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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 1509 ORDINANCE NO. 1509 WHEREAS, a Charter Amendment Election was duly held on November 3, 1987 to allow the electorate of the City to approve or disapprove thirteen propositions amending the Charter of this City; and WHEREAS, a canvass of the votes showed the following results: PROPOSITION NO. 1 Effective January 1, 1988 the official name of North Richland Hills, Texas shall be North Hills, Texas. For Against 1,654 3,663 PROPOSITION NO. 2 Sections 1 through 31, inclusive, of Article XII of the Charter dealing with Finance are repealed and the following sections of Article XII are adopted: SECTION 1. The City's financial expenditures shall be governed by an annual budget. The budget shall embrace the fiscal year of the City as opposed to the calendar year. SECTION 2. The City Manager shall prepare and submit to the City Council a proposed budget at least 45 days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. The City Council shall hold a public hearing on the budget and shall give at least ten days notice of said public hearing in the official newspaper of the City. SECTION 3. At the public hearing or at any regular or special called Council meeting, the City Council shall make such changes in the proposed budget as it deems advisable and shall adopt a budget prior to the first day of the fiscal year. If the City Council fails to adopt a budget in final form before such date, the budget proposed by the City Manager shall be deemed to have been adopted. SECTION 4. Once the budget is adopted the City Manager shall authorize no expenditure over the total funds for expenditure in the overall budget unless the budget is amended by the same public notice procedure called for in adopting the budget. Ordinance No. 1509 Page 2 SECTION 5. The budget shall be a public record and a copy shall remain on file in the office of the City Secretary for public inspection. SECTION 6. The Council shall cause an independent audit to be made of the books of account, records and transactions of all the administrative departments of the City at least once yearly. Such audits, during such fiscal year, shall be made by one or more certified public accountants who for three years next preceding have held a certificate issued by the State Board of Accountancy of the State of Texas, or by a state maintaining an equal standard of professional requirements, which entitled the holder of such certificate to a Texas certificate. The auditor or auditors to make the said audit shall be selected by the Council, and shall be responsible to the Council. The duties of the auditor or auditors so appointed shall include the certification of all statements. The report of such auditor or auditors for the fiscal year shall be printed and copy thereof shall be furnished to each member of the Council, the City Manager, and to each citizen who may apply therefor. The original report of the said auditor or auditors shall be kept among the permanent records of the City. For Against 4,594 445 PROPOSITION NO. 3 Sections 2 through 11, inclusive of Article XIII, dealing with taxation, are repealed and the following sections of Article XIII are adopted: SECTION 2. The City Council shall have full power to provide for the prompt collection of taxes imposed and the procedures, time limits, interest, penalties and methods of levying, imposing, assessing and collection of taxes shall be those prescribed by State law. The Council shall impose such ad valorem taxes as are necessary to support the budget. SECTION 3. There shall be exempt from taxation all property exempted by the State Constitution, State Statutes and the ordinances of the City, as they are now or as they may be amended. SECTION 4. All rights, privileges and franchises heretofore or hereafter granted to and held by any person, firm or corporation, in the streets, alleys, highways, or public grounds or places in said City, shall be Ordinance No. 1509 Page 3 subject to taxation by said City separately from and in addition to the other assets of such person, firm or corporation, and the governing body of the City may require the rendition and assessment thereof accordingly. For Against 3,754 1,144 PROPOSITION NO. 4 Section 4 of Article IX of the Charter is repealed and the following Section 4 is adopted: SECTION 4. All purchases over $5,000.00 shall be made only after competitive bidding. Advertisement for bids shall be published in the official newspaper at least ten days before opening of bids. The bids will be sealed and opened in public as directed by the City Council. The City Council shall select the bid most advantageous to the City. The City Council shall have the right to reject all bids. The $5,000.00 limit presently conforms to State law and the figure shall change as the State Statute is amended in the future. This competitive bidding requirement may be waived only upon a finding by the City Council that an emergency exists or in the event of public calamity where it is necessary to act at once to protect the citizens or property of the City. For Against 4,760 324 PROPOSITION NO.5 Section A of Article XIV shall hereafter read as follows: "A. PLANNING Section 1. The Planning and Zoning Commission There shall be established a Planning and Zoning Commission which shall consist of seven (7) citizens of the City of North Richland Hills who own real property within the said City. The members of said Commission shall be appointed by the City Council for a term of two (2) years. Three (3) members of the Planning and Zoning Commission shall be so appointed each odd-numbered year and four (4) members shall be so appointed each even-numbered year. Vacancies and unexpired terms shall be filled by the City Council for the remainder of that member's term. The Commission shall elect a Chairman from among its membership. The Commission shall meet at least once monthly and may schedule additional regular meetings as are required by the level of agenda activity. A quorum for any meeting of the Commission shall be a majority of the members. Members of the Commission may be removed by the Mayor with the consent of the City Council after a public hearing and for cause set forth in writing. Ordinance No. 1509 Page 4 The Commission shall keep minutes of its proceedings which shall be of public record. The Commission shall serve without compensation. Section 2. Planning and Zoning Commission Powers and Duties. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall: (A) (B) (C) Recommend a City Master Plan for the physical development of the City; Recommend to the City Council the approval or disapproval of any proposed changes in the Zoning Ordinance text or map; and Exercise control over all platting or subdividing of land within the corporate limits of the City and outside said corporate limits to the extent authorized by law. Make specific recommendations to the City Council whether a plat be approved or denied. The City Council shall make final approval or denial of all plats. The Commission shall be responsible to and act as an advisory body to the City Council and shall have and perform such additional duties as may be prescribed by the ordinances. Section 3. Master Plan The Master Plan for the physical development of the City of North Richland Hills shall contain the Commissions' recommendations for growth, development and beautification of the City. A copy of the Master Plan, or any part thereof, shall be forwarded to the City Council, which may adopt this plan in whole or in parts, and may adopt any amendments thereto after at least one public hearing on the proposed plan. The City Council shall act on such Plan, or part thereof, within sixty (60) days following its submission by the Commission. If such a Plan, or part thereof, shall be rejected by the City Council, the Commission may modify such Plan or part thereof, and again forward it to the City Council for consideration. All amendments to the Master Plan recommended by the Commission shall be submitted in the same manner as outlined above to the City Council for approval and all revisions affecting the Master Plan shall be accompanied by a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Section 4. Legal Effect of the Master Plan Upon the adoption of a Master Plan for the City of North Richland Hills by the City Council, that Plan shall become a general guideline for all decisions made by the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council related to existing or proposed development of the City. On any case coming before the Planning and Zoning Commission the Commission shall make a recommendation to the City Council to approve or deny the proposal. If the recommendation of the Commission is to deny the proposal the reasons for that denial shall be communicated to the City Council. The City Council shall have the power to overrule such recommendation of denial, and upon such overruling, the City Council shall have the power to proceed. Ordinance No. 1509 Page 5 Any zoning action taken to revise the Zoning Map of the City of North Richland Hills which shall have had proper hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission and from which a recommendation is given by the Commission to the City Council, and after proper public hearing and consideration before the City Council, is approved by the City Counci1; such change in the Zoning Map shall also be deemed to have revised the Future Land Use Map as it appears in the Master Plan of the City of North Richland Hills." For Against 4,139 828 PROPOSITION NO. 6 Subsection (1) of Section 7 of Article VI shall be amended to read as follows: (1) The Municipal Court shall be presided over by a Magistrate to be known as Municipal Judge who shall be a duly licensed attorney practicing law in Tarrant County, Texas. If the Municipal Judge is unable to act for any reason the Mayor may appoint a qualified person to act as substitute Municipal Judge. The City Council shall have the power to create a second Municipal Court to be known as Municipal Court Number 2. The Mayor of the City shall be empowered to administer oaths and issue warnings to persons in police custody if the Mayor is qualified pursuant to State Law by attendance and completion of the mandatory courses prescribed by the laws of the State of Texas." For Against 3,764 998 PROPOSITION NO. 7 Section 5 of Article XVII of the Charter is amended to read as foll ows: liThe Civil Service Commission shall recommend policies, procedures, rules and regulations to the City Council for approval. The Commission shall operate always within the bounds of the City Charter, the Constitution and the laws of the State of Texas and the Federal Constitution. II For Against 3,494 1,292 PROPOSITION NO. 8 Section 8 of Article XVII is repealed and the subject matter shall be governed by Section 2 of Article XVII. For Against 2,209 1,549 Ordinance No. 1509 Page 6 PROPOSITION NO. 9 Section 12 of Article XVII of the Charter shall read as follows: A person who has received appointment to any department hereunder shall serve a probationary period of twelve (12) months. All positions in the City covered by this Article, except any supervisory personnel directly appointed by the City Manager or by the City Council, shall be classified by the Commission and the positions filled from the eligibility lists as provided herein. For Against 2,573 1,419 PROPOSITION NO. 10 The first sentence of Subsection D of Section 14 of Article XVII of the Charter shall read as follows: "All applicants for a position shall be given an identical examination which may include three parts: a competitive written examination, an oral interview by an interview board, and/or an assessment center exercise, each of which may be the only method of testing or which may be used in any combination thereof." For Against 3,357 910 PROPOSITION NO. 11 The first paragraph of Section 22 of Article XVII of the Charter shall read as follows: "Employees while on duty with the City of North Richland Hills shall not be permitted to take active part in the political campaign of another for an elective position of the City of North Richland Hills. The term active means making political speeches, passing out cards, or other political literature, writing letters, actively and openly soliciting votes and making public derogatory remarks about candidates for such elective positions. Provided that the Commission or the City shall not further restrict the rights of the employees of the City to engage in political activities except as herein expressly provided. II For Against 4,042 757 PROPOSITION NO. 12 The third paragraph of Section 25 of Article XVII shall read as follows: "Sick leave with pay may be accumulated without limit and may be used while an employee is unable to work because of any bonafide illness. The section shall not prevent the Commission from recommending to the City Ordinance No. 1509 Page 7 Council any plan designed to benefit or compensate employees for any accumulated sick leave. II For Against 3,308 1,428 PROPOSITION NO. 13 City elections shall be held every two years for the election of Mayor and Council Persons. The Mayor and City Council Persons shall be elected for four year terms. Beginning in 1988 a City election shall be held every two years for the election of Mayor and City Council Persons to the respective seven places. In 1988, the Mayor and Places 2, 4, and 6 shall be elected for four year terms, The persons serving in Places 1, 3, 5 and 7 shall serve until 1990 and those places shall be filled for four year terms beginning in 1990. Persons wishing to run for Mayor or Council shall pay a $50.00 filing fee with their application. For Against 3,622 1,322 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, that: 1. The above canvass be, and is hereby, approved as to Propositions 1 through 12. Proposition 13 is excluded.. 2. Proposition No. 1 is declared to have failed. 3. Propositions 2 through 12 are declared to have been approved by the voters. 4. The canvass shows that the total number of votes cast in the City was: 5,317. Ordinance No. 1509 Page 8 This ordinance is passed and approved this 9th day of November, 1987. APPROVED: &" -·-~A·~ \ /',' f/Yl ~ r;Í -4- Dan Echols, Mayor \ ATTEST: