in the event the injury results in death, the person or persons who may have a cause of action under the law by reason of the death or injury, shall, within 90 days or within six months for good cause shown from the date the damage or injury was received, give notice, in writing, to the Mayor and City Council of the following facts:
(1) The date and time when the injury occurred and the place where the injured person or property was at the time when the injury was received;
(2) The nature of the damage or injury sustained;
(3) The apparent extent of the damage or injury sustained;
(4) A specific and detailed statement of how and under what circumstances the damage or injury occurred;
(5) The amount for which each claimant will settle;
(6) The actual place of residence of each claimant by street, number, city, and state on the date the claim is presented;
(7) In the case of personal injury or death, the names and addresses of all persons who, according to the knowledge or information of the claimant witnessed the happening of the injury or any part thereof and the names of the doctors, if any, to whose care the injured person is committed; and
(8) In the case of property damage, the location of the damaged property at the time the claim was submitted along with the names and addresses of all persons who witnessed the happening of the damage or any part thereof.
(B) No suit of any nature whatsoever shall be instituted or maintained against the city unless the plaintiff therein shall ever prove that previous to the filing of the original petition the plaintiff applied to the City Council for redress, satisfaction, compensation, or relief, as the case may be, and that the same was by vote of the City Council, refused.
(C) All notices required by this section shall be effectuated by serving them upon the City Secretary at the following location: City Hall, City of Willis, 200 N. Bell St., Willis, Texas 77378. All the notices shall be effective only when actually received in the office of the person named above.
(D) The above-written notice requirements shall be waived if the city has actual knowledge of death, injury, or property damage likely to result in a claim against the city. The city shall not be deemed to have actual knowledge unless that knowledge is attributable to an appropriate city official whose job duties include the authority to investigate and/or settle claims against the city.
(E) The written notice required under this section shall be sworn to by the person claiming the damage or injuries or by someone authorized by him or her to do so on his or her behalf. Failure to swear to the notice as required herein shall not render the notice fatally defective, but failure to so verify the notice may be considered by the City Council as a factor relating to the truth of the allegations and to the weight to be given to the allegations contained therein.
(Ord. 89-7-18, passed 7-18-1989)
The city hereby offers a reward of $250 for the arrest and conviction of any person or persons found guilty of committing the crime of arson within the corporate limits of the city. This reward is a standard offer, and shall be paid out of the General Fund of the city.
(Ord. 76-129B, passed 1-29-1976)
(A) Any person violating any provision of this chapter for which no specific penalty is prescribed shall be subject to § 10.99.
(B) Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of § 30.03 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500. To the extent that any conduct in violation of this section also constitutes a violation of state law, then the conduct shall be punishable under the applicable state law.
(C) Anyone who violates any provision of § 30.06 shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $250. Each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
(D) A person who unlawfully carries a handgun into Municipal Court offices or into a room where a meeting or meetings of the City Council is held and said meeting is an open meeting subject to Ch. 551 of the Tex. Gov’t Code, commits an offense as provided for and defined in § 46.035(g) of the Tex. Penal Code, as amended.
(Ord. 91-115, passed 1-15-1991; Ord. 02-1015A, passed 10-15-2002; Ord. 16-0216, passed 2-16-2016)