Except as otherwise provided for by law, the City of Granbury may license, regulate, fix the rates, control and supervise public utilities of all kinds. In addition to such public utilities as it may now own, the City of Granbury may own, acquire, construct, maintain and operate any other public utility that may be approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the City voting therefor at an election held for such purpose; and shall have power for the purpose of operating and maintaining any such utility, and for distributing such service throughout the City and any portion thereof, but in such condemnation proceedings, no allowance shall be made for the value of any franchise and only the actual physical assets shall be purchased by the City.
(Section 11.01 amended by an election held November 6, 2018)
The City shall have the power, subject to limitations imposed by State Law and this Charter, to fix and, from time to time, revise such rates and charges as it may deem advisable for supplying such utility services as the City may provide. The utilities shall provide no free services; the rates and charges for services to city departments and city entities shall be at the cost to produce; all other customers, including other public agencies, shall be charged the rates set by the Council from time to time. The rates and charges for services to consumers outside the corporate limits of the City may be greater but shall not be less than the rates and charges for similar service to consumers within the corporate limits of the City.
(Section 11.02 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
Editor’s note–Former Section 11.03 pertaining to the disposal of utility property was deleted by an election held November 7, 2006.
Editor’s note–Former Section 11.04 pertaining to the municipal utilities advisory board was deleted by Resolution 15-31 at an election held November 3, 2015. Prior to the deletion, this section derived from elections held May 4, 2002 and May 14, 2011.
Editor’s note–Former Section 11.05 pertaining to the powers and duties of the municipal utilities advisory board was deleted by Resolution 15-31 at an election held November 3, 2015.
In addition to the City’s power to buy, own, construct, maintain and operate utilities within or without the City Limits, and to manufacture and distribute electricity, gas or anything else that may be needed or used by the public, the City shall have further power as may now or hereafter be granted under the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas.
(Section 11.08 amended by an election held November 6, 2018)
The right of control and use of the public streets, highways, sidewalks, alleys, parks, public squares and public places of the City is hereby declared to be inalienable by the City, except by ordinances, not in conflict with the provisions of this Charter. No act or omission by the Council or any officer or agent of the City shall be construed to grant, renew, extend or amend, expressly or by estoppel or implication any right, franchise or easement affecting said public streets, highways, sidewalks, alleys, parks, public squares, public places and other real property, except as provided in the Charter.
(Section 11.08 amended by an election held November 6, 2018)
All ordinances granting, amending, renewing, or extending franchises for public utilities shall be read at two separate regular meetings of the Council and shall not be passed until thirty (30) days after its final reading; and pending such time, the full text of such ordinance shall be published once each week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of the City of Granbury and the expense of such publication shall be borne by the proponent of the franchise. The granting of Public Utility franchises by the City Council shall be governed by the following regulations:
A. 
No exclusive franchise or privilege shall ever be granted;
B. 
No determinate of fixed term franchise shall ever be granted for a longer term than twenty (20) years.
C. 
Within five (5) years prior to the date of expiration of any fixed term franchise, the City Council may grant a new franchise to commence upon the expiration of the franchise in question, or grant a new franchise if the existing franchise is released;
D. 
All holders of franchises for pubic [public] services from the City, their successors or assigns, as compensation for the right or privilege of such franchise enjoyed, shall pay to the City a percentage of gross receipts, established by the City Council, of the business activities by the franchise holder rendered in the City. Such sum shall be exclusive of, and in addition to, all special assessments and taxes of whatever nature, including ad valorem taxes upon the value of the franchise and other property of the franchise holder. The sum due hereunder shall be due and payable in accordance with the specific ordinance.
(Section 11.08 amended by an election held November 6, 2018)
No public utility franchise shall be transferable except to persons, firms, or corporations taking all or substantially all of the holder’s business in the City of Granbury and except with the approval of the Council expressed by ordinance. All liabilities to the City of Granbury shall be paid in full at the time of transfer.
(Section 11.15 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
In fixing reasonable rates and charges for utility service within the City and determining the just compensation to be paid by the City for public utility property which the City may acquire by condemnation or otherwise, nothing shall be included as the value of any franchise granted by the City under this Charter.
(Section 11.15 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
The Council shall have full power after notices and hearing to regulate by ordinance the rates, charges and fares of every public utility franchise holder operating in the city, except as otherwise provided by State Law, provided that no such ordinance shall be passed as an emergency measure. Every franchise holder who shall request an increase in rate, charges, or fares, shall have, at the hearing of the Council called to consider such request, the burden of establishing by clear[,] competent and convincing evidence, the value of its investments property allocable to service in the City, and the amount and character of its expenses and revenues connected with the rendering of such service. In connection with the City Council’s power to regulate rates and service, Articles 1119 through 1124A, both articles inclusive, of the 1925 Revised Civil, Statutes of the State of Texas as now or hereafter amended are hereby adopted as a part of this Charter. No public utility franchise holder shall institute any legal action to contest any rate, charge or fare fixed by the Council, until such franchise holder has filed a motion of rehearing with the Council, specifically setting out each ground of its complaint against the rate, charge or rate fixed by the Council, and until the Council shall have acted upon such motion. Such motion shall be deemed overruled unless acted upon by the Council within a reasonable time, not to exceed ninety (90) days from the filing of such motion for rehearing; provided that the council may by resolution extend such time limit for acting on said motion for rehearing from ninety (90) days to one hundred eighty (180) days.
(Section 11.15 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
The consent of abutting and adjacent property owners shall not be required for the construction, extension, maintenance or operation of any public utility; but nothing in the Charter or in any franchise granted thereunder shall ever be construed to deprive any such property owners of any right of action for damage or injury to his property as now or hereafter provided by law.
(Section 11.15 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
All extensions of public utilities within the City Limits shall become a part of the aggregate property of the public utility, shall be operated as such, and shall be subject to all the obligations and reserved rights contained in this Charter and in any original grant hereinbefore made. The right to use and maintain any extensions shall terminate with the original grant. In case of an extension of public utility operated under a franchise hereafter granted, such right shall be terminable at the same time and under the same conditions as the original grant.
(Section 11.15 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
Permits unconditionally revocable at the will of the governing body for minor or temporary privileges in the streets, public ways, and public places of the City may be granted and revoked by ordinances from time to time, and such permits shall not be deemed franchises as the term is used in this Charter.
(Section 11.15 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
All franchises heretofore granted are recognized as contracts between the City of Granbury and the grantee, and contractual rights as contained in any such franchises shall not be impaired by the provisions of this Charter, except that the power of the City of Granbury to exercise the right of eminent domain in the acquisition of any utility property is in all things reserved and except the general powers of the City heretofore existing and herein provided for to regulate the rates and services of a utility, which shall include the right to require adequate and reasonable extension of plant and service and the maintenance of the plant fixtures at the standard necessary to render the highest reasonable quality of utility service to the public. Every public utility franchise hereafter granted shall be held subject to all the terms and conditions contained in the various sections of this Article whether or not such terms are specifically mentioned in the franchises. Nothing in this Charter shall operate to limit in any way, as specifically stated, the discretion of the Council or the electors of the City in imposing terms and conditions as may be reasonable in connection with any franchise grant, including the right to require such compensation or rental as may be permitted by the laws of the State of Texas.
(Section 11.15 amended by election held November 7, 2006)
Within six months after this Charter takes effect, every public utility and every owner of public utility franchises and any other franchise, shall file with the City, as may be prescribed by ordinance, certified copies of all franchises owned or claimed, or under which such utility is operated in the City of Granbury. The City shall compile and maintain a public record of public utility franchises.
(Section 12.01 amended by an election held November 6, 2018)
Accounts shall be kept for each public utility owned or operated by the City, in such manner as to show the true and complete financial results of such City ownership and operation, including all assets, appropriately subdivided into different classes, all liability subdivided by classes, depreciation reserve, other reserves, and surplus; also revenues; operating expenses including depreciation, interest payments, rental, and other disposition of annual income. The accounts shall show the actual capital cost to the City of each public utility owned, also the cost of all extensions, additions, and improvements, and the source of the funds expended for such capital purposes. They shall show as nearly as possible the cost of any service furnished or rendered by any such utility to any other City or governmental department. The Council shall annually cause to be made by a certified public accountant, and shall publish, a report showing the financial condition of said public utility, and the financial results of such City ownership and operation, giving the information specified in this section and such additional data as the Council shall deem expedient. Said report shall be prepared in conjunction with the annual audit required in Section 7.13.
(Section 12.01 amended by an election held November 6, 2018)