(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)