All contracts that the City has at the time of the adoption of this Charter shall remain in full force and effect. This provision shall include, but not be limited to, all bonded indebtedness, contracts for professional services, contracts for improvements, lease contracts, or any other agreement binding upon the City of Terrell Hills, Texas, immediately prior to the adoption of this Charter.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
No contract shall ever be made which binds the City for personal services, except for professional services, to be rendered for any stated period of time, but all appointive employees shall be subject to peremptory discharge, any provision to the contrary in this Charter notwithstanding.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
The City or any agent of the City acting for it shall not make any contract for goods, materials, services, or supplies for the current use of any department of the municipality for more than one year, except as in this Charter provided, unless said contract and the cost thereof has been included in the annual budget of the City and unless an appropriation has been made therefor, and no contracts or purchase shall exceed the amount appropriated. All contracts in excess of the amount in Section 252.021 of the Local Government Code, except for professional services, shall be made upon specifications, and no contract shall be binding until it has been signed by a designated representative of the City. Whenever the costs of any contracts charged to any appropriation equal the amount of such appropriation, no person representing the City shall sign or make any additional contracts chargeable to such appropriation. Any contract for current expenditures exceeding the amount set up in the budget or the appropriation must first be approved by the City Council and an appropriate budget amendment must be adopted by the Council or the contract is null and void.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 855 adopted 3/30/1992, prop. 7, approved at election of 5/2/1992; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
After approval of specifications by the City Council, advertisement shall be published in an official newspaper circulated in the City of Terrell Hills in accordance with the Texas Local Government Code, inviting competitive bids for labor and material embraced in the proposed contract. All bids received shall be sealed and delivered to the Secretary-Manager. At the time and place announced in said notice, the bids shall be opened and no award shall be made except to one of such bidders. The City Council shall determine the most advantageous bid for the City, and shall award the contract to such bidder, but the City Council shall always have the right to reject any and all bids, and in the event all bids are rejected may call for new bids which shall be advertised in like manner as the original bids. Pending advertisement of such proposed contracts, the specifications shall be on file in the office of the Secretary-Manager subject to the inspection of all persons desiring to bid. No contract shall ever be authorized except by approval of the City Council; provided, however, such contracts [that] are budgeted and are for less than the amount in Section 252.021 of the Local Government Code may be awarded without advertisement and bid, as herein required, if in the opinion of the City Council such advertisement and bid should be waived.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
In addition to the City's power to buy, own, construct, maintain, and operate utilities and to manufacture and distribute electricity, gas, or anything else that may be needed or used by the public, the City shall have further powers as may now or hereafter be granted under the constitution and laws of the State of Texas.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
The City Council shall have power by ordinance to grant, amend, renew and extend all franchises of all public utilities of every character operating within the City of Terrell Hills, and for such purposes is granted full power. All ordinances granting, amending, renewing, or extending franchises for public utilities shall be read at three separate regular meetings of the City Council and shall not be finally passed until thirty days after the first reading; and no such ordinance shall take effect until sixty days after its final passage, and pending such time, the full text of such ordinance shall be published once each week for four consecutive weeks in an official newspaper circulated in the City of Terrell Hills, 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 Council expressed by ordinance.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
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 nothing shall be included as the value of any franchise granted by the City under this Charter.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
(a) 
The City Council shall have the power by ordinance, after notice to the utility and hearing before the Council, to fix and regulate the charges, fares or rates of compensation to be charged by any person, firm or corporation enjoying a franchise in the City, or engaged in furnishing a public utility service in the City, and shall in determining, fixing and regulating such charges, fares or rates of compensation, base the same upon the fair value of the property of such person, firm or corporation devoted to furnishing service to such city or the inhabitants thereof. The City Council may prescribe the character, quality and efficiency of service to be rendered, and shall have the power to regulate and require the extension of adequate lines or service of such public utility within such city by such person, firm or corporation, taking into consideration the cost to the utility, and from time to time may alter or change such rules, regulations, and compensation, provided that, in adopting such regulations and in fixing or changing such compensation or determining the reasonableness thereof, no stock or bonds authorized or issued by any corporation enjoying such franchise shall be considered unless on proof that the same have been actually issued by the corporation for money paid and used for the development of the corporate property, labor done or property actually received, in accordance with the laws and Constitution of this State applicable thereto. In order to ascertain all facts necessary for a proper understanding of what is or should be a reasonable rate or regulation, the City Council shall have full power to inspect the books of any such utility serving the inhabitants of the City and compel production of records and the attendance of witnesses for such purpose.
(b) 
Any company, corporation or person engaged in furnishing to the inhabitants of the city any light, power, gas, telephone, transit or other public utility services, may be required at any time by ordinance or resolution of the City Council to file with the City Council sworn written reports pertaining to their operations and business within the City, and such report shall contain such data, facts and information as may be required by such ordinance or resolution, which shall also fix the time within which the report shall be filed.
(c) 
In addition to the foregoing powers the City shall have all the powers and privileges provided for by the Texas Utilities Code.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
The consent of butting and adjacent property owners shall not be required for the construction, extension, maintenance or operation 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/her property as now or hereafter provided by law.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
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 8 hereof. 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.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
All franchises heretofore granted are recognized as contracts between the City of Terrell Hills and the grantee, and the contractual right as contained in any such franchises shall not be impaired by the provisions of this charter, except that the power of the City of Terrell Hills to exercise the right of eminent domain in the acquisition of all 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 Council or the electors of the City in imposing terms and conditions as may be reasonable in connection with any franchise grant.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
Within six months after this charter takes effect every public utility and every owner of a public utility 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 Terrell Hills. The City shall compile and maintain a public record of public utility franchises.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
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 liabilities 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 to or rendered by any such utility to any other city or governmental department. The Council shall semiannually cause to be made by a public accountant and shall publish a report showing the financial results of such city ownership and operation, giving the information specified in this section or such data as the Council shall deem expedient.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)