No funds of the City shall be subject to garnishment and the City shall never be required to answer in any garnishment proceedings except as required by state law or Court Order.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
Before the City shall be liable for damages for the death or personal injury of any person or for damages to or destruction of property of any kind, the City shall be given notice in writing of such death, injuries, damages or destruction within six months after the same has been sustained, stating when, where, and how the death, injury, damage or destruction occurred and the apparent extent thereof, and an estimate of the damages sustained. Such notice shall be filed with the Secretary-Manager, and such filing will constitute notice to the City. The City Council is hereby authorized and directed to make and fix by ordinance such additional rules and regulations governing the City's liability for damages as the City Council may deem advisable.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
The City shall have the right of eminent domain and the power to condemn and appropriate private property for public purposes, whether said property be within or without the City Limits, in such cases as it now or may hereafter be provided by Texas Property Code, and all other general laws of Texas governing cities and towns. This shall apply also to fee simple titles. The City may exercise the power of eminent domain, by one of the following methods of procedure:
(a) 
In any other manner authorized or permitted by the Constitution and/or laws of this State, including, but not limited to, the Texas Property Code, as amended or may hereafter be amended.
Editor's note–The amendment by Ord. 1415 deleted subsection (a) of section 4 and renumbered subsection (b) as (a).
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
The City may accept monetary aid or other character of aid or benefit from the Federal Government, the State Government, the County Government, and from any agency thereof, and/or any individual, and/or a private agency; and shall have the full right, power and authority to do the things and perform the acts necessary to permit the City to receive such aid.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
It shall not be necessary in any suit or proceeding in which the City is a party for any bond, undertaking or other security to be demanded or executed by or on behalf of the City in any of the State Court[s] but all such actions, suits, appeals or proceedings shall be conducted in the same manner as if such bond had been given, and the City shall be liable as if the security or bond had been duly executed.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
(a) 
The right to control, easement, use[,] ownership and title to the streets, highways, public thoroughfares and property of the City, its avenues, parks, bridges and all other public places and property, are hereby declared to be inalienable except by ordinance duly passed by four affirmative votes of the City Council, and no grant of any franchise or lease, or right to use the same, either on through, along, across, under or over the same, by any private corporation, association or individual shall be granted by the City Council for a longer period than thirty (30) years unless submitted to the vote of the legally qualified voters of the City, the expense of such election to be borne by the applicant.
(b) 
The City Council may, of its own motion, submit all of such applications to an election at which the people shall vote upon the proposition therein submitted, the expense of such election in all cases to be borne by the applicant.
(c) 
No franchise shall ever be granted until it has been approved by a majority of the members elected to the City Council, after having been read in full at three (3) regular meetings of the City Council, nor shall any such franchise, grant or privilege ever be made unless it provides for adequate compensation or consideration therefor to be paid to the City, and is in accordance with Article VII, Section 6, hereof.
(d) 
Every such franchise or grant shall make adequate provision, by way of forfeiture of the grant or otherwise, to secure efficiency of public service at reasonable rates and to maintain the property devoted to the public service in good repair throughout the term of grant of said franchise.
(e) 
No franchise grant shall ever be exclusive.
(f) 
The City Council may prescribe the forms and methods of the keeping of accounts of any grantees under franchise, provided that the forms and methods of keeping such accounts have not already been prescribed by a State or Federal Law or Agency.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
The City shall have the right to grant to its employees benefits of the Texas municipal retirement system, or any other pension or retirement system available to cities.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
All powers granted heretofore to cities are hereby preserved. In case of any irreconcilable conflict between the provisions of this Charter and any superior law, the powers of the City and its officers shall be as defined in such superior laws. In case of any insufficiency or omission by this Charter, which insufficiency or omission may be supplied by reference to the general laws, such provisions of the general laws are hereby adopted and the City shall have and exercise all of the powers that it could have acquired by expressly adopting and incorporating into this Charter all of the provisions of such superior and general laws, it being the intent of this Charter that no lawful power of the City shall fall because of any omission, insufficiency or invalidity of any portion or portions of this Charter. The insufficiency or invalidity of any portion or portions of this Charter shall not in any wise affect the remainder of the Charter, but the same shall be construed as if adopted without such portion and/or portions so found invalid or impotent.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
This Charter may be amended at any time in accordance with the applicable provisions contained in Chapter 9 of the Texas Local Government Code; and as provided by the Constitution of Texas.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
Editor's note–Article IX, sec. 12, "Vote on Proposed Charter", was deleted by Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017. Section 12 derived from the original charter adopted 12/2/1957.