The inhabitants of the City of Monahans, in Ward County, Texas, within the corporate limits as now established, or as hereafter established in the manner provided by this charter, shall continue to be a municipal body politic and corporate in perpetuity, under the name of the “City of Monahans”, with such powers, rights and duties as are herein provided.
The municipal government provided by this charter shall be known as the “council-manager form of government”. Pursuant to its provisions and subject only to the limitations imposed by the state constitution and by this charter, all powers of the city shall be vested in an elective city 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 city shall have all the powers, except as limited by this charter, granted to municipal corporations and to cities by the constitution and laws of the State of Texas, together with all the implied powers necessary to carry into execution all the powers granted. The city may acquire property within or without its corporate limits for any city purpose in fee simple, or any lesser interest or estate by purchase, gift, devise, lease, or condemnation, and may sell, lease, mortgage, hold, manage and control such property as its interests may require; and, except as prohibited by the constitution of the State of Texas, or restricted by this charter, the city shall and may exercise all municipal powers, functions, rights, privileges and immunities of every name and nature whatsoever. The city may use a corporate seal, may sue and be sued, may contract and be contracted with; may implead and be impleaded in all courts and places and in all matters whatever; may cooperate with the government of the State of Texas or any agency thereof, the federal government or any agency thereof, or any political subdivision of the State of Texas, to accomplish any lawful purpose for the advancement of the interest, welfare, health, education, morals, comfort, safety and convenience of the city or its inhabitants; and may pass such ordinances as may be expedient for maintaining and promoting the peace, welfare and government of the city, and for the performance of the functions thereof. The enumeration of particular powers by this charter shall not be deemed to be exclusive, and in addition to the powers enumerated therein, or implied thereby, or appropriate to the exercise of such powers, it is intended that the City of Monahans shall have all municipal powers, functions, rights, privileges and immunities of every name and nature whatsoever, now and hereafter granted by the constitution and laws of Texas, including without limitation, the powers conferred expressly and permissively by Chapter 13, Title 28, Article 1175, Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas of 1925, as now or hereafter amended, all of which are hereby adopted. The council is expressly authorized to adopt any rule or regulation deemed necessary, advisable or convenient for the purpose of exercising any power expressly or permissively conferred by such Act.
The City of Monahans shall have the power to lay out, establish, open, alter, widen, lower, extend, grade, abandon, discontinue, abolish, close, care for, pave, supervise, maintain, and improve streets, alleys, sidewalks, parks, squares, public places and bridges; and regulate the use thereof and require the removal from streets, sidewalks, alleys and other public property or places of all obstructions and encroachments of every nature or character upon any of said streets, sidewalks and other public property.
The City of Monahans shall have exclusive dominion, control and jurisdiction in, upon, and over and under the public streets, avenues, alleys and highways of the city, and may provide for the improvement thereof by paving, repaving, raising, draining, or otherwise improving the same. Such exclusive dominion, control and jurisdiction in, upon, over and under the public streets, avenues, alleys and highways of the city shall also include, but not be limited to, the right to regulate, locate, relocate, remove, or prohibit the location of all public pipes, lines, wires, or other property, at the expense of the owner of such property.
The city shall have the full right, power and authority to exercise the power of eminent domain when necessary or desirable to carry out any of the powers conferred upon it by this charter, or by the constitution or laws of the State of Texas, upon payment of fair compensation for the property taken. In all cases where the city seeks to exercise the power of eminent domain, it may be controlled, as nearly as practicable, by the laws governing the condemnation of property by railroad corporations in this state, the city taking the position of the railroad corporation in any such case. The city may also exercise the power of eminent domain in any other manner authorized or permitted by the constitution and laws of this state, or in the manner and form that may be provided by ordinance of the governing body of the city. The power of eminent domain hereby conferred shall include the right of the city to take the fee in the lands so condemned, unless a lesser interest would serve the needs of city, and such power and authority shall include the right to condemn public property for such purposes. The city shall have and possess this power of condemnation of property within or without the corporate limits for any municipal or public purpose, even though not specifically enumerated herein or in this charter.
The City of Monahans shall never be liable for any personal injury, whether resulting in death or not, unless the person 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 injury, shall file a notice in writing with the city manager or city secretary within ninety (90) days after the same has been received, stating specifically in such notice when, where and how the exact injury occurred and the full extent thereof, together with the amount of damages claimed or asserted. The City of Monahans shall never be liable for any claim for damage or injury to personal property unless the person whose personal property has been injured or damaged or someone in his behalf, shall file a claim in writing with the city manager or the city secretary within ninety (90) days after said damage or injury has occurred, stating specifically when, where and how the injury or damage occurred and the full extent thereof, and the amount of damage sustained. The City of Monahans shall never be liable for any claim for damage or injury to real property caused by the negligent act or omission of its officers, servants, agents, or employees, unless the person whose real property has been injured or damaged, or someone in his behalf, shall file a claim in writing with the city manager or city secretary within ninety (90) days after said damage or injury has occurred, stating specifically when, where and how the injury or damage occurred, and the amount of damage claimed. The City of Monahans shall never be liable on account of any damage or injury to person or to personal property arising from or occasioned by any defect in any public street, highway, alley, grounds or public work of the City of Monahans unless the specific defect causing the damage or injury shall have been actually known to the city manager, or to the director of public works at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the occurrence of the injury or damage, or unless the attention of the city manager or director of public works shall have been called thereto by a notice thereof in writing at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the occurrence of the injury or damage and proper diligence has not been exercised to rectify the defect. The notice herein required to be given to the city manager or director of public works of the specific defect causing the damage or injury shall apply where the defect arose from any omission of the city itself, through its agents, servants, or employees, or acts of third parties
(Ordinance 1310 adopted 5/16/2023)
Subject to the limitations and procedures required by Chapter 43, Local Government Code, when persons owning a majority of the land, in a territory adjoining the City of Monahans, desire the annexation of such territory to the City of Monahans, they may present a written petition to that effect to the city council and shall attach to said petition an affidavit signed by one or more of such property owners, stating that the person signing said petition own a majority of the land in said territory; and thereupon the city council, at a regular session held not sooner than twenty (20) days after the petition is presented, may, by ordinance, annex such territory to the City of Monahans, and thenceforth the said territory shall be a part of the City of Monahans, and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of other citizens and shall be bound by the acts, ordinances, resolutions and regulations of said city.
(Ordinance 1310 adopted 5/16/2023)
The city council shall have power by ordinance, subject to the limitations and procedures required by Chapter 43, Local Government Code, to fix the boundary limits of the City of Monahans; and to provide for the alteration and the extension of said boundary limits, and the annexation of additional territory lying adjacent to the city, with or without the consent of the territory and inhabitants annexed. That upon the introduction of any such ordinance in the city council, it shall be published in the form in which it may be finally passed, in a newspaper published in the City of Monahans at least one (1) time, and said ordinance shall not thereafter be finally acted upon until at least thirty (30) days have elapsed after the first publication thereof; and upon the final passage of any such ordinance, the boundary limits of the city shall thereafter be fixed in such ordinance, and when any additional territory has been so annexed, same shall be a part of the City of Monahans, and the property situated therein shall bear its pro rata part of the taxes levied by the city, and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of all the citizens, and shall be bound by the acts, ordinances, resolutions and regulations of the city; unless during said thirty (30) days after publication, there shall be filed with the city secretary a protest in writing by two hundred (200) or more qualified voters of the City of Monahans objecting to said proposed annexation. If such protest is so filed, then the city council shall submit said ordinance with or without amendments, describing the territory proposed to be annexed, to the qualified voters of the City of Monahans at any general or special election. Notice of the election shall be published in a newspaper published in the City of Monahans, at least one (1) time, and said election shall not be held until at least thirty (30) days have elapsed after the first publication thereof. If a majority of the qualified voters of the City of Monahans voting at said election, vote for the annexation of said territory, the same shall become a part of the City of Monahans from the date of the canvass of the returns of said election and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of other citizens of the City of Monahans, and shall be bound by the acts, ordinances, resolutions and regulations of the said city. Unless otherwise provided in this section, said election shall be conducted and its results canvassed as provided in this charter for other city elections, provided that any elections held under this section shall never be regarded as a submission of an amendment to this charter. By annexing territory under the provisions of this section, the City of Monahans shall assume an obligation, and from the time of such annexation shall be obligated to furnish the facilities of the city, including, but not limited to, water, sewer and street maintenance to the inhabitants of such territory with reasonable diligence, both as to time and as to the extent of such facilities furnished.
(Ordinance 1310 adopted 5/16/2023)
The city shall have the power to provide for a sanitary sewer system and to require the connection with such sewer system of any occupied lot to the line of which lot the city proposes to bring its sewer line, and the owner of such lot shall pay the regular and customary connection charges. The city shall have the right to fix by ordinance, penalties for failure to make required sanitary sewer connection, to fix charges and compensation to be charged by the city for sewerage service, and to provide rules and regulations for the collection of such compensation.
The city council shall have the right to adopt and prescribe by ordinance, rules and regulations for the handling and disposition of all garbage, trash and rubbish; for compensation to be charged by the city for the removal and disposal of garbage, trash and rubbish; and for the collection of such compensation.
Should any property situated within the city limits as herein established, or as may hereafter be established, or within five (5) miles of such corporate limits of the City of Monahans, as herein established or as may be hereafter established, be platted hereafter into blocks and lots, the owner or owners of said property shall comply with all the provisions of Article 974A of the 1925 Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, as amended, or as may hereafter be amended, being Acts of 1927, 40th Legislature, page 342, Chapter 231; the provisions of which acts and article are herewith especially and specifically adopted.