The city shall not be liable in damages for injury sustained by any person, either to his person or property, by reason of the negligence of the city, its officers or employees, or by reason of any defective public works or public service improvement or facility, or by reason of any obstruction, ice, snow, or other encumbrance thereon unless, within 60 days after such injury shall have occurred, such person or his representative shall serve or cause to be served upon the clerk, a notice in writing which shall set forth substantially the time and place of such injury, the manner in which it occurred, the nature of the act or defect complained of, the extent of such injury as far as the same has become known, the names and addresses of the witnesses known at the time to the claimant, and a statement that the person receiving such injury intends to hold the city liable for such damages as may have been sustained by him. No person shall bring any action for injury to person or property arising out of any of the reasons or circumstances aforesaid, unless brought within the period limited by law from the time such injury was sustained, nor unless he shall have first presented to the clerk his claim in writing and under oath, setting forth particularly the nature and extent of such injury and the amount of damages claimed by reason thereof, which claim shall be presented to the council by the clerk and the council shall be given an opportunity to act thereon, either by allowing or refusing to allow the claim.
It shall be a sufficient bar and answer in any court to any 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.
Lands or premises hereafter laid out, divided, and platted into lots, streets, and alleys within the city, shall comply with the provisions of state law and shall be subject to the approval of the council. The city shall not be responsible for the improvement of streets and alleys shown on any plot approved by it, excepting such as the council shall accept and confirm by resolution.
The council shall determine the method of publication of all notices, ordinances, and proceedings for which a mode of publication is not prescribed by this Charter or by law. The council may determine that such publication may be made in a newspaper which is printed or circulated in the city, or that such publication may be made by posting in the office of the clerk and in five other places in the city. In case publication is made by posting, a notice of such posting setting forth, by a description thereof, the purpose or nature of the notice, ordinance, or proceeding posted, and the location of the place where posted, shall be published at least once in a newspaper published or circulated in the city within seven days after such posting was done.
All records of the municipality shall be public.
No official of the city shall have power to make any representation or recital of fact in, or which may be deemed to constitute a part of, any franchise, contract, document, or agreement, contrary to any public record of the city. Any such representation shall be void and of no effect as against the city.
The adoption and taking effect of this Charter shall not discharge, impair, or limit any right vested in or liability incurred by the City of Holland at the time this Charter became law.
Except as otherwise specifically provided or indicated by the context, all words used in this Charter indicating the present tense shall not be limited to the time of 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 therein, either as a power, immunity, requirement, or prohibition.
As used in this Charter, every word importing the singular number only, may extend to and embrace the plural number and every word importing the plural number may be applied and limited to the singular number. Every word importing the masculine gender only shall be extended and applied to the feminine as well as the masculine gender.
The adoption of this Charter by the people of Holland and the taking effect thereof as law shall not affect, nor extend to or include the government of the school district comprising the City of Holland known as the "Public Schools of the City of Holland" and all provisions of law relating to and affecting such school district shall continue to apply to and govern such school district without any change whatsoever.
The chapter and section headings used in this Charter are for convenience only and shall not be considered to be a part of this Charter.
Should any provision or section, or portion thereof, of this Charter be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unconstitutional, such holding shall not be construed as affecting the validity of this Charter as a whole or of any remaining portion of such provision or section; it being hereby declared to be the intent of the Charter commission and of the electors who voted thereon that such unconstitutionality or illegality shall not affect the validity of any part of the Charter, except that specifically affected by such holding.
This Charter may be amended at any time in the manner provided in Act No. 279 of the Public Acts of 1909, as amended.[1] Should any two or more amendments, adopted at the same election, have conflicting provisions, the one receiving the largest affirmative vote shall prevail as to those provisions.
[1]
Editor's Note: See M. S. A., § 5.2071 et seq.