The organized city, now existing as a Michigan municipal corporation,
known as the City of Coldwater, shall be and continue a body corporate
under the name: "The City of Coldwater."
(a)
The city shall embrace the territory constituting the City of Coldwater
on the effective date of this charter. Such territory is described
as follows: Sections 15, 16, all that portion of section 17, lying
east of Coldwater river, all that part of the north half of section
20 lying east of the river and lake, and all of section 21 and 22
of township six south, of range six west, being the township of Coldwater,
Branch county, and all that portion of section 17 and section 20 in
the township of Coldwater Branch county, lying west of the Coldwater
river, owned and occupied by the City of Coldwater, and known as Oak
Grove Cemetery, are hereby set off from said township and declared
to be a city by the name of the City of Coldwater, by which name it
shall be hereafter known.
(b)
Upon the annexation or detachment of territory, said boundaries shall
be changed without amendment of this section.
(c)
The Clerk shall maintain and keep available in his office for public
inspection and distribution copies of the official description and
map of the current boundaries of the city. Such copies published under
his authority shall be prima facie evidence of the boundaries of the
city for all purposes.
The government of the city shall be that commonly known and
designated as the Council-Manager form of government.
(a)
Except as otherwise specifically defined herein or indicated by the
context, words used in this charter shall have their ordinary dictionary
meanings.
(b)
BOARD — Includes the word "commission".
(c)
CITY — Means the City of Coldwater and all of its departments.
(d)
CLERK — Means the City Clerk or recording officer of the city.
(e)
COUNCIL — Means the City Council of the City of Coldwater.
(f)
ELECTOR — Means a qualified elector, as defined in Article
III of the Michigan Constitution, who is registered as required by
law.
(g)
LAW — Denotes applicable federal law, the Constitution and
statutes of Michigan, the applicable common law, and this charter.
(h)
PERSON — Extends and applies to bodies politic and corporate,
and to partnerships and associations, as well as to individuals.
(i)
PRINTED or PRINTING — Means all methods of written expression
and duplication, and includes teletype, telegraphic communications.
(j)
PUBLISH or PUBLISHED — Includes the setting forth of any matter
for public notice in the manner provided by law, or, where there is
no applicable law, at least once in one or more newspapers of the
city qualified by law for the publication of legal notices, or, in
the event of the inability of the city to so publish, by posting in
at least one public place in each election precinct.
(k)
SIGN or SIGNATURE — Includes the facsimile of a signature when
authorized by the Council.
(l)
TREASURER — Means City Treasurer.
(m)
All words indicating the present tense are not limited to the time
of the adoption of this charter, but to extend to and include the
time of the happening of any event or requirement to which any provision
is applied.
(n)
The singular includes the plural, the plural includes the singular,
and the masculine gender extends to and includes the feminine gender
and the neuter.
All records pertaining to the general governmental affairs of
the city shall be public records, shall be kept in city offices, except
when required for official reasons or for purposes of safekeeping
to be elsewhere, and shall be available at city offices for inspection,
copying, or reproduction at all reasonable times. Such records, or
copies duly certified by the Clerk, shall be prima facie evidence
of their contents.
A quorum of any board created by or under authority of this
charter shall consist of a majority of the number of its members.
Except as otherwise expressly provided in this charter, whenever
the date fixed by law or ordinance for the doing or completion of
any act falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, such act shall
be done or completed on the next succeeding business day.
Violations of this charter may be punished by a fine which shall
not exceed $500, or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or by
both such fine and imprisonment.
The chapter and section headings used in this charter shall
not be considered a part of the charter for the purpose of judicial
construction, or otherwise.
If any portion of this charter is held to be invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect the remainder of the charter, which can be given
effect without the invalid portion and, to that end, this charter
is declared to be severable.
The intent of the Charter Commission in drafting this charter
and of the electors of the City of Coldwater in adopting it was that
its provision should be liberally construed to afford a maximum of
local self government in accordance with the spirit and intent of
Article VIII of the Michigan Constitution and the statutes of the
State.
