CHARTER

THE CHARTER.

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE VILLAGE OF WINNETKA.

ARTICLE I.

   Section 1.   Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly; as follows, The inhabitants of all that territory or area in township forty two (42) north of range thirty (13) east in the County of Cook and State of Illinois, and described as follows, viz. All that portion of the south east fractional quarter of section eight (8), the west fractional half of section sixteen (16), fractional section seventeen (17) except north half of north west quarter of said section seventeen (17) , the south half and south half of north half of section eighteen (18), section nineteen (19) section (20) twenty, fractional section twenty one (21), and southwest fractional quarter of section twenty two (22); also the bed and water of Lake Michigan to the width of one half mile adjoining and contiguous to the territory aforesaid, shall form, and constitute, and they are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic for municipal purposes under the name and style of "the Village of Winnetka" and by that name shall have perpetual succession and by said name may sue and be sued in all courts of law and equity in this state and may have and use a common seal and alter the same at pleasure; and may purchase, take, receive and hold personal property and real estate within the limits of said corporation, but not elsewhere, may lease, sell and convey the same and do all other lawful acts within the scope of this act of incorporation the same as natural persons do.

   Section 2.   Whenever any tract of land adjoining the said Village of Winnetka shall be laid off into town lots and duly recorded as required by law, the same shall be annexed to and form a part of said Village of Winnetka; provided that the council of said village or a majority of the same shall assent to such annexation by vote at a regular meeting of said council.

ARTICLE II. OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS.

   Section 1.   The municipal government of said village shall be composed of a president and five (5) trustees who, together, shall constitute the council of the Village of Winnetka. The other elective officers of said corporation shall be two (2) police justices, a marshal who shall be ex officio collector, an assessor, and a treasurer of said village. All of the above-named officers shall be elected by the legal voters of said village. The parties receiving the greatest number of votes for said offices respectively, shall be declared elected to such offices.

   Section 2.   The above-named offices shall be elected annually on the first Tuesday of April, and shall hold their offices respectively for one year, except the police justices who shall hold their offices for four (4) years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. At the first election to be holden under this act, Artemus Carter, James L. Willson and Thomas M. Thompson shall be the judges of said election and shall post notices of the time and place of holding the same in three of the most public places in said village for the space of ten day before said election, and shall perform all the other legal and proper duties of judges of said election, and shall count and declare the votes and notify the officers elected, of their election, and in case of a tie in the vote for any of the election officers, the candidates for any such office shall draw lots for such office in the presence of and under the direction of the judges of the election, who shall thereupon declare the candidate or candidates upon whom the lot falls, duly elected to such office or offices respectively.

   Section 3.   All citizens of the United states qualified to vote at any election held under this act shall be eligible to office under this act. The council shall have power to regulate elections and appoint judges thereof and make all necessary provision and rules therefor. The voting shall be by ballot, and the judges of elections shall take the same oath and have the same powers as the judges of general state elections. No person shall be entitled to vote at any election under this act who is not entitled to vote at state elections, and has not been a resident of said village for at least one month if a freeholder and three months if not a freeholder next preceding said election.

   Section 4.   The council shall appoint a resident of said village to the office of clerk of the council with such compensation and under such bond and conditions as they shall deem fit and just. It shall be the duty of the clerk to keep the corporate seal and all papers and books belonging to said village, and also to keep correct minutes of all the proceedings of said board; he shall also record in a book to be kept for that purpose all the ordinances, orders, or regulations passed by said board of a police or sanitary character, and also he shall record in a separate book to be kept for that purpose all orders for special assessments. All said records shall be open for inspection of any inhabitant of said village; and said clerk shall perform such other duties as the council shall direct.

   Section 5.   Whenever any vacancy shall occur in any of the election offices by death, removal from said village or other cause, such vacancy shall be filled by a special election; and the council of Winnetka shall order such special election within twenty days after the happening of said vacancy. But no special election shall be held to fill any vacancy if more than nine months of the term of office has already expired, except the office of police justice, provided that in case of a vacancy in the office of marshal, the council may by ballot choose a marshal to fill such office for the unexpired term.

   Section 6.   Every person elected or appointed to an executive, judicial, or administrative office under this act, shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed in the constitution of this state, and such further bond as the council shall require, and file the same, duly certified by the officer before whom the same was taken, with the clerk.

ARTICLE III. OF THE COUNCIL.

   Section 1.   The council shall meet within five days after each annual election, and on the first Tuesday of July, October and January respectively thereafter at such place as shall be provided, or as they shall by resolution direct. The president when present, shall preside at all meetings of the council and shall vote only in case of tie. The trustees shall choose one of their number as president protem, who, in the absence of the president shall perform the duties of president; and a majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for doing business.

   Section 2.   The council shall have power by resolution or ordinance to appoint other officers and agents to perform special duties and fix the compensation thereof.

   Section 3.   The council shall have the power to determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish its members for disorderly conduct by fine or otherwise, and with the concurrent of two thirds of the members elected expel any member for disorderly conduct.

   Section 4.   The council shall have the control of the finances and all the property, real, personal and mixed, within the corporate limits, and shall have power within said limits by ordinance:

      First: To levy and collect taxes for the purposes of said village upon all the property real and personal within the same, not exceeding six per cent per annum upon the assessed value thereof, and the council may enforce the payment of such taxes in any manner prescribed by ordinance not repugnant to the constitution of this state or of the United States.

      Second: To appropriate money and provide for the payment of the debts and expenses of the village.

      Third: To make regulations to prevent the introduction of contagious diseases into the village; to make quarantine laws for that purpose and enforce the same throughout the village and within one mile of the limits thereof.

      Fourth: To establish hospitals and make regulations for the government and maintenance of the same.

      Fifth: To make and enforce rules to secure the general health of the inhabitants of said village, to declare what shall be a nuisance, and to prevent or remove the same, and punish the authors thereof.

      Sixth: To open, alter, abolish, widen, extend, establish, straighten, or otherwise improve and keep in repair, streets, lanes and alleys, sidewalks, drains, sewers, culverts and bridges and to have exclusive power and control over the same.

      Seventh: To provide for lighting the streets and erecting and maintaining lamp-posts.

      Eighth: To establish, regulate and support night watches.

      Ninth: To establish and regulate markets and market places.

      Tenth: To provide for or erect suitable buildings for the use of said village and its officers.

      Eleventh: To improve, ornament and protect any park or public grounds belonging to said village, and to enforce the setting of shade trees upon the streets and punish by fine for the cutting or injury of any shade trees.

      Twelfth: To license, regulate, and control pedlers, taverns, hawkers, pawnbrokers, draymen, porters and express-men.

      Thirteenth: To license and regulate or prohibit and suppress shows, exhibitions, billiard tables, bowling alleys or other similar places.

      Fourteenth: To prohibit and suppress gambling-houses, houses of ill-fame and other disorderly houses.

      Fifteenth: To provide for the prevention and extinguishment of fires and to organize establish and regulate fire companies.

      Sixteenth: To prevent and restrain horses, cattle, sheep, swine, geese and other animals from running at large, and to authorize the distraining, impounding and sale of the same for costs of the proceedings and penalty incurred and to impose penalties upon the owners thereof for the violation of any ordinance in relation thereto; to regulate restrain and prohibit the running at large of dogs, and authorize their destruction when at large contrary to ordinance; and to impose penalties on the owners or keepers thereof.

      Seventeenth: To restrain and punish vagrants street beggars and prostitutes.

      Eighteenth: To prohibit and suppress horse racing and immoderate driving in the streets of said village, and to prohibit and punish by fine, cruelty to animals.

      Nineteenth: To prohibit and suppress the discharge of fire-arms, fire-crackers, gun-powder, the ringing of bells, blowing of horns and other practices tending to annoy the inhabitants and frighten horses in said village.

      Twentieth: To erect and establish a work-house or house of correction in said village, and make all necessary regulations therefor, and appoint all necessary keepers and assistants. In such house may be confined all stragglers, vagrants, idle and disorderly persons who may be committed thereto by the proper officer.

      Twenty-one: To authorize the taking and providing for the safekeeping and education for such periods as may be deemed expedient, of all children who are destitute of proper parental care, who may be found wandering about the streets, committing mischief and growing up in ignorance, idleness and vice.

      Twenty-second: Said council shall have power to pass, publish, amend and repeal all ordinances, rules and police regulations necessary and proper for the government and good order of said village and to enforce the observance of all such ordinances, and to punish violations thereof by fines, or by imprisonment in the jail of Cook County, or in the village work-house in the discretion of the magistrate or justice before whom conviction may be had; but no fine or penalty shall exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, nor the imprisonment exceed six months for any one offense.

      Twenty-third: The style of the ordinances shall be "The council of the village of Winnetka do ordain".

      Twenty-fourth: All ordinances passed by the council shall be signed by the president, countersigned by the clerk and shall within one month after their passage be published by the clerk by posting copies of the same for five days in three of the most public places in said village to be designated by the council, and no ordinance shall be in force till signed and published as aforesaid. In all suits or other legal proceeding due publication of all ordinances of said village shall be presumed till the contrary is shown by competent evidence.

      Twenty-fifth: All ordinances of said village may be proven by the seal of the corporation and when purporting to be collected and published by the authority of the council the same shall be received as evidence in all courts and places without further proof.

      Twenty-sixth: The president, or any two of the trustees may call special meetings of the council of said village; and the clerk shall notify the other members of the council of such meeting at least two days before the same is held, by delivering a written notice to each one personally or leaving the same at his residence stating the time and place of such meeting.