A.
The City, in the exercise of its nonproprietary functions, shall
not be liable for damages sustained by any person either to his person
or property by reason of the negligence of the City, its officers
or employees nor by reason of any defective condition of or obstruction
in any public place unless such person shall serve or cause to be
served upon the Clerk, within 120 days after the injury resulting
in such damages shall have occurred, a notice, in writing, which notice
shall set forth substantially the time and place of such injury, the
manner in which it occurred, the extent of such damages as far as
the same has become known, the names and addresses of the witnesses
known at the time by the claimant and a statement that the person
sustaining such damages intends to hold the City liable for such damages
as may have been sustained by him.
B.
The City shall not be liable for any damages to person or property
arising out of any such injury unless there shall have been first
presented to the Clerk a claim in writing and under oath setting forth
particularly the time, place, nature and extent of such injury and
the amount of damages claimed by reason thereof. No person shall bring
any such action against the City for any damages until such claim
shall have been filed with the Clerk and until the Council shall have
been given opportunity to act thereon either by allowing or refusing
to allow the claim.
C.
It shall be a sufficient bar and answer in any court to any such
action or proceeding for the collection of any demand or claim against
the City under this section that the notice of injury and the verified
proof of claim as in this section required were not presented and
filed within the time and in the manner as herein provided.
No estoppel may be created against the City.
All records of the City shall be public, shall be kept in City
offices except when required for official reasons or for purposes
of safe keeping to be elsewhere and shall be available for inspection
at all reasonable times.
The requirement contained in this Charter for the publishing
or publication of notices or ordinances shall be met by publishing
an appropriate insertion in a newspaper published in the English language
for the dissemination of news of a general character, which newspaper
shall have a general circulation at regular intervals in the City
for at least two years immediately preceding the time that it is used
for such publication purposes. The affidavit of the printer or publisher
of such newspaper or of his foreman or principal clerk annexed to
a printed copy of such notice, ordinance or proceeding taken from
the paper in which it was published and specifying the times of publication
shall be prima facie evidence of such publication.
No right or liability, either in favor or against the City,
existing at the time this Charter becomes effective, and no suit or
prosecution of any character shall, in any manner, be affected by
any change resulting from the adoption of this Charter, but the same
shall stand or proceed as if no change had been made. All debts and
liabilities remain the debts and liabilities of the City, and all
fines and penalties imposed at the time of such change shall be collected.
All trusts established for any municipal purpose shall be used
and continued in accordance with the terms of such trust, subject
to the cy pres doctrine. The Council may, in its discretion, receive
and hold any property in trust for any municipal purpose and shall
apply the same to the execution of such trust and for no other purposes,
except in cases where the cy pres doctrine shall apply.
Except as otherwise specifically provided or indicated by the
context:
A.
All words used in this Charter indicating the present tense shall
not be limited to the time of the adoption of this Charter, but shall
extend to and include the time of the happening of any event or requirement
for which provision is made herein.
B.
The singular number shall include the plural, the plural number shall
include the singular and the masculine gender shall extend to and
include the feminine gender and the neuter.
C.
The word "person" may extend and be applied to bodies political and
corporate and to partnerships as well as to individuals.
D.
The words "printer" and "printing" shall include reproduction by
printing, engraving, stencil duplicating, lithographing or any similar
method.
E.
Except in reference to signatures, the words "written" and "writing"
shall include printing and typewriting.
F.
The word "City" shall mean the municipal corporation of Rockwood.
G.
The word "officer" shall include the Mayor and other members of the
Council, the administrative officers, members of City boards and commissions
created by or pursuant to this Charter.
H.
The word "statute" shall denote the Public Acts of the State of Michigan
in effect at the time the provision of the Charter containing the
word "statute" is to be applied.
I.
All references to specific Public Acts of the State of Michigan or
to the Michigan Compiled Laws Annotated shall be to such acts or laws
as are in effect at the time the reference to such act or law is to
be applied.
J.
The words "law" or "general laws of the state" shall denote the Constitution
and the Public Acts of the State of Michigan in effect at the time
the provision of the Charter containing the words "law" or "general
laws of the state" is to be applied, and applicable common law.
K.
The word "elector" shall mean a registered voter of the City of Rockwood.
L.
All references to section numbers shall refer to section numbers
in this Charter.
M.
An appropriation is the setting apart of a designated sum for a purpose
or purposes.
Whenever the date fixed by this Charter for the doing or completion
of any act falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, such act shall be done
or completed on the next succeeding day which is not a Sunday or legal
holiday.
The chapter, section and subsection headings used in this Charter
are for convenience only and shall not be considered part of the Charter.
All process against the City shall run against the City in the
corporate name thereof and shall be served upon the Mayor, City Clerk
or City Attorney.
Except as provided otherwise in this Charter, a quorum of any
board or commission created by or pursuant to this Charter shall be
a majority of the members of such board or commission in office at
the time, but not less than two members.
Any officer of the City found guilty by a court of competent
jurisdiction of any act declared by this Charter to constitute misconduct
in office may be punished by a fine and/or imprisonment, not to exceed
the maximum allowed by statute at the discretion of the Court. The
punishment provided in this section shall be in addition to that of
having the office declared vacant as provided in §§ C-5.2
and C-5.3.
This Charter may be amended at any time in the manner provided
by statute. Should two or more amendments adopted at the same election
contain conflicting provisions, the one receiving the largest affirmative
vote shall prevail as to those provisions.
If any provision, section, article or clause of this Charter
or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be
found to be invalid by a court, such invalidity shall not affect any
remaining portion or application of the Charter which can be given
effect without the invalid portion or application, provided such remaining
portions or applications are not determined by the court to be inoperable
and to this end this Charter is declared to be severable.
