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HomeMy WebLinkAbout008 - 02/04/1997 - SUBMITTING CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO APRIL 8, 1997 ELECTION ORDINANCE NO. 8, 1997 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS SUBMITTING PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLES II, V, AND XII OF THE CITY CHARTER,PERTAINING TO THE GOVERNANCE OF THE ELECTRIC UTILITY, TO A VOTE OF THE REGISTERED ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS WHEREAS,Article IV, Section 8 of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins provides that the Charter may be amended as provided by the laws of the State of Colorado; and WHEREAS, Section 31-2-210, C.R.S., provides that Charter amendments may be initiated by the adoption of an ordinance by the Council submitting a proposed amendment to a vote of the registered electors of the City of Fort Collins; and WHEREAS, on November 21, 1995, the City Council adopted Resolution 95-161 creating a Charter Review Committee (the "Committee") and authorizing the Committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the City Charter and to recommend any amendments thereto that the Committee believed to be in the best interests of the City; and WHEREAS, after conducting such review, the Committee has recommended several such proposed amendments, including various amendments to Articles II, V and XII of the City Charter pertaining to the governance of the Electric Utility; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the recommendations of the Committee and has determined that the proposed amendments to the foregoing Articles of the City Charter, as modified by the City Council, should be submitted to the electorate of the City in order that the voters may determine whether such amendments would be in the best interests of the City. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the following proposed changes shall be submitted to the registered voters of the City as "Proposed Charter Amendment No. 1" at the next regular municipal election to be held on April 8, 1997: (a) That Article 11, Section 6, of the City Charter be amended to read as follows: ARTICLE II. CITY COUNCIL Section 6. Ordinances, resolutions, motions. The Council shall act by ordinance, resolution, or motion. The ayes and nays shall be recorded on the passage of all ordinances, resolutions, and motions. Every Councilmember present shall vote; if a member fails to vote when present, he or she shall be recorded as voting in the affirmative. All legislative enactments and all acts of the Council creating, altering, or abolishing any agency or office, fixing compensation,making an appropriation,authorizing the borrowing of money,levying a tax, establishing any rule or regulation for the violation of which a penalty is imposed, or placing any burden upon or limiting the use of private property, shall be by ordinance, which shall not be so altered or amended on the final passage as to change the original purpose. All ordinances, except the annual appropriation ordinance and any ordinance making a general codification of ordinances, shall be confined to one (1) subject which shall be clearly expressed in the title. All ordinances shall be formally introduced at a regular or special Council meeting in written or printed form by any member of the Council and considered on first reading and action taken thereon. No ordinance,except an emergency ordinance, shall be finally passed on the first reading or at the meeting at which it is first introduced. An emergency ordinance may be formally introduced at a special Council meeting and action taken thereon, including final passage at such special meeting. Reading of an ordinance shall consist only of reading the title thereof, provided that copies of the full ordinance proposed shall have been available in the office of the City Clerk at least forty-eight(48)hours prior to the time such ordinance is introduced for each member of the Council, and for inspection and copying by the general public, and provided further that any member of the Council may request that an ordinance be read in full at any reading of the same, in which case such ordinance shall be read in full at such reading Final passage of all ordinances except emergency ordinances shall be at a regular Council meeting. Emergency ordinances shall require for passage the affirmative vote of at least five (5) members of the Council and shall contain a specific statement of the nature of the emergency. No ordinance granting any franchise or special privilege which involves a benefit to any private person or entity shall ever be passed as an emergency ordinance. The enacting clause of all ordinances passed by the Council shall be as follows: "Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Fort Collins." (b) That Article V, Section 19.3, of the City Charter be amended to read as follows: 2 ARTICLE V. FINANCE ADMINISTRATION Section 19.3 Revenue securities. (a) The city, by Council action and without an election, may issue securities made payable solely from revenues derived from the operation of the project or capital improvement acquired with the securities' proceeds, or from other projects or improvements, or from the proceeds of any sales tax, use tax or other excise tax, or solely from any source or sources or any combination thereof other than ad valorem taxes of the city. (b) The Council may,by ordinance, establish any one or more of the city's water, wastewater, storm drainage or electrical utilities as an enterprise of the city. The Council may also, by ordinance, authorize any such city-owned enterprise, acting by and through the Council, sitting as the board of the enterprise, to issue its own revenue bonds or other obligations (including refunding securities) on behalf of the city, which revenue bonds or other obligations shall be payable solely from the net revenues(including special assessments)derived from the operation of the enterprise. Such revenue bonds or other obligations may be additionally secured by mortgages on or security interests in any real or personal property of the city used in the operation of the enterprise. Such revenue bonds or other obligations shall be issued by ordinance of the board of the enterprise, adopted in the same manner and subject to referendum to the same extent as ordinances of the Council. The Council shall not appoint any persons other than its own members to serve on the board of the enterprise or delegate to any other person or entity the powers reserved to the board of the enterprise hereunder. Neither shall the Council authorize the board of the enterprise to acquire, construct or install or hold title to or dispose of any city-owned property used in the operation of the enterprise,to impose or adjust rates, fees, tolls or charges for the use of any such property or for any service or commodity furnished by the enterprise,to levy special assessments or to exercise any power reserved to the Council or other city officials by this Charter or otherwise (other than the power to issue revenue bonds and other obligations). Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations, if the Council establishes an electric utility board pursuant to the provisions of Article XIl, Section 7, the Council shall appoint persons other than its own members, except as provided in Article XII, Section 7, to serve on the electric utility board, and the electric utility board shall be authorized to exercise the financial powers of an enterprise board as described herein and as further prescribed by ordinance of the Council. (c) That Article X11, Sections 6 and 7, of the City Charter be amended to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE XII. MUNICIPAL PUBLIC UTILITIES Section 6. Municipal utility rates and finances. The Council shall by ordinance from time to time fix, establish, maintain, and provide for the collection of such rates, fees, or charges for water and electricity, and for other utility services furnished by the city as will produce revenues sufficient to pay the cost of operation and maintenance of the city's utilities in good repair and working order; to pay into the general fund in lieu of taxes on account of the city-owned utilities such amount as may be established by the Council by ordinance; to pay the principal of and interest on all bonds of the city payable from the revenues of the city's utilities; to provide and maintain an adequate working capital fund for the day-to-day business operations of said utilities; to provide and maintain an adequate fund for the replacement of depreciated and obsolete property and for the extension, improvement, enlargement and betterment of said utilities; to pay the interest on and principal of any general obligation bonds issued by the city to extend or improve said utilities. The powers and duties of the Council established in this Section may, as applied to the electric utility, be transferred to an electric utility board by ordinance at such time, if at all, that the Council establishes such a board under the provisions of Section 7 of this Article. The provisions hereof shall be subject at all times to the performance by the city of all covenants and agreements made by it in connection with the issuance, sale, or delivery of any bonds of the city payable out of the revenues derived from the operation of its utilities, whether such revenue bonds be heretofore or hereafter issued. All net operating revenues of the city's utilities shall be held within the respective utility's fund and may be expended only for renewals, replacements, extraordinary repairs, extensions, improvements, enlargements and betterments to such utility, or other specific utility purpose determined by the Council to be beneficial to the ratepayers of said utilities. Section 7. Electric utility board. (a) The Council may by ordinance create an electric utility board (the "board") which, if created, shall provide policy direction and shall have such jurisdiction and control over the electric utility and all of its operations and facilities as the Council may determine to be appropriate, subject to such limitations as may be contained in the ordinance establishing the board. The board, if established, may be given by the Council all the powers and duties possessed by the city (except the power of eminent domain) to construct, acquire, expand and operate the electric utility and to do any and all acts or things that are necessary, convenient or desirable in order to operate, maintain, enlarge, extend, preserve and promote the orderly, economic and businesslike administration of the electric utility, including the power to appoint and 4 remove the Director of the Electric Utility and to adopt administrative, financial, purchasing and personnel policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing the operation of the electric utility and the employment of its employees; and the power to approve, pursuant to Section I(b) of this Article, such ancillary services as would theretofore have been subject to approval by the City Council. If the board is established by the Council, the electric utility shall, except as otherwise provided below and in the ordinance creating the board, operate as a separate agency of the city government and be free from the jurisdiction, direction and control of other city officers and of the Council. The board may sue or be sued in its own name and all damage claims arising from the operations of the board and the electric utility shall be the responsibility of, and be liquidated by, the board from the appropriate funds of the electric utility. In establishing the board, the Council shall be governed by the following requirements: (1) The board shall consist of seven (7) members, one of whom shall be the Mayor or such other member of the Council as the Mayor may designate, and one of whom shall be the City Manager. The Council shall appoint the remaining five (5) members who shall be persons residing in the city and not holding any elective public office while serving on the board. No person shall be eligible for appointment by Council to serve as a member of the board unless at the time of appointment he or she is a citizen of the United States; is at least 21 years of age; has been for one year immediately preceding such appointment an elector of the city; and has not been convicted of a felony. During the term of appointment to the board, no member except the City Manager shall be an employee of the city or an employee of Platte River Power Authority. (2) The Council may remove any board member, except the Mayor and City Manager, with or without cause. (3) The Council may,upon the affirmative vote of at least four (4) of its members, adopt an ordinance dissolving the board and thereafter exercise all of the board's activities, duties and responsibilities. Upon dissolution, title to all bond-financed property shall revert to the city. (b) Until such time, if at all, that the board is created, the following shall apply: (1) the City Manager may authorize the electric utility to provide ancillary services, subject to the provisions of Section I(b) above; and (2) the Council may, by resolution, authorize the City Manager to adopt separate administrative, financial, purchasing and personnel policies, rules,regulations and procedures to govern the operation of the electric utility and the employment of its employees. 5 Section 2. That the following ballot language is hereby adopted for submitting Proposed Charter Amendment No. 1 to the voters at said election_ PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1 AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLES ❑, V, AND XII OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AUTHORIZING THE CITY COUNCIL TO ESTABLISH AN ELECTRIC UTILITY BOARD,CONSISTING OF SEVEN(7)PERSONS INCLUDING THE CITY MANAGER AND THE MAYOR OR SUCH OTHER MEMBER OF THE CITY COUNCIL AS THE MAYOR MAY DESIGNATE;STATING THAT IF THE BOARD IS CREATED BY THE COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL COULD AUTHORIZE THE ELECTRIC UTILITY TO OPERATE AS A SEPARATE AGENCY OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT; STATING THAT THE COUNCIL COULD ALSO AUTHORIZE THE ELECTRIC UTILITY BOARD TO: (1) BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING POLICY DIRECTION AND CONTROL OVER THE CITY'S ELECTRIC UTILITY,(2)EXERCISE ALL THE FINANCIAL POWERS OF AN ENTERPRISE BOARD, AND (3) SET RATES, FEES OR CHARGES FOR THE ELECTRIC UTILITY; STATING THAT THE ELECTRIC UTILITY BOARD, IF CREATED,COULD SUE OR BE SUED IN ITS OWN NAME AND THAT THE ELECTRIC UTILITY WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL DAMAGE CLAIMS ARISING FROM ITS OPERATIONS; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO APPROVE THE PROVISION OF ANCILLARY SERVICES BY THE ELECTRIC UTILITY, SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS; AUTHORIZING THE ELECTRIC UTILITY BOARD, IF CREATED, TO APPROVE SUCH ANCILLARY SERVICES AS WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL; AND PERMITTING THE COUNCIL TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO ESTABLISH SEPARATE ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES,RULES,REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES TO GOVERN THE ELECTRIC UTILITY UNTIL SUCH TIME,IF AT ALL,THAT THE ELECTRIC UTILITY BOARD IS CREATED. YES NO Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 21st day of January, A.D. 1997, and to be presented for final passage on the 49t )of Febru )D. 1997. ayor ATTEST: )kAL)P� 1�aL�— City Clerk 6 Passed and adopted on final reading this 4th day of February, A..D 1997. Mayor �— ATTEST{: (� City Clerk 7