All ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations of the Village
of New Buffalo which are not inconsistent with this Charter and which
are in force and effect at the time of the effective date of this
Charter shall continue in full force and effect until they expire,
are amended or repealed. Any ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation
which is inconsistent with this Charter is hereby repealed.
All official action of the Council shall be by ordinance or
resolution adopted by not less than three members of the Council,
unless otherwise required by law. All actions of the Council which
do not constitute ordinances shall be deemed to be resolutions. Action
by resolution shall be limited to matters required or permitted to
be so done by law or pertaining to the internal affairs or concerns
of the City government. All other acts of the Council and all acts
carrying a penalty for the violation thereof, shall be by ordinance.
Each ordinance shall be identified by a short title and by a number,
and by a code section number when the codification of the ordinances
is completed.
(a)
Each proposed ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed
form. The style of all ordinances shall be: "The City of New Buffalo
ordains:".
(b)
No ordinance shall be passed at the same meeting at which it is introduced,
unless the same is declared to be an emergency ordinance by a vote
of not less than four members of the Council.
(c)
An ordinance may be repealed or amended only by an ordinance passed
in the manner provided in this section. An ordinance may be repealed
by reference to its number and title only.
(d)
If a section of an ordinance is amended, the section shall be reenacted
and published at length.
(e)
The effective date of all ordinances shall be stated therein, but
shall not be earlier than 20 days after enactment, unless it is declared
by the affirmative vote of not less than four members of the Council
to be an emergency ordinance.
(a)
Before an ordinance may become operative, it shall be published.
Any ordinance may be published by setting it forth in full as a part
of the published proceedings of the Council for either the meeting
at which it was introduced or at which it was adopted, or as a part
of the summary of the proceedings of either of such meetings.
(b)
All ordinances shall be recorded by the Clerk in a book to be called
"The Ordinance Book," and it shall be the duty of the Mayor and Clerk
to authenticate such records by their official signatures thereon,
but the failure to so record and authenticate any such ordinance shall
not invalidate it or suspend its operation.
Any ordinance may provide for the punishment of those who violate
its provisions. The punishment for the violation of any ordinance,
including the costs charged for the prosecution thereof, shall not
exceed a fine of $100 or imprisonment for 90 days, or both, in the
discretion of the court; said imprisonment may be either in the City
or County jail, or in any workhouse in the state which is authorized
by law to receive prisoners from the City.
Council action to vacate, discontinue or abolish any highway,
street, lane, alley or other public place or part thereof shall be
by resolution. After the introduction of such resolution and before
its final adoption, the Council shall appoint a time when it shall
meet and hear objections thereto; and notice of the time, place and
purpose of such meeting shall be published either separately or as
a part of the Proceedings of the Council. Objections to any such proposed
resolution may be filed with the Clerk in writing, and if any objections
shall be filed, the highway, street, lane, alley or other public place
or part thereof shall not be vacated, discontinued or abolished except
by a vote of four of the members of the Council.
In accordance with the provisions of law [now] or hereafter
in effect, the Council may enact technical codes or regulations which
have been promulgated or enacted by the State of Michigan or the United
States of America, or by any department, board, or other agency thereof,
or by any organization or association which is organized and conducted
for the purpose of developing any such code or technical regulations,
by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance and without publishing
any such code in full; provided, that each statute or technical code
or regulation is clearly identified in the ordinance adopting the
same. The purpose of the code or regulations shall be published with
the adopting ordinance and complete printed copies thereof shall be
kept in the office of the Clerk, available for inspection by and distribution
to the public at all times. Such publication shall contain a notice
stating that a complete copy of said code or regulation is available
for public use and inspection at the office of the Clerk.
Unless an ordinance shall expressly provide to the contrary,
if any portion of an ordinance or the application thereof to any person
or circumstances shall be found to be invalid by a court, such invalidity
shall not effect the remaining portions or applications of the ordinance
which can be given effect without the invalid portion or applications,
provided such remaining portions are not determined by the court to
be inoperable, and to this end ordinances are declared to be severable.
(a)
Immediately after the effective date of this Charter, the Council
shall direct and within three years, complete the codification of
the ordinances of the City and shall provide for the publication of
subsequent amendments thereto so that such amendments may readily
be made a part of such code and maintain the same in current form.
Any such codification may include provisions not previously contained
in ordinances of the City.
(b)
The Council shall provide for making printed copies of the codification
available for public inspection and for distribution to the public
at a reasonable charge therefor and shall publish notice of the printing
and availability of such codification before the effective date thereof.
Such making available of printed copies of the codification and notice
thereof shall constitute the due and legal publication of any such
codification and the provisions thereof, as required by law, other
provisions of this Charter for the publication of ordinances notwithstanding.
(c)
The copies of the ordinances and of the codification thereof, and of provisions adopted by reference in accordance with Section 7.7, may be certified by the Clerk and, when so certified, shall be competent evidence in all courts and other legally established tribunals as to the matter contained therein.
An ordinance may be initiated by petition, or a referendum on
an ordinance enactment may be had, by petition as hereafter provided.
(a)
An initiatory or a referendary petition shall be signed by not less
than 10% of the registered electors of the City, as of the date of
the last regular City election, and all signatures on said petition
shall be obtained within 60 days before the date of filing the petition
with the Clerk. Any such petition shall be addressed to the Council
and may be the aggregate of two or more petition papers which are
identical as to content, except as to signatures, and simultaneously
filed by one person. An initiatory petition shall set forth, in full,
the ordinance it proposes to initiate, and no petition shall propose
to initiate more than one ordinance or part thereof, or code sections
it proposes to have repealed.
(b)
Each signer of a petition shall sign his name, and shall place thereon
after his name, the date, and his place of residence by street and
number, or by other customary residential designation. To each petition
paper there shall be attached a sworn affidavit by the circulator
thereof, stating the number of signers thereof and that each signature
thereon is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports
to be, and that it was made in the presence of the affiant. Such petition
shall be filed with the Clerk who shall, within 15 days canvass the
signatures thereon. If the petition does not contain a sufficient
number of registered electors of the City, the Clerk shall notify
forthwith, by registered or certified mail, the person filing such
petition and 15 days from such notification shall be allowed for filing
of supplemental petition papers. When a petition with sufficient signatures
is filed as required and allowed by this section, the Clerk shall
present the petition to the Council at its next regular meeting.
Upon the presentation to the Council of an initiatory or referendary
petition by the Clerk, the Council shall, within 30 days, unless otherwise
provided by law, either:
Should the Council decide to submit the proposal to the electors,
it shall be submitted at the next election held in the City for any
other purpose, or, in the discretion of the Council, at a special
election called for that specific purpose. In the case of an initiatory
petition, if no election is to be held in the City for any other purpose
within 150 days from the time the petition is presented to the Council
and the Council does not enact the ordinance, then the Council shall
call for a special election within 90 days from such date, The result
of all elections, held under the provisions of this section shall
be determined by a majority vote of the electors voting thereon, except
in cases where otherwise required by law or the terms of this Charter.
(a)
The presentation to the Council by the Clerk of a valid and sufficient
referendary petition, containing a number of signatures equal to 25%
of the registered electors of the City as of the date of the last
regular City election, which signatures have been obtained within
60 days before the date of filing the petition with the Clerk, shall
automatically suspend the operation of the ordinance in question,
pending repeal by the Council or final determination by the electors.
(b)
An ordinance adopted by the electorate through initiatory proceedings
may not be amended or repealed by the Council for a period of two
years after the date of the election at which it was adopted, and
an ordinance repealed by the electorate may not be re-enacted by the
Council for a period of two years after the date of the election at
which it was repealed. Any such ordinance may be adopted, amended,
or repealed at any time by appropriate referendum or initiatory procedure
in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Chapter or if
submitted to the electorate by the Council on its own motion.
(c)
If two or more initiated ordinances, adopted at the same election,
shall have conflicting provisions, the provisions in the ordinance
receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall govern.
