In addition to the city’s power to buy, own, construct, lease, maintain, operate and regulate public utilities and manufacture, distribute and sell the output of such utility operations, the city shall have further powers as may now or hereafter be granted under the constitution and laws of the State of Texas.
The city council shall have power by ordinance to grant, amend, renew and extend, all franchise of all public utilities of every character operating within the City of Liberty. All ordinances granting, amending, renewing, or extending franchises for public utilities shall be read at two (2) separate regular meetings of the city council and shall not be finally passed until thirty (30) days after the first reading; and no such ordinance shall take effect until thirty (30) days after its final passage; and pending such time, the full text of such ordinance shall be published once each week for four (4) consecutive weeks in the official newspaper of the City of Liberty, and the expense of such publication shall be borne by the proponent of the franchise. No public utility franchise shall be transferable except with the approval of the city council expressly by ordinance; provided, however, that no franchise shall be granted for an indeterminate term, and that no franchise shall be granted for a term of more than twenty-five (25) years.
(Ordinance 910, sec. 1, adopted 5/11/99)
No value shall be assigned to any franchise granted by the City of Liberty under this charter in fixing reasonable rates and charges for utility service within the city and in determining the just compensation to be paid by the city for public utility property which the city may acquire by condemnation or otherwise.
All grants, removals, extensions, or amendments to public utility franchises, whether it be so provided in the ordinance or not, shall be subject to the right of the city council of the City of Liberty:
(a)
To repeal the same ordinance at any time upon the failure of the grantee to comply with any provision of the ordinance, the franchise, the charter of the City of Liberty, any applicable statute of the State of Texas or the rule of any applicable governmental body;
(b)
To require proper and adequate extension of plant and service, and the maintenance of the plant and fixtures at the highest reasonable standard of efficiency;
(c)
To establish reasonable standards of service and quality of products and prevent unjust discrimination in service or rates;
(d)
At any time to examine and audit the accounts and other records of any such utility and to require annual and other reports, including reports on operations within the City of Liberty;
(e)
To impose such reasonable regulations and restrictions as may be deemed desirable or conducive to safety, welfare, and accommodation of the public;
(f)
To require and collect any compensation and rental not now or hereafter prohibited by the laws of this state;
(g)
To require every franchise holder to furnish to the city, without cost to the city, full information regarding the location, character, extent and conditions of all facilities of such franchise holder in, over and under the streets, alleys, and other public property of the city; and to regulate and control the location, relocation, and removal of such facilities;
(h)
To collect from every public utility operating in the city its fair and just proportion of the expense of excavating, grading, paving, repaving, constructing, reconstructing, draining, repairing, maintaining, lighting, sweeping, and sprinkling such portions of the alleys, bridges, culverts, viaducts, and other public places and ways of the city as may be occupied or used in whole or in part by such utilities; or to compel such public utility to perform, at its own expense, its just share of such excavating, grading, paving, repaving, constructing, reconstructing, draining, repairing, maintaining, lighting, sweeping and sprinkling;
(i)
To require such franchise holders who request an increase in rates, charges or fares, to reimburse the city for reasonable expenses incurred in employing rate consultants to conduct investigations, present evidence and advise the council on such requested increase.
Editor’s note–Former section 10.05 pertaining to “grant not to be exclusive,” was deleted in its entirety by Ordinance 2020-35, prop. II, adopted 11/10/20.
The consent of abutting and adjacent property owners shall not be required for the construction, extension, maintenance or operations of any public utility; but nothing in this charter or in any franchise granted thereunder shall ever be construed to deprive any such property owner of any right of action for damage or injury to his property as now or hereafter provided by law.
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 hereafter made. The right to use and maintain any extension shall terminate with the original grant and shall be terminable as provided in section 10.04 of this charter. In case of an extension of a 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.
All valid franchises heretofore granted are recognized as contracts between the City of Liberty and the grantee, and the contractual rights as contained in any such franchise shall not be impaired by the provisions of this charter, except that the power of the City of Liberty to exercise the right of eminent domain in the acquisition of utility property is in all things reserved, and except the general power of the city heretofore existing and herein provided for, to regulate the rates and services of a grantee which shall include the right to require proper and adequate extension of plant and service and the maintenance of the plant and fixtures at the highest reasonable standard of efficiency. 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 franchise. Nothing in this charter shall operate to limit in any way, as specifically stated, the discretion of the city council or voters of the city in imposing terms and conditions as may be reasonable in connection with any franchise grant.
The city council shall have the power, after due notice and hearing, to regulate by ordinance the rates and services of every public utility operating in the City of Liberty; and shall have power to employ, at the expense of the grantee, expert assistance and advice in determining a reasonable rate and equitable profit to the grantee.
It shall be the duty of the city council to pass an ordinance requiring all public service corporations operating within the corporate limits of the city to file a sworn annual report of the receipts from the operation of the said business for the current year, how expended, how much thereof for betterments or improvements, the rate of tolls or charges for services rendered to the public, and any other facts or information that the council may deem pertinent for its use in intelligently passing upon any questions that may arise between the city and the said public service corporations; said reports to be filed with the city secretary, and preserved for the use of the city council. Such reports shall be reviewed annually by the council to determine the propriety of the rates being charged.
(Ordinance 2020-35, prop. OO, adopted 11/10/20)
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 applicable law and/or the provisions of this charter. No act or omission by the city or an officer or agent of the city shall be construed to grant, renew, extend or amend, expressly or by estoppel or implication.
(Ordinance 1001, sec. 1, adopted 6/13/06)