(a) Form.
The seal of the city shall have inscribed thereon
“City of Dalworthington Gardens, Incorporated, Tarrant County,
Texas.”
(b) Custody.
The secretary for the city shall have custody
of the seal. If no secretary is appointed, then custody of said seal
shall be with the mayor.
(2005 Code, secs. 2.1.10, 2.1.11)
All ordinances adopted or passed by the city council shall be
inscribed at large by the secretary, in the minutes of the council.
Such book of ordinances and all copies and abstracts therefrom shall
be evidence of the tenor and contents of the ordinances therein inscribed,
as well as such as have been heretofore or as may be hereafter therein
so inscribed.
(2005 Code, sec. 1.1.06)
All regulations provided in this code are hereby declared to
be governmental and for the benefit of the general public. Any member
of the city council and any city official or employee charged with
the enforcement of this code, acting for the city in the discharge
of his or her duties, shall not thereby render himself or herself
personally liable, and he or she is hereby relieved from all personal
liability for any damage that may occur to persons or property as
a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of such
duties. Any suit brought against any official or employee because
of such act performed in the enforcement of any provision of this
code shall be defended by the city through its designated attorney
until the final adjudication thereof.
(2005 Code, sec. 1.1.07)
Every officer, agent or employee of the city, and every officer,
agent, or employee of an authorized provider of emergency services,
including, but not limited to, every unit of government or subdivision
thereof, while responding to emergency calls or reacting to emergency
situations, regardless of whether any declaration of emergency has
been declared or proclaimed by a unit of government or subdivision
thereof, is hereby authorized to act or not to act in such a manner
to effectively deal with the emergency. An action or inaction is “effective”
if it in any way contributes or can reasonably be thought by the provider
of such emergency service to contribute to preserving any lives or
property. This section shall prevail over every other ordinance of
the city and, to the extent to which the city has the authority to
so authorize, over any other law establishing a standard of care in
conflict with this section. Neither the city nor the employee, agent,
or officer thereof, or other unit of government or subdivision thereof
or its employees, agents, or officers, shall be liable for failure
to use ordinary care in such emergency. It is the intent of the city
council, by the adoption of this section, to assure effective action
in emergency situations by those entrusted with the responsibility
of saving lives and property by protecting such governmental units
from liability, and their employees, agents, and officers from non-intentional
tort liability, to the fullest extent permitted by statutory and constitutional
law. This section shall be liberally construed to carry out the intent
of the city council.
(2005 Code, sec. 8.2.10)
The city shall never be liable for any claims for property damage
or for personal injury, whether such personal injury results in death
or not, unless the person damaged or injured, or someone in his behalf,
or, in the event the injury results in death, the person or persons
who may have a cause of action under the law by reason of such death
or injury, shall, within six (6) months from the date the damage or
injury was sustained, give notice in writing to the mayor and city
council of the following facts:
(1) The
date and time when the injury or damage occurred and the place where
the injured person or property was at the time when the injury was
received or damage occurred.
(2) The
nature of the injury sustained.
(3) The
apparent extent of the damage or injury sustained.
(4) A
specific and detailed statement of how and under what circumstances
the damage or injury occurred.
(5) The
amount for which each claimant will settle.
(6) The
actual place of residence of each claimant by street, number, city
and state on the date the claim is presented.
(7) In
the case of personal injury or death, the names and addresses of all
persons who, according to the knowledge or information of the claimant,
witnessed the happening of the injury or any part thereof, and the
names of the doctors, if any, to whose care the injured person is
committed.
(8) In
case of property damage, the location of the damaged property at the
time the claim was submitted, along with the names and addresses of
all persons who witnessed the happening of the damage or any part
thereof.
(2005 Code, sec. 3.4.01)
No suit of any nature whatsoever shall be instituted or maintained
against the city unless the plaintiff therein shall aver and prove
that previous to the filing of the original petition the plaintiff
applied to the city council for redress, satisfaction, compensation,
or relief, as the case may be, and that the same was by vote of the
city council refused.
(2005 Code, sec. 3.4.02)
All notices required by this division shall be effectuated by
serving them upon the city secretary at the following location: Municipal
Building, 2600 Roosevelt Drive, Arlington, Texas 76016, and all such
notices shall be effective only when actually received in the office
of the person named above.
(2005 Code, sec. 3.4.03)
Neither the mayor, a city council member, nor any other officer
or employee of the city shall have the authority to waive any of the
provisions of this division.
(2005 Code, sec. 3.4.04)
The written notice required under this division shall be sworn
to by the person claiming the damage or injuries or by someone authorized
by him to do so on his behalf. Failure to swear to the notice as required
herein shall not render the notice fatally defective, but failure
to so verify the notice may be considered by the city council as a
factor relating to the truth of the allegations and to the weight
to be given to the allegations contained therein.
(2005 Code, sec. 3.4.05)
This division shall be cumulative of the provisions of title
5, chapter 101 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code of the state.
For a claim within the scope of such code, this division shall be
deemed supplemental thereto. For any claim within the scope of such
code, this division shall govern the submission and processing of
the same.
(2005 Code, sec. 3.4.06)