Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 105. Power over water resources (a) No person, association of persons, corporate entity, or municipality, or any combination thereof, may develop, conserve, or use in whole or in part the water resources of the Winooski River as it flows through the City of Winooski for a water…

§ 201. City meetings The annual City meeting shall occur on the first Tuesday in March and shall be warned in the manner provided by general law. Special City meetings shall be called and warned as provided by general law. All elections, voter registration and qualifications, abs…

§ 202. Qualified voters (a) Voter registration, absentee voting, and conduct of elections at all annual and special meetings shall be as provided by general law. The qualifications of voters in State and federal elections shall be as provided by general law. The qualifications of…

§ 203. Special meetings The City Clerk shall, when directed by the City Council on its own motion or upon receipt of a proper petition, call a special meeting of the City at such time and place as the City Council may direct. The warning for such special meeting shall state the p…

§ 204. Reconsideration and rescission Actions taken at an annual or special meeting may be reconsidered or rescinded in the manner provided by general law. (Added 2013, No. M-9, § 3, eff. June 4, 2013.)

§ 205. Nominations in general Nominations for the office of Mayor and Councilor shall be made by petition, prepared and filed in accordance with the provisions of 17 V.S.A. §§ 2681 and 2681a. The petitions shall contain no party designations. The City Clerk shall cause the names …

§ 206. Nomination of incumbent No person may be permitted to seek the nomination for the Office of Mayor or Councilor while a member of the City Council, unless his or her present term of office expires on or before the annual March meeting next to be held. If a member of the Cit…

§ 207. Voting machines The Council may provide for the use of mechanical or other devices for voting or counting the votes not inconsistent with law. (Added 2013, No. M-9, § 3, eff. June 4, 2013.)

§ 301. Composition; eligibility; election and terms (a) Composition. There shall be a City Council consisting of a Mayor and four Councilors elected by the qualified voters of the City at large. (b) Eligibility. Only qualified voters of the City shall be eligible to hold the offi…

§ 302. Compensation; expenses The Mayor and councilors shall receive as compensation for official services such sums, if any, as the legal voters of the City present and voting at an annual or special meeting duly warned and held for that purpose shall order paid. The Mayor and c…

§ 303. Mayor and Deputy Mayor; election, terms, and duties At the annual City meeting to be held on the first Tuesday of March, commencing March 3, 2015, and every three years thereafter, the Mayor shall be elected for a term of three years and until the Mayor’s successor takes o…

§ 304. General powers and duties (a) General powers. All powers of the City shall be vested in the Council, except as otherwise provided by law or this charter, and the Council shall provide for the exercise thereof for the performance of all duties and obligations imposed on the…

§ 305. Prohibitions; conflict of interest (a) Holding other office. Except where authorized by law, no councilor shall hold any other City office or City employment during the term of election to the Council. (b) Appointments and removals. Neither the Council nor any of its membe…

§ 306. Vacancies; forfeiture of office; filling of vacancies (a) Vacancies. The office of a Councilor shall become vacant upon the death, resignation, removal from office in any manner authorized by law, or forfeiture of office. (b) Forfeiture of office. A Councilor shall forfeit…

§ 307. Judge of qualification The Council shall be the judge of the election and qualifications of its members and of the grounds for forfeiture of their office and for that purpose shall have power to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, and require the production of evidence. …

§ 308. Clerk of the City Council The City Council shall designate the City Clerk, or such other person as the City Council shall appoint or designate, as the Clerk of the Council who shall give notice of Council meetings to its members and the public, keep the journal of its proc…

§ 309. Investigations The Council may make investigations into the affairs of the City and the conduct of any City department, office, or agency and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony, and require the production of evidence. Any City officia…

§ 310. Independent audit The Council shall provide for an independent annual audit of all City accounts and may provide for such more frequent audits as it deems necessary. Such audits shall be made by a certified public accountant or firm of such accountants who have no personal…

§ 311. Procedure (a) Meetings. The Council shall meet regularly at least once in every month at such times and places as the Council may prescribe by rule. Special meetings may be held on the call of the Mayor or of two or more members and, whenever practicable, upon no less than…

§ 401. Action requiring an ordinance In addition to other acts required by law or by specific provisions of this charter to be done by ordinance, those acts of the City Council shall be by ordinance that: (1) provide for a fine or other penalty or establish a rule or regulation f…

§ 402. Ordinances in general (a) Form. Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing and in the form required for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be “The City of W…

§ 403. Emergency ordinances To meet a public emergency affecting life, health, property, or the public peace, the Council may adopt one or more emergency ordinances, but such ordinances may not levy taxes, grant, renew, or extend a franchise or regulate the rate charged by any pu…

§ 404. Codes of technical regulations (a) Adoption by reference. The Council may adopt any standard technical, building, life safety, housing, and construction code by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance. The procedure and requirements governing such an adopting ordinance …

§ 405. Authentication and recording; codification; printing (a) Authentication and recording. The City Clerk shall authenticate by signature and record in full, in a properly indexed book kept for the purpose of, all ordinances and resolutions adopted by the Council. (b) Codifica…

§ 406. Ordinance; enforcement (a) The violation of an ordinance, regulation, or bylaw adopted by the City, including zoning and subdivision bylaws adopted pursuant to 24 V.S.A. chapter 117, as the same may be amended from time to time, may be processed as a criminal or civil acti…

§ 407. Court authorized to order abatement In any prosecution for a nuisance resulting in a judgment or conviction, the court before which the nuisance action has been brought shall order the nuisance or offense complained of to be removed or abated and shall determine the expens…

§ 408. Offenders may be liable in damages A person violating any ordinance, regulation, or bylaw of the City shall be liable in damages to the City or to the person who shall sustain damage as the direct result of the violation; such damages may be recovered in an action declarin…

§ 409. City Council to establish penalty The City Council may provide for the violation of any ordinance, regulation, or bylaw as provided by law and may establish that each day such violation continues constitutes a separate and distinct offense. (Added 2013, No. M-9, § 3, eff. …

§ 410. General authority for initiative and referendum (a) Initiative. The qualified voters of the City shall have power to propose ordinances to the Council and, if the Council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed without any change in substance, to adopt or reject it at a Ci…

§ 411. Commencement of proceedings; affidavit (a) Any qualified voter or group of voters may commence initiative or referendum proceedings by filing with the City Clerk an affidavit stating that he, she, or they will be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in pr…

§ 412. Petitions (a) Number of signatures. Initiative and referendum petitions must be signed by at least five percent of the legal voters of the City. (b) Form and content. All papers of a petition shall be uniform in size and style and shall be assembled as one instrument for f…

§ 413. Procedure after filing (a) Certificate of Clerk; amendment. Within 20 days after the petition is filed, the City Clerk shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall promptly send a c…

§ 414. Referendum petitions; suspension of effect of ordinance When a referendum petition is filed with the City Clerk, the ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended from taking effect. Such suspension shall terminate when: (1) there is a final determination of insuf…

§ 415. Action on petitions (a) Action by Council. When an initiative or referendum petition has been finally determined sufficient, the Council shall promptly consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the manner provided in this Article or reconsider the referred ordinance by…

§ 416. Results of election (a) Initiative. If a majority of the qualified voters voting on a proposed initiative ordinance vote in its favor, it shall be considered adopted upon certification of the election results and shall be treated in all respects in the same manner as ordin…

§ 501. Appointment; qualifications; compensation of City Manager The Council shall appoint a City Manager for a mutually agreed-upon term and fix the Manager’s compensation. The Manager shall be appointed solely on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications. The Man…

§ 502. Acting City Manager By letter filed with the City Clerk, the Manager shall designate, subject to approval of the Council, a qualified City administrative officer to exercise the powers and perform the duties of Manager during a temporary absence or disability. During such …

§ 503. Removal of City Manager (a) Procedure. The Council may remove the City Manager from office in accordance with the following procedures. (1) The Council shall adopt by affirmative vote of a majority of all its members a preliminary resolution, which shall state just cause f…

§ 504. Powers and duties of the City Manager The City Manager shall be the Chief Administrative Officer of the City. The City Manager shall be responsible to the Council for the administration of all City affairs placed in the Manager’s charge by or under this charter. The City M…

§ 505. City Manager; vacancy in office of In the event of a vacancy in the office of City Manager or the Manager’s incapacity to perform the duties and functions set forth in this article, the powers and duties shall be performed by the Acting City Manager, subject to the provisi…

§ 506. City officers; appointment of (a) General. The officers of the City of Winooski shall be those provided by law for towns, except as otherwise provided or limited by this charter. Such officers shall have all the powers and duties necessary to carry out the provisions of th…

§ 601. Organization (a) The City Council, in consultation with the Manager, may create, modify, or eliminate administrative departments, offices, or agencies that shall be under the direction and supervision of the City Manager, who shall appoint the head of such departments. (b)…

§ 602. Resident engagement (a) [Repealed.] (b) The City Council may appoint additional boards and commissions at its discretion or as required by law. (c) The boards, committees, commissions, and agencies shall exercise all powers and duties as prescribed by law, ordinance, or ad…

§ 603. Personnel system (a) Merit principle. All appointments and promotions of City officers and employees shall be made solely on the basis of merit and fitness demonstrated by examination or other evidence of competence. (b) [Repealed.] (c) [Repealed.] (d) Personnel policies. …

§ 605. Surety bonds All City officers and employees, as directed by the City Council, shall annually give bonds to the satisfaction of the Council for the faithful discharge of their duties, the premiums of which shall be paid by the City. In the event any officer or employee neg…

§ 701. Fiscal year The fiscal year of the City shall begin on the first day of July and end on the last day of June. (Added 2013, No. M-9, § 3, eff. June 4, 2013.)