In all City Council votes which express anything by way of command, the form of expression shall be "ordered," and when the City Council expresses opinions, principles, facts or purposes, the form shall be "resolved."
No new ordinance shall be considered by the City Council until it shall have been first referred to the standing committee on ordinances.
The draft of every new ordinance to be reported to the City Council by the committee on ordinances, whether reported by a majority or minority of such committee, shall be first submitted by the City Clerk to the Corporation Counsel for examination and approval as to form and legal character.
A. 
Every ordinance shall pass through the following stages before it shall be considered as having received the final action of the City Council: first reading, second reading, passage to be enrolled and passage to be ordained. After its passage to be enrolled, the ordinance shall be enrolled by the City Clerk, and duly examined by the committee on ordinances, and upon report of such committee that it is truly and properly enrolled, the question shall be put upon its passage to be ordained.
B. 
An ordinance shall be considered to be enrolled and so reported by the committee on ordinances if the ordinance shall be found by the committee to conform to the drafts as passed to be enrolled.
[Amended 7-14-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-19; 10-25-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-22]
No order shall be introduced before the City Council unless it has been filed with the City Clerk before the close of business on the Thursday preceding the regular meeting date. Any order not filed in accordance with this section shall not be considered unless it is presented with an emergency preamble, which preamble shall be accepted by a two-thirds vote of the City Council prior to the acceptance of the order for reading before the City Council.
The enacting style of all ordinances shall be: "Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Fall River."
A. 
All ordinances shall be consecutively numbered by a numbering system which shall set forth the year and the sequential number of the ordinance for that year.
B. 
All ordinances of the City shall be recorded by the City Clerk in the order in which they are passed, in books kept for the purpose, with the proper margins and index. The book shall be lettered "Record of Ordinances of the City of Fall River," and it shall be kept in the office of the City Clerk subject to the inspection of the citizens.
C. 
The City Clerk shall record all the amendments or additions in a book kept for that purpose by taking out the amended or repealed section or chapter and inserting in place thereof the amending or repealing section or chapter. The book referred to in this subsection shall be lettered "Master Copy of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Fall River" and may be of looseleaf form. This book shall be kept in addition to and separate from other records of ordinances required to by kept by the City Clerk.
All ordinances shall take effect 20 days from and after their passage to be ordained, unless otherwise provided.
[Amended 6-20-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-21]
Every proposed ordinance shall be published as required in Section 2-9(d) of The Charter. After the final passage, such ordinance, as amended and adopted, shall be published in a bulletin or pamphlet.
Every proposed loan order shall be published as provided in § 23 of the Charter. After final passage, every loan order shall, in the same manner as before, again be published once, as amended and completed.
[Amended 3-26-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-10; 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-7; 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-10]
No order authorizing the issuance of bonds, notes or certificates of indebtedness in the amount of $5,000,000 or to exceed $20,000,000 within a fiscal year, or in excess thereof, for any purpose, shall become effective until and unless the order is submitted to a vote of the registered voters of the City for adoption or rejection at a general or special City election. Such election shall be in the same manner and with the same force and effect as provided for measures submitted to the voters pursuant to MGL c. 43, § 43. This requirement shall not be applicable to any municipal project for which state or federal reimbursement of not less than 51% of the project cost has been approved, to any temporary loan in anticipation of revenue, reimbursement by the commonwealth or revenue from the sale of bonds, notes or certificates of indebtedness, as authorized pursuant to MGL c. 44, §§ 4, 6, 6A and 17, or to any temporary loans for payment or final judgments or other emergency appropriations as authorized pursuant to MGL c. 44, § 7, cl. 11, or MGL c. 44, § 8, cl. 2 and cl. 9, or to refunding bonds or notes as authorized by MGL c. 44, § 21A.
If no obligation has been incurred by the City on any capital construction project approved in accordance with the provisions of § 2-131 within four years of such approval, such project shall again be placed before the registered voters for adoption or rejection.
A. 
All papers addressed to the City Council shall be presented by the President, or a member in his place, and shall be read by the City Clerk or such other person as the President may request, and shall be taken up in the order in which they are presented, except when the City Council shall otherwise determine.
B. 
Every member presenting a petition, remonstrance, order, resolution or other paper shall endorse his name thereon.
[Added 3-25-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
The City Council at any time may request from the Mayor, or, under Plan D or E, from the city manager,[1] specific information on any loan order within its jurisdiction, and may request him to be present to answer written questions relating thereto at a meeting to be held not earlier than one week from the date of the receipt by the Mayor, or, under Plan D or E, by the city manager, of said questions. The Mayor, or, under Plan D or E, the city manager, shall personally, or through the head of a department or a member of a board, attend such meeting and publicly answer all such questions. The person so attending shall not be obliged to answer questions relating to any other matter. The Mayor, or, under Plan D or E, the city manager, may attend and address the City Council in person or through the head of a department, or a member of a board, upon any subject. The Mayor, or his designee, shall provide updates to the City Council regarding projects funded by loan orders, utilizing a capital project status report form, during a regular meeting of the City Council in the months of January, April, July and October.
[1]
Editor's Note: The City is a Plan A form of government. See Charter Division 2.