The City of Bridgman shall have and possess all such powers
possible for a City as are necessarily or fairly implied or incidentally
conferred by the Constitution and laws of the State of Michigan, and
by this Charter and to enforce the same. The enumeration of specific
powers in this Charter shall not be construed as a limitation upon
the general powers granted by the state law and by this Charter.
The City of Bridgman shall provide for the public peace, health
and safety of persons and property and shall possess the following
enumerated powers:
(1)
To acquire by purchase, gift or lease, real or personal property, for any public use or purpose within the scope of its powers, and to hold, manage, control, sell or otherwise dispose of the same without approval of the electorate, provided that the power herein granted to the Council to sell and convey any property in anyway acquired and owned by the City shall not be exercised without first obtaining the approval therefor by a two-thirds vote of the members elect of the City Council, except as further restricted by § C-2.5(4) below. In the acquisition of property under "The Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act"[1] or any amendments, for transfer to a private entity, the
Council of the City of Bridgman must first determine that one of the
three following standards shall exist:
(a)
The public necessity of the extreme sort requiring public action;
or
(b)
The property shall remain subject to public oversight to ensure
the property is used for the public good or benefit after being sold
to a private entity; or
(c)
The property is selected based on facts of independent significance
(such as the need to promote public health or safety), rather than
the interest of the private entity to which the property will be transferred
(Wayne Co. v. Hathcock, 471 Michigan 445).
[1]
Editor's Note: See MCLA § 213.51 et seq.
(2)
To create or abolish boards, authorities, commissions and administrative
offices and departments, other than the positions of City Clerk, City
Treasurer, or City Assessor, in any manner it deems necessary for
the proper operation of the City to carry out the functions deemed
reasonable and necessary to meet the needs of its citizens; to provide,
by ordinance, the duties of any entity so established and to combine
any administrative and/or appointive office provided in this Charter
consistent with state law;
(3)
To enact a building and housing code, to the extent consistent with
the Statutes of the State of Michigan, to regulate the erection and
repair of buildings and require building permits therefor, including
prevention of the erection of unsafe buildings and providing for the
removal of unsafe buildings and for regulation of the maintenance
and occupancy of buildings insofar as the same affects health and
safety;
(4)
To establish and maintain definite fire limits and to prohibit within
such limits the construction of buildings and other structures of
wood and other materials easily inflammable to the extent consistent
with the Statutes of the State of Michigan; to enact ordinances in
relation to the prevention and suppression of fires; and to provide
for the inspection of private property for the purpose of determining
whether a fire hazard exists;
(5)
To regulate the location, construction, size and height of signs
and the maintenance thereof;
(6)
To request regulation of hunting within the City limits pursuant
to the Statutes of the State of Michigan;
(7)
To regulate and license trades, occupations and public places of
amusement, consistent with state and federal laws, whether the same
be specifically mentioned herein or not;
(8)
To prescribe the terms and conditions upon which licenses shall be
granted and to require the payment of such license fees and the furnishing
of such bonds as the Council shall deem reasonable and proper. Licenses
shall be subject to revocation by the Council as provided in each
particular ordinance;
(9)
To regulate the operation of motor vehicles or livestock traffic
and to regulate the use of streets, highways, parking lots, alleys
and other public areas of the City or private areas accessible to
the public with the consent of the owners thereof;
(10)
To prohibit games of chance, bingo, millionaire parties, and other
forms of gambling, consistent with state and federal laws, whether
the same be specifically mentioned herein or not;
(11)
To regulate or prohibit public nudity within the City of Bridgman
as allowed by the laws of the State of Michigan and the United States
of America;
(12)
The City Council may grant temporary nonexclusive concessions or
licenses on public park lands owned by the City to any person or entity
for any purpose that the City Council determines to be necessary to
implement the use and enjoyment of the facilities and amenities of
said public park. In granting a concession, the City Council shall
set a term not to exceed three years. Any said licensee or concessionaire
shall make no structural alteration of the building. The City shall
publish two notices of intent to grant a concession or license in
a paper of general circulation within the City and posted in three
public places in the City at least 45 days and not less than 30 days
prior to any grant of a concession permit or license;
(13)
To prohibit by ordinance the pollution of any stream or watercourse
within the City limits consistent with the Statutes and Regulations
of the State of Michigan or the United States of America;
(14)
To make contracts or arrangements with any other public corporation
as may be allowed by the Statutes of the State of Michigan;
(15)
To become a member or joint owner in an enterprise with private nonprofit
corporations to create a separate private nonprofit corporation that
will establish, operate, or maintain a medical facility for a public
purpose;
(16)
To make appropriation and allocation of public funds to a public
or private nonprofit institution engaged within the City to provide
civic, artistic, and cultural activities, including but not limited
to music, theater, dance, visual arts, literature, architectural landscaping,
and allied arts and crafts, to the general public;
(17)
To provide for the assessing and reassessing of the costs, or a portion
of the costs, of any public improvement designated within a special
district;
(18)
To require any officer or employee to give bond, to be approved by
the Council in such sum as the Council shall determine, conditioned
upon the faithful and proper performance of the duties of his or her
office or employment. All officers or employees receiving, disbursing,
or responsible for City funds shall be bonded. All official bonds
shall be corporate surety bonds, and the premiums thereon shall be
paid by the City, except as otherwise provided in this Charter. All
bonds of all officers or employees shall be filed with the Clerk except
that of the Clerk, which shall be filed with the City Treasurer. Neither
the resignation, removal, or discharge of any officer or employee
of the City, nor the election or appointment of another to his or
her office or employment, shall exonerate such officer or employee
or his or her sureties from any liability incurred by said employee;
(19)
To make available to the administrative officers and employees of
the City and its departments, boards, and commissions standard recognized
plans to provide health, hospitalization, retirement or other programs
afforded employees and their dependents by employers, whether fully
funded, on a contributory basis, or at the sole expense of the employee
benefitted. The City reserves the right to determine in the sole discretion
of the Council which programs shall be provided.
The Council is hereby authorized to create and operate a cemetery
within the City of Bridgman.
Any ordinance may be initiated by petition, or a referendum
on an enacted ordinance may be made by petition as hereinafter provided.
(a)
An initiatory or 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 petitions
shall be obtained within 30 days before the date of filing the petition
with the Clerk.
(b)
Any such petition shall be addressed to the Council and may be the
aggregate of two or more petition papers identical as to contents
and simultaneously filed by one person.
(c)
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.
(d)
A referendary petition shall identify the ordinance, or part thereof,
it proposes to have repealed.
(e)
Each signer of a petition shall be a registered elector of the City
and shall sign his or her name thereon and after his or her name,
the date and his or her place of residence by street and number, or
by other customary designation.
(f)
To each petition paper there shall be attached a sworn affidavit
by the circulator thereof, stating the numbers 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.
(g)
Such petitions shall be filed with the Clerk, who shall, within 15
days, verify the signatures thereon.
(h)
If the petition does not contain a sufficient number of signatures
of registered electors of the City, the Clerk shall notify forthwith
the person filing such petition, and 15 days from such notification
shall be allowed for the filing of supplemental petition papers.
(i)
When a petition with sufficient signatures is filed within the time
allowed by this section, the Clerk shall present the petition to the
Council at its next regular meeting.
Upon receiving an initiatory or referendary petition from the
Clerk the Council shall, within 30 days, unless otherwise provided
by state law, either,
(a)
Adopt the ordinance as submitted by initiatory petition;
(b)
Repeal the ordinance, or part thereof, referred to by a referendary
petition; or
(c)
Submit the proposal provided for in the petition to the electors,
which shall be submitted at the next election held in the City for
any other purpose or, at the discretion of the Council, at a special
election called for that specific purpose.
(d)
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 adopt
the ordinance, then the Council shall call for a special election
within 90 days from such time for the submission of the initiatory
proposal.
(e)
The result shall be determined by a majority vote of the electors
voting thereon, except in cases where otherwise required by state
law.
(a)
The presentation to the Council by the Clerk of a valid referendary
petition 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 for a period of one year after the
date of the election at which it was adopted, and an ordinance repealed
by the electorate may not be reenacted for a period of one year after
the date of the election at which it was repealed.
(c)
If two or more ordinances adopted at the same election that shall
have conflicting provisions, the provisions in the ordinance receiving
the highest number of affirmative votes shall govern.
Council shall not have the power to:
(1)
Make any contract with or give any official position to any person
who is in default to the City;
(2)
Sell any personal property of a value in excess of $5,000, as determined
by the market value at date of proposed sale, unless the property
is offered for sale by advertisement in a paper of general circulation
within the City and posted in three public places in the City at least
30 days prior to any sale. Sale may be by auction or sealed bid;
(3)
Sell, convey or transfer any real estate owned by the City, unless
notice of intent to sell the property is published in a paper of general
circulation within the City and posted in three public places in the
City at least 45 days prior to any sale. At the expiration of said
notice period, the City may sell, either by auction or sealed bid,
at not less than its market value at date of proposed sale;
(4)
Sell, convey or transfer any real estate, or any part thereof, owned
by the City and dedicated at any time as a public park, or cemetery,
or parts thereof, unless approved by 3/5 of the electors voting thereon
at any general or special election;
