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. 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.