Corporate name and seal. Municipal officers. Proviso. Term of aldermen. Division of, into one and two year classes Election of successors. Oath of officers. Transcript of proceedings to be filed with Clerk of Circuit Court. declared incorporated towns, entitled to the rights and privileges of incorporated towns. (b) SEC. 4. At the time and place designated in the notice aforesaid, the qualified electors present, being not less than twothirds of those whom it is proposed to incorporate, shall elect a corporate name and seal for the municipality which they propose to form, and designate by definite metes and bounds the territorial limits thereof. They shall then proceed to choose, by a vote of a majority of the said electors, a mayor and not more than nine nor less than five aldermen, who shall be known as the city council, and in whom shall vest the government of the city. There shall also be chosen, at the same time and place and in like manner, a city clerk and marshal, all of whom shall continue in office for the period of one year from the date of their election, or until their successors are elected and qualified: Provided, That the metes and bounds named in this section shall not in any case apply to the fixing or establishing the boundary lines of towns or cities now or heretofore incorporated by the now existing laws of this State. (b) SEC. 5. All aldermen hereafter elected for any incorporated city or town in this State shall be elected for and hold their office for the term of two years: Provided, That at the first meeting of the said aldermen so elected under the provisions of this section they shall by lot divide their body into two classes, as nearly equal in number as possible, one of which class shall hold office for two years, and the other class shall hold their offices for one year, and an election shall be holden to elect the successors of each class so as to have their successors elected at the expiration of the term of the said classes respectively. (c) SEC. 6. As soon as convenient, within three days from the date of the said election, the mayor elect shall take before some judicial officer of this State the following oath of office, viz : "I, A B, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect and defend the Constitution and government of the United States and of the State of Florida against all enemies, domestic or foreign, and that I will bear true faith, loyalty and allegiance to the same, and that I am entitled to hold office under the Constitution; that I will faithfully perform all the duties of the office of mayor of on which I am about to enter. help me God." And the mayor, upon being so qualified, shall administer to the aldermen and the other officers elect the like oath, and thereupon they shall be considered fully qualified to assume the functions and powers and enter upon their several duties as officers of the city aforesaid. (d) So SEC. 7. A fair and complete transcript of the proceedings of the said meeting shall be prepared by the city clerk, in which shall be embodied the notice by which the meeting was con (c) Sec. 1, Chap. 3314, Act of Feb. 11, 1881. (b) Secs. 3 and 4, Chap. 1688, Act of Feb. vened, the number of qualified electors present, the style or name, seal and territorial limits of the corporation, and the names of the officers elect, to which the mayor and aldermen shall attach their signatures, attested by the clerk and the corporate seal, which transcript shall be forthwith filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in and for the county within which the corporate limits are located, and by him duly entered upon the public records of the said county. (d) 3 Fla., 262. 16 Fla., 204. SEC. 8. The provisions of the previous sections having been Powers of complied with, the persons therein named and their successors corporations. shall thereupon constitute and become a body corporate, with full power and authority to take and to hold property, real and personal and mixed, and to control and dispose of the same for 4 Fla., 192-200. the benefit and best interests of the corporation aforesaid, to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, and to do all such other acts and things as are incident to corporate bodies. (d) SEC. 9. That the city council shall, immediately after organi- city council to zation, as is provided by section five, proceed to elect one of elect a presiits members president, who shall preside over the council. act as mayor in The president so elected shall, in case of the absence, sickness certain cases. or other disability of the mayor, act as mayor for the time being, and while so acting shall be disqualified from presiding over the council, who shall elect a president pro tem. to preside so long as the disability of the mayor exists. (e) dent, who shall SEC. 10. No mayor of any municipal government shall be Mayor not to be president of the city council. (f) president of city council. Mayor shall SEC. 11. All ordinances passed by the city council shall be submitted, before going into effect, to the mayor, or person have veto acting as such, for his approval. If approved he shall sign power. the same, when it shall become a law. If disapproved, he shall return the same with his objections in writing, to the city council, at their next regular meeting, who shall cause the same to be entered in full upon the record of their proceedings, and proceed to consider the mayor's objections, and to act upon the same. If, upon consideration, the city council shall pass the same by a two-thirds vote of the members present, which vote shall be entered upon the records, the ordinance or ordinances shall then become a law, the mayor's objections to the contrary notwithstanding. Any ordinance which shall not be returned to the city council at the next regular meeting of the council after its passage, the same shall become a law in like manner as if signed by the mayor or person acting as such. (ƒ) SEC. 12. The jurisdiction of the said cities and towns, and Jurisdiction the authority of the officers thereof, shall be held to have full of officers. force and effect over the waters of all rivers, creeks, harbors or bays contained within the corporate limits. (ƒ) SEC. 13. No person shall be considered a qualified elector at (d) Secs. 6 and 7, Chap. 1688, Act of Feb. 4, 1869. (e) Sec. 3, Chap. 1855, Act of Jan. 30, 1871. (ƒ) Secs. 1, 2 and 4, Chap. 1855, Act of Jan. 30, 1871. of electors. Qualifications any municipal election in this State who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one years, shall not have resided within the State twelve months, and within the corporate limits of the town or city six months immediately preceding the said election, and who shall not have duly registered as required by the Constitution and laws of this State and by this section, and no other condition or qualification of an elector at any municipal election in this State shall be required, and no person shall be disqualified from voting at such election on account of non-payment of taxes, fines, registration fees, or any other dues. (g) Registration of voters. Powers of council. Power to pass laws. SEC. 14. The city or town council shall have full power to establish rules, regulations and fees, for the registration of voters for the annual election of municipal officers, and for filling of all vacancies which may occur in the city or town government. (h) SEC. 15. The city or town council shall have power and authority to judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own members, to make such by-laws and regulations for their own guidance and government as they may deem expedient, and to enforce the same by fine or penalty, to compel at tendance of its members; and two-thirds of the council may expel a member of the same or other officer of the city or town for disorderly behavior or mal-conduct in office. (i) SEC. 16. The city or town council shall have power to pass ordinances and all such ordinances and laws as may be expedient and necessary for the preservation of the public peace and morals, for the suppression of riots and disorderly assemblies, and for the order and government of the city or town, and to impose such pains, penalties and forfeitures as may be needed to carry the same into effect: Provided, That such ordinances shall not be inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State: And provided further, That for no one offence made punishable by the ordinances and laws of said city, shall a fine of more than five hundred dollars be assessed, nor imprisonment for a period of time greater than sixty days. (j) 3 Fla., 19. 11 Fla., 130, 15 Fla., 307. Streets. lanes. &c. Drains and sewers. Compensation and assessments. 17 Fla., 164. 15 Fla., 307. 13 Fla.. 538. SEC. 17. The city or town council shall have power to regulate, improve; alter, extend and open streets, lanes and avenues, to cause encroachments and obstructions, decayed buildings and ruins to be removed; to construct drains and sewers, and make to the parties injured thereby such reasonable compensation, and charge upon those benefited such reasonable assessments as may be agreed upon by the said council and the said party or parties; and in case no such agreement can be made, then the council shall appoint five discreet persons, holders of real estate in said city or town, to ascertain and (g) Sec. 8, Chap. 1888, Act of Feb. 4, 1869. (h) Sec. 1, Chap. 2034, Act of Feb. 16, 1874. (i) Sec. 10, Chap. 1688, Act of Feb. 4, 1869. (j) Sec. 1, Chap. 3024, Act of March 8, 1877. estate. fix on the one hand a fair and equitable assessment, and on the other a just compensation, and that the said assessment Assessments shall be a lien on the real estate improved and assessed, and a lien on real that every person who enters his particular drain into the main drain, or common sewer, and receives a benefit thereby from draining his land, shall pay to the city or town his proportional part of making or repairing the same. (j) ordinance or walks. SEC. 18. It shall be unlawful for any city or town council Previous notice to pass any ordinance or resolution imposing a special tax for of passage of any purpose, without first giving notice by publication in a resolution. newspaper for at least thirty days, or by posting for thirty days in one or more public places in such city or town. (k) SEC. 19. The city or town council shall have power to regu- Streets, pavelate and control the grading, construction and repairs of all ments and sidestreets, pavements and sidewalks, and to require the owners of real estate within the corporate limits to construct uniform and substantial sidewalks around their several lots, and to keep the same in repair; and upon failure to do the same within 15 Fla., 307. the time and manner prescribed, the said council may have the same done, which shall be a lien against the said lots, which lien may be enforced in like manner with mechanics' liens. (2) Abatement of 1 Fla., 110. SEC. 20. The city or town council shall have the power to prevent and abate nuisances; to require owners and occupants nuisances. of lots upon which pools of water are, or are likely to be, to fill them up; to prevent or remove any accumulation of trash, filth, or other matter on or within their premises, and the streets adjacent, which may cause disease, or affect the health of the city or town; to require of owners of lots, as well un- 15 Fla., 307. occupied as occupied, to keep down by cutting and removing the same all excessive growth of weeds and other noxious plants; to regulate and compel persons to erect and keep in repair partition fences, and to pass all laws and ordinances which may be necessary for the preservation of the public Public health. health. (m) 12 Fla., 348. SEC. 21. The city or town council shall have power to con- Wharves and struct wharves, quays, and docks; to regulate wharfage, dock. docks. age, and the mooring and anchorage of vessels within the corporate limits, unless otherwise provided by law; to construct Ferries. bridges, establish ferries, and fix the rates of ferriage and tolls; to erect all necessary public buildings, and to control and dispose of the same as the interests of the city or town may require; to make and sink wells, erect pumps, dig drains ; to pass all necessary laws to guard against fire, and to insure the sweeping of chimneys; to provide for the lighting of streets of the city or town; to inclose and improve such pub- Improvements. lic squares or parks as may adorn the city or town, and to im (j) Sec. 2, Chap. 3024, Act of March 8, 2877. (k) Sec. 1, Chap. 3313, Act of March 3, 1861. (Sec. 3, Chap. 3024, Act of March 8, 1877. (m) Sec. 14, Chap. 1688, Act of Feb. 4, 1869. Cemetery. Market houses. prove and beautify the public cemetery for the burial of the dead, and to do and perform all such other act or acts as shall seem necessary and best adapted to the improvement and general interest of the city or town. (m) SEC. 22. The city or town council shall have full power to establish market houses or places, and to require each and every person who may have for sale any fresh meats or fresh fish to bring the same into the said markets so established, and offer such for sale only in said markets, and to make such police and sanitary regulations in regard to such markets and the sale of fresh meats and fresh fish therein as they may deem reasonable and just, and to impose such pains, penalties and forfeitures as may be needed to carry such regulations into effect; to require all persons bringing fresh provisions of any kind Hours of sale. into the town or city to exhibit them for sale at stated hours; Weights and as- to establish and regulate the weight and assize of bread, the size of bread. inspection of any provisions brought from the country to said market, for sale there, the gauging of liquors, the measurement or weighing of any produce or merchandise and the storing of gunpowder, and all naval and military stores, not the property of the United States, nor the State of Florida. (n) SEC. 23. The city or town council shall have power, with the approval of a majority of the registered voters of the city or town then residing therein and actually voting, to borrow money or contract loans for the use of the city or town, whether from bodies corporate or individuals residing in or out of the State, and to pledge the funds, credit and property of the corporation for the redemption of such loan or loans. (n) Weights and measures. Gunpowder, &c. Power to bor row money. Issue of city bonds. 17 Fla., 174. Issue of city bonds. SEC. 24. The city council of the city shall have power, with the approval of two-thirds of the registered voters of the city actually voting, to issue bonds bearing such rates of interest as may be deemed best by the council, not exceeding the legal rate of interest of this State, whenever it may be necessary for the purpose of building or repairing the public works of the city, the widening and extension of the streets or parks, payment of existing indebtedness of the city, or any other municipal purposes. Such bonds to have the seal of the corporation, and to be signed by the mayor and city clerk, to be made payable at such time and place as the city council may designate, the amount to be issued to be within the discretion of the mayor and city council. (n) SEC. 25. Before any such bonds are issued, the question of issuing them, as well as the amount to be issued, shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the city according to the last registration preceding the date at which the questions are submitted, in such manner and after such public notice as may be deemed necessary by the city council; and should two-thirds of the votes actually cast by said electors be in favor of issu (m) Sec. 15, Chap. 1688, Act of Feb. 4, 1869. (n) Secs. 4, 5 and 6, Chap. 3024, Act of March 8, 1877. |