The residents of the City of Atlanta in Cass County, Texas, with the corporate limits now established and as hereafter altered, shall continue to be and are hereby constituted a municipal body politic and corporate, in perpetuity under the name of the City of Atlanta, hereinafter referred to as the City, and having such powers, privileges, rights, duties and immunities as herein provided.
The municipal government provided by this Charter shall be known as the Council-Manager Government. Pursuant to its provisions and subject only to the limitations imposed by the State Constitution, the Statutes of the State and by this Charter, all powers of the City shall be vested in elective council, hereinafter referred to as the Council, which shall enact local legislation, adopt budgets, determine policies and appoint the City Manager, who shall execute the laws and administer the government of the City. All powers of the City shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by this Charter, or if the manner be not prescribed, then in such manner as may be prescribed by ordinance.
The boundaries of the City of Atlanta shall be the same as have heretofore been established, as of this date, which boundaries are more fully set out on an official map recorded in Minute Book 11, Page 264, of the Minutes of the City of Atlanta, here referred to for more complete description. The boundaries of the City may be altered by extension or contraction through annexation or detachment of territory by one of the following methods:
(a)
Annexation on Petitions of Owners:
Upon presentation of a petition in writing signed by a majority of the owners of adjacent territory, the Council after hearing arguments for and against such action, may by ordinance annex such territory into the City. Hearing on such a petition must take place not less than five (5) nor more than thirty (30) days after the date of filing.
(b)
Annexation by Action of the Council:
Territory adjacent to the City may be annexed by ordinance with or without the consent of the owners or inhabitants thereof, subject to such procedural rules as may be prescribed by law.
(c)
Detachment of Territory:
Territory lying within the boundary limits of the City and adjacent in the outer limits may be detached from the City upon presentation to the Council of a petition in writing signed by a majority of the owners of land within the territory.
The Council, after hearing the arguments for and against such actions, may grant or deny the request; however, any territory so detached shall be liable for its pro-rata share of any debts incurred while it was a part of the City, and the City shall continue to levy and collect taxes on the property until such indebtedness has been discharged.
In such cases, a revised official map, depicting the revised boundaries of the City shall be duly recorded in the minutes of the City of Atlanta, and shall be made available for public inspection during normal business hours by the City Secretary.
The City shall be a Home Rule City, as authorized by Article XI, Section 5, of the Texas Constitution, and Chapter 9 of the Local Government Code of the State of Texas, with full power of local self government, including the right to amend this Charter, as provided by the Constitution and laws of the State. It shall have all the powers granted to cities by the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas, together with all the implied power necessary to carry into execution such granted powers. It may use a corporate seal; may sue and be sued; may contract and may be contracted with; may cooperate with the government of the State of Texas, or any agency or political subdivision thereof, or the Federal Government or any on its agencies, to accomplish any lawful purpose for the advancement of the interest, welfare, health, morals, comfort, safety and convenience of the City and its inhabitants; may acquire property within, or without its corporate City limits for any municipal purpose in fee simple, or any lesser interest or estate by purchase, gift, devise, lease, or condemnation, and, subject to the provisions of this Charter, may sell, lease, mortgage, hold, manage, and control such property as may now or hereafter be owned by it; may enact ordinances and adopt such regulations as may be expedient for the maintenance of good government, order, and peace of the City and the welfare, health, morals, comfort, safety, and convenience of its inhabitants, and shall have and may exercise all municipal powers, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities of every kind and nature whatsoever, subject only to the limitations imposed by the State Constitution, the State Laws and this Charter.
The enumeration of particular powers by this Charter shall not be judged to be exclusive, and, in addition to the powers enumerated or implied herein, it is intended that the City shall have and may exercise all the powers which, under the Constitution and Laws of this State, it would be competent for this Charter to enumerate specifically.
The City shall have exclusive dominion, control and jurisdiction, in, upon, over and under the public streets, sidewalks, alleys, highways, squares, ways and parks within the corporate limits of the City and the extraterritorial jurisdiction thereof, and in, upon, over and under all public property of the City. With respect to each and every public street, sidewalk, alley, highway, square, park or other ways within the corporate limits of the City and the extraterritorial jurisdiction thereof, the City shall have the power to establish and maintain, improve, alter, abandon or vacate the same; to regulate; establish or change the grade thereof; to police, control and regulate the use thereof, and to abate and remove in a summary manner any encroachment thereon.