CHARTER OF THE CITY OF BRIDGEPORT
CHAPTER 1 Section 1. General Provisions.
The corporation now existing and known by the name of the city of Bridgeport shall be and remain a body politic and corporate by said name, and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and be capable of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, in all actions and suits whatsoever and of purchasing, receiving, accepting, holding and conveying, in fee simple or otherwise, any and all property, real or personal; and may and shall have a common seal with power to alter the same at pleasure; and shall have and continue to exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers privileges and franchises now belonging to, and shall be subject to all the duties, liabilities and obligations, now resting upon, said corporation, except as herein otherwise expressly provided. The city shall continue to possess all the rights, immunities, powers, privileges and franchises granted to it and shall be subject to all the duties, liabilities and obligations imposed upon it under the provisions of any special act of the Connecticut General Assembly which provisions are not inconsistent with this charter, irrespective of whether such acts are specifically referred to in this charter.
Section 2. Rights, liabilities and property of the town of Bridgeport.
All property and rights of every description that at any time belonged to the town of Bridgeport, or were vested in said town and that were transferred to the city of Bridgeport, shall continue to belong to the city and be vested in the city, and said city shall be liable in place of said town in respect to all liabilities, debts, and obligations that at any time were owing from said town.
Section 3. Town obligations imposed on city.
All burdens and all expenses of the town and city of Bridgeport shall be borne by said city, and it shall continue to perform all the duties and have and exercise all the rights, powers and privileges of and relative to all matters by law conferred upon towns, and all laws of the state imposing such duties, burdens and expenses and conferring such rights, powers and privileges upon towns are hereby made applicable to and operative upon said city.
Section 4. Taxation liability of inhabitants and property.
All of the inhabitants and property within the limits of the city of Bridgeport shall be liable to taxation to defray all the burdens and expenses of the city of Bridgeport.
Section 5. Money payable to the town of Bridgeport.
The town of Bridgeport is exempted from the operation of all laws of the state requiring moneys to be paid to towns, or to the treasurers or other officers of towns, and in said town all such moneys shall be paid to the treasurer of the city of Bridgeport; and all state, city, and town officers, or other persons or corporations who are required by law to pay money to towns or to the treasurers and other officers of towns, are authorized and directed to pay to the treasurer of said city of Bridgeport all moneys to which the town of Bridgeport, or the treasurer or other officers of said town are or shall be enTitled.
Section 6. Requisites of notice by publication.
All notices required by this charter or by any ordinance to be made by publication may be published in any daily or weekly newspaper printed in the English language and having a circulation in the city of Bridgeport of more than five thousand copies of each edition, upon such terms and conditions as the city council may prescribe by ordinance. The publication of any such notice once in any such paper shall be legal publication.
Section 7. Severability.
If any provision of this charter is held invalid, the other provisions of the charter shall not be affected thereby. If the application of the charter or any of its provisions to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the application of the charter and its provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Section 8. Catchlines.
The catchlines of the several sections of this Charter printed in bold face type are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the sections and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections, nor as any part of such sections.
Section 9. Boundaries.
The territorial boundaries of the City of Bridgeport shall be established in the manner provided by law.
CHAPTER 2 Section 1. Municipal Elections.
(a) A meeting of the electors for the election of town and city officers shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each odd numbered year, and shall constitute the municipal election referred to in this charter.
(b) At the municipal election held in November 1999 and quadrennially thereafter there shall be elected a Mayor, who shall hold office for the term of four years from the first of December next succeeding.
(c) At the municipal election held in November 1999 and quadrennially thereafter there shall be elected a City Clerk, who shall hold office for the term of four years from the first day of December next succeeding.
(d) At the municipal election held in November 1999 and quadrennially thereafter there shall be elected a Town Clerk, who shall hold office for the term of four years from the first day of December next succeeding.
(e) At each municipal election there shall be elected six sheriffs, who shall be officers of the city and shall hold their respective offices for the term of two years from first day of December next succeeding.
(f) At each election, a plurality of votes cast shall elect.
(Amended 11/3/98; effective 11/2/99)
Section 2. Officers to be residents and registered voters.
All officers of the city, elected or appointed under the provisions of the charter, shall be residents and registered voters of the city of Bridgeport.
Section 3. Absence or Disability of Mayor; Vacancy in Office of Mayor; Special Election.
(a) In the event that the mayor is temporarily absent or temporarily disabled and is, because of such absence or disability, unable to perform the duties of his office, the president of the city council shall possess all of the powers and perform all of the duties of the mayor until the mayor is able to act.
(b) In the event that a vacancy occurs, for any reason, in the office of mayor, the president of the city council shall act as mayor, until the office of mayor is filled as provided in subSection (c) of this section.
(c) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor, other than during the final year of such mayor's term of office, the city council shall cause a special election for the office of mayor to be held not less than 120 nor more than 150 days from the date that such vacancy occurs. The person elected mayor at such special election shall take office on the 7th calendar day following his/her election and shall serve the unexpired portion of the term vacated. In the event the vacancy occurs during the final year of the mayor's term, the president of the city council shall become mayor and serve for the unexpired portion of the term vacated.
Section 4. Vacancies in office of city clerk and town clerk.
(a) Whenever a vacancy occurs, for any reason, in the office of the city clerk or town clerk, the assistant city clerk, or the designated assistant town clerk, as the case may be, shall possess all of the powers and perform all of the duties of the city clerk or town clerk until such vacancy is filled as provided in subSection (b) of this section.
(b) Within thirty (30) days of the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of the city clerk or town clerk the city council shall meet and elect a new officer who shall serve for the unexpired portion of the term vacated. Any person elected pursuant to the provisions of this subSection shall be a registered voter and a member of the same political party as the person vacating such office.
Section 5. Vacancy in an elective city office.
Unless otherwise provided in this charter, or the general statutes, any vacancy in an elective city office shall be filled, for the unexpired portion of the term, by the city council. The person filling such office shall be a registered voter and a member of the same political party as the person vacating such office.
Section 6. Notice of Appointments and Elections; Certain officers to be sworn and give bonds.
(a) Whenever a person is appointed or elected to any office, including membership on any board or commission, the authority responsible for such appointment or election shall give written notice of the appointment or election to the city clerk.
(b) All elected and appointed officials of the city shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their respective duties. The person administering such oath shall file a certificate thereof, under their hand, which certificate shall be recorded in the office of the city clerk.
(c) The city clerk, assistant city clerk, town clerk, assistant town clerks, treasurer, sheriffs, city attorney, director of finance, fire chief and such officials as the city council may, by ordinance, direct shall severally give bonds, with surety, in such amount, manner and form as may be prescribed by ordinance, for the faithful discharge of their respective duties; and in the case of the refusal or neglect of any such officer to give such bonds, said office shall thereupon become vacant.
Section 7. Salaries of elected officials.
(a) The city council, by ordinance, shall have the power and authority to determine and change the salaries or other compensation of all elected officials of the city.
(b) During each even numbered year the city council shall review the compensation of all elected officials, established under the provisions of this section, taking into account the salaries paid to persons performing similar duties in other cities and towns and the private sector and all other relevant factors, and shall determine whether any adjustment should be made.
(c) Any actions taken under the provision of this section, including any increase in the compensation of elected officials shall be consistent with the Constitution and General Statutes of the State of Connecticut.
Section 8. Term of office.
All elected and appointed officers of the town and city shall hold their respective offices during the terms for which they shall be chosen and until the choice and qualification of their successor, except in case of their prior death, resignation, or removal from office.
Section 9. Vacancies in office; how filled.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, whenever a vacancy shall occur, for any reason, in any appointment office or in the membership of any of the boards and commissions, such vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment.
Section 10. Registrars of Voters.
There shall continue to be two Registrars of Voters who shall be elected citywide in the manner provided by law. Each registrar shall appoint a deputy who shall serve at the pleasure of the registrar. In the event of the death, removal or resignation of the registrar, the deputy registrar shall become registrar.
Section 11. Board of Admission of Electors.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 9-15a of the Connecticut General Statutes the board of admissions of electors shall consist of the town clerk and the registrars of voters.
Section 12. Sheriffs.
The sheriffs shall severally have, within the limits of the city, the same power and authority, and be liable to the same suits or penalties for neglect of their official duty, to all intents and purposes, as sheriffs by law now have and are, and the city shall be liable for the defaults of its sheriffs in their offices to the extent of the bond given to the city by such sheriffs.
Section 13. Board and Commission Members; Residency Requirement.
Except as otherwise provided in this charter, no person shall be appointed to any board or commission established by this charter who is not a resident and registered voter of the city.
Section 14. Subpoena Powers.
The presiding officers of the boards and commissions of the city shall have the power to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses before the respective bodies over which they preside, by the issuance of subpoenas and the administration of oaths in the manner and according to the rules governing the same in courts of justice, and when it shall be necessary to secure the attendance of witnesses before said boards or committees, the respective chairman shall have the right to apply to the proper authority for the issue of a capias ad testificandum for that purpose, as provided in number 461 of the special acts of 1907.
Section 15. Ethics Commission.
The city council shall provide, by ordinance, for the establishment of an ethics commission for the City of Bridgeport.
Section 16. Boards and Commissions: Membership.
No person shall be discriminated against, with respect to service on any board or commission of the City, on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, age, national origin, or ancestry. In making appointments to the various boards and commissions of the city, appointing authorities shall endeavor reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the city.
Section 17. Removal of Certain Officers.
(a) If the mayor believes that any person appointed to the office by him/her or any of his/her predecessors to be incompetent, or guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance, or violation of ethics as determined by the ethics commission, such mayor may, upon thirty (30) days written notice, summon the officer before him/her at a place and time specified in such summons to show cause why he/she should not be removed from office. Such summons shall include a written statement of the charges against the officer. If, after full hearing, the mayor finds that such officer is incompetent or guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance, or violation of ethics as determined by the ethics commission, he/she may remove such person from office.
(b) If the mayor or a majority of the members of the city council believes that any person appointed to office by the city council is incompetent or guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance, or violation of ethics as determined by the ethics commission, such mayor or council may, upon thirty (30) days written notice, summon the officer to appear before the city council at a place and time specified in such summons to show cause why he/she should not be removed from office. Such summons shall include a written statement of the charges against the officer. If, after full hearing, the city council finds that such officer is incompetent or guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance, or violation of ethics as determined by the ethics commission, it may, upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the city council remove such person from his/her office;
(c) The official charged shall have the right to appear at any proceeding conducted pursuant to the provisions of this section; to be represented by counsel; to confront and cross examine all witnesses and to produce witnesses in his own defense and to the same compulsory process available the mayor or the city council as the case may be. A transcript of any hearing shall be prepared and filed with the city clerk.
(d) Any official removed pursuant to the provisions of this Section may appeal such removal to the superior court in the manner provided in Section 51-197b of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(e) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to any officer or employee serving at the pleasure of the Mayor or to any employee covered by the provisions of Chapter 19 of this Charter.
CHAPTER 3 Section 1. Selection; Powers; Duties.
(a) The chief executive officer of the city shall be a mayor, elected pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2 of this charter.
(b) The mayor shall take care that the laws are executed and enforced within the city; shall be the conservator of the peace with the city; shall have and may exercise, within the limits of the city, all the powers given the sheriffs or other officers as provided by law; and shall exercise ultimate operational control of all departments and agencies of the city.
(c) The mayor shall devote the full time necessary to the duties of the office and shall be responsible for the proper performance of their duties by all the appointive officers and departments and employees.
(d) The Mayor shall be, ex-officio, a non-voting member of every board and commission of the city and shall have the right to attend all meetings of every board and commission of the city and to address it at any meeting. No board or commission shall have the authority to exclude the mayor from its meetings. The mayor shall have the power to convene a special meeting of any appointive Board, provided he/she specifies the reasons for calling the special meeting and the business to be transacted. Unless expressly provided for in this charter or the ordinance creating the board or commission, the mayor shall have no right to vote at any such meeting. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the Planning and Zoning Commission; the Zoning Board of Appeals or any other board or commission whose decisions are appealable to the superior court based on the record before such board or commission.
(e) It shall be the duty of the mayor to recommend the adoption of all such measures connected with police, fire, and public safety, public health and social services, public facilities, planning and economic development, finances, policy and management of the city, and the improvements of its government, and improvements all of which shall within ten days thereafter, be entered in the records of the city council. It shall be the further duty of the mayor to fill, by appointment, any vacancies in office in all cases in which the Mayor is given by law the power to appoint.
(f) The Mayor shall have authority at any time to examine all data and property of the city in the possession of any officer, agency, department, commission, board, authority, employee or any other member of the municipal government, and may exercise this authority in person or through any other official appointed by the mayor for that purpose by written designation and authority.
(g) In addition to the powers enumerated herein, the Mayor shall have authority to perform such acts and duties as may be prescribed in this charter or by the laws of this state or the United States or by the ordinances of the city of Bridgeport.
(h) Subject to the availability of funds, the Mayor may appoint such assistants as the mayor deems necessary for the administration of the duties of the office of mayor.
(i) Any mayoral appointment to the positions listed below shall possess the requisite academic and professional qualifications generally recognized by professionals in the appropriate field: Directors of Finance, Office of Policy and Management, Health and Social Services, Public Facilities and Planning and Economic Development.
Section 2. Annual report of mayor.
In September of each year, the Mayor shall present an annual report showing the situation of the government, finances and improvements of the city of this chapter, to the city council. The annual reports of all administrative city officers and boards, shall be made to the Mayor on or before the fifteenth day of August in each year.
Section 3. Term of mayor.
The term of office of the mayor shall begin at 12:01 a.m., local time, on the first day of December following each mayoral election.
CHAPTER 4 Section 1. Duties of city clerk.
The city clerk shall make and keep true records of all the votes and proceedings of the city council and an index thereof in alphabetical order. The city clerk shall cause ordinances of the city to be published in the manner provided for by this charter and, when the same shall have been so published, shall enter upon the records of the city council a certificate of the fact of such publication. The city clerk shall cause to be served all notices of orders passed by the city council and make upon the records of the city council a return of service of such notices. The city clerk shall prepare the agenda for meetings of the city council in the manner provided in the rules of the city council. All such records hitherto kept or which may hereafter be kept shall be, in all courts evidence of the matters therein contained; and a certified copy of any such record, under the hands of the city clerk or assistant city clerk, shall be received in all courts as evidence of the same validity as the original record. The city clerk shall perform all such duties as may be required of said clerk by this charter, the laws of the State of Connecticut or by any order or vote of the city council or by any ordinance of the city.
Section 2. Appointment, powers and duties of assistant city clerk.
(a) The assistant city clerk shall devote said his/her entire time to the duties of the office and shall, in the absence or disability of the city clerk, have power to perform all the duties of said city clerk, and shall perform all other duties which may be imposed upon such assistant city clerk by order or vote of the city council or by ordinance of the city. All acts of the assistant city clerk and all records kept by him/her shall have the same validity and effect as acts and records of the city clerk.
(b) The assistant city clerk shall be in the classified service.
Section 3. City clerk and assistant to serve as clerks to committees; salaries.
(a) The city clerk and assistant city clerk shall be clerk of the city council and of all committees appointed by the city council.
(b) The city clerk shall receive a salary which shall be established pursuant to the provisions of this Charter. The salary of the assistant city clerk shall be established in the same manner as other city employees. Neither the city clerk nor the assistant city clerk shall be allowed to draw any other compensation, either directly or indirectly, from the city for performing the duties of such office.
Section 4. Duties of Town Clerk.
The town clerk shall possess all of the powers and perform all of the duties vested by law in the town clerks of towns.
Section 5. Assistant town clerks.
(a) There shall be one or more assistant town clerks who shall assist the town clerk in the performance of the duties of such office. They shall devote their entire time to the duties of the office. The town clerk shall designate one of the assistant town clerks who shall, in the absence or disability of the town clerk, have power to perform all the duties of the town clerk, and shall perform all other duties which may be imposed upon the assistant town clerk by law or by order or vote of the city council or by ordinances. All acts of the assistant town clerk and all records kept by them shall have the same validity and effect as acts and records of the town clerk.
(b) The assistant town clerks shall be in the classified service.
Section 6. Salary of town clerk; accounts; salary of assistant.
(a) The town clerk shall receive a salary which shall be established pursuant to the provision of this charter. The salaries of the assistant town clerks shall be established in the same manner as other city employees.
(b) The fees or compensation now or hereafter provided by the laws of this state to be paid to town clerks shall be collected by said town clerk, and all moneys collected by him/her, in accordance with said laws or by the charter or ordinances of the city, shall be deposited by said town clerk with the treasurer of said city and at the time of making each such deposit, the town clerk shall file with said treasurer a full statement of such receipts so deposited. The town clerk shall also keep a record of the receipts of the office of the town clerk, in such form as the treasurer may direct. The salaries of the town clerk and assistant town clerks shall be in lieu of all fees and other compensation.
CHAPTER 5 Section 1. Selection.
(a) The legislative body of the City shall be a city council consisting of twenty council members to be elected at each municipal election.
(b) At the city election in the odd-numbered years, two council members shall be elected from each aldermanic district by the electors of the city residing in such district and council members shall be residents and electors in the district which they represent. No resident of one council district shall vote for a council person of any district other than that in which he/she is registered.
(c) Council members shall serve for a term of two years from the first day of December next succeeding their election and until their successors are elected and have qualified.
(d) Whenever a vacancy occurs, for any reason, in the membership of the city council, such vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term by a majority vote of the city council members from the same political party as the council member vacating such office. If there are no other members from the same political party as the member vacating such office, the vacancy shall be filled by majority vote of the whole number of council members. No person shall be elected to fill a vacancy on the city council unless he/she is a resident and registered voter of the city and is a member of the same political party as the person vacating such office. No person shall be elected to fill a vacancy in the office of any council member unless he/she is also a resident and registered voter in the same council district as the person vacating such office.
Section 2. Reapportionment Procedure and Districting.
(a) On or before the fifteenth day of February next following the year in which the decennial census of the United States is taken, the city council shall, by ordinance, establish ten districts which shall be effective on the first day of January next succeeding. Such districts shall be established in conformity with provisions of the general law and by making each such district as equal in population to each other such district as possible, taking into consideration senate and assembly district lines and natural boundaries and divisions.
(b) If the city council fails to adopt a plan of districting by the first day of July next following the year in which the decennial census of the United States is taken, there shall be created a commission on redistricting composed of six members, three of whom shall be appointed by the leader of the majority party on the city council and three of whom shall be appointed by the leader of the minority party in the city council. In the event that there is only one party on the city council, the minority party members shall be appointed by the registrar of voters whose party is not represented on the city council. Such commission shall forthwith prepare and, not later than the first day of December following its appointment, adopt a plan of districting consistent with the principles set forth in subSection (a) of this section. The affirmative votes of at least four members of such commission shall be required in order to adopt a plan of districting.
(c) A plan of districting adopted pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall remain in effect until the first day of January following the decennial census of the United States.
(d) The city council shall provide suitable polling places in such districts and shall define the boundaries of the area to be served by each polling place. The town clerk, registrar of voters and all other officers of the city shall perform the duties required of them by law with respect to elections in the voting districts.
(e) Notwithstanding the adoption of a plan of districting, council members shall continue to represent the districts from which they were elected for the balance of the term for which they were elected.
Section 3.
The mayor shall preside at the meetings of the city council, but shall have no vote therein except in case of a tie. The mayor shall not vote to break a tie in the election of city council president or adoption of an ordinance.
Section 4.
(a) At the beginning of each term of office the city council shall elect from among its members one council member to be president of the city council who shall serve for a term until November 30 of the next odd-numbered year or until the president of the council's successor has been elected. The president of the city council shall preside in the absence of the mayor, and when so presiding shall have a casting vote in case of a tie in addition to his/her vote as council member. In the absence of the mayor and the president of the city council at any meeting, the city council may choose one of its members to act as president for the occasion who, when so presiding, shall have a casting vote in case of a tie in addition to his/her vote as council member. In the event of the death, resignation or inability to act of the president of the city council, the council shall elect another president in his place.
(b) The city clerk and assistant city clerk shall be clerk of the city council and of all committees appointed by the city council.
Section 5.
(a) The city council shall hold regular meetings at such times as may be fixed by ordinance, and may be specially convened at any time by the mayor and shall be convened by him/her or upon the written request of three council members within a reasonable time after the they receive such request.
(b) The city council may determine its rules of proceeding in conformity to the general principles of parliamentary law, may punish members for disorderly behavior, and, after notice and hearing, may, by a two-thirds vote of all council members, expel a member for due cause. A quorum shall consist of eleven council members. At the request of any council member, the vote upon any question shall be taken by roll call vote.
(c) Whenever a regular or special meeting has been called, and no quorum is present, those present may, by vote, request the mayor or presiding officer, and said mayor or presiding officer shall, upon request, issue a warrant signed by him/her, directed to the sheriff of Fairfield County, the sheriff's deputy or any sheriff of the city of Bridgeport, to arrest and bring into such meeting the absent council members so as to make a quorum; and at any such meeting those present shall have the power to make any orders to compel the attendance of council members and to summon all necessary assistance.
(d) No vote shall be taken upon any ordinance, resolution or other measure in the city council until the same shall have been referred to and reported upon by an appropriate committee. A matter may be considered without being referred to a committee if the city council determines, by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting, that an emergency exists which requires immediate action on the matter.
(e) The presiding officers of the city council and of the several committees of the city council, shall have the power to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses before the respective bodies over which they preside, by the issue of subpoenas and the administration of oaths in the manner and according to the rules governing the same in courts of justice, and when it shall be necessary to secure the attendance of witnesses before said boards or committees, the respective chairman shall have the right to apply to the proper authority for the issue of a capias ad testificandum for that purpose, as provided in number 461 of the special acts of 1907.
(f) (1) No member of the city council shall take any official action, or attempt to influence the official action of another person, with respect to any vote, resolution, or matter whatever in which he/she has a direct or special pecuniary interest or where his property will be directly or especially affected thereby.
(2) Any member of the city council who, while holding office, shall directly or indirectly, take or bargain for any fee, compensation or reward to influence his vote or action upon any matter pending in the city council, shall be expelled from the city council.
(g) (1) No member of the city council shall, during the time in which he/she serves as a member of the city council, be appointed to or hold any office, the emoluments of which are to be paid from the city treasury.
(2) No person while holding office as a member of the city council shall be a member of any of the boards of the city, and no member of the city council shall be appointed to an office by any of such boards for which compensation is to be paid.
Section 6.
The city council may, by ordinance, provide for the establishment of a non-partisan office of legislative services to assist the members of the council in the performance of their official duties.
Section 7.
(a) The city council shall have power, by the concurrent vote of a majority of the whole number of council members, with the written approval of the mayor, or over the mayor's veto, as herein provided, to make, alter, and repeal ordinances not inconsistent with law, or the provisions of this charter and all amendments thereto, which shall be valid and operative within the limits of the city, for the government of Bridgeport and the management of its business, for the preservation of good order, peace and health, for the welfare and safety of its inhabitants and the protection and security of their property. It is authorized and empowered, by ordinance, to regulate, amplify and define the corporate powers. The city council may prescribe fines, penalties, and forfeitures of goods for the violation of any ordinance, and otherwise provide for the enforcement and collection of the same, when not inconsistent with law or this charter.
(b) The city council is authorized and empowered to enact ordinances concerning, regulating and controlling the production and emission of smoke from chimneys, smokestacks or other sources; concerning, regulating and controlling air pollution caused by the escape of soot, cinders, noxious or harmful or unnecessary acids, fumes, gases, vapors and fly ash or other substances or things; concerning, regulating or controlling the sale, use and consumption of fuels, tending to create or contributing to the creation of air pollution or the emission of smoke of unreasonable, unnecessary, harmful or offensive density; concerning, regulating or controlling the construction, reconstruction, repair, installation, maintenance, use of and additions to furnaces, stoves, ovens, incinerators, refuse-burning equipment and all fuel-burning plants, including all fuel-burning equipment and devices, and requiring notice to said city of all purchases and sales thereof; establishing or creating a bureau, office, department or other agency or agencies for the adequate enforcement of such ordinance or ordinances; establishing fees for the examination of plans and issuance of permits, inspection of furnaces or other fuel-burning equipment or devices, issuance of certificates of operation, and for other purposes as may be required in connection with the full and adequate enforcement of such ordinance or ordinances; providing fines and penalties for the violation of any provision of such ordinance of ordinances, within the terms and limits of the fines and penalties permitted to be imposed by law for violation of any ordinance of said city of Bridgeport.
(c) The city council shall have no authority to exempt the city of Bridgeport or any public or private industry or enterprise from the provisions of any ordinance or ordinances adopted pursuant to the provisions of subSection (b) of this section.
(d) The city council may, by ordinance, provide in what manner snow, ice, or sleet shall be removed from the sidewalk in front of any land or building in the city, and may, in like manner, provide for the collection of the expense of such removal, when done by the city, from the owner or occupier of the land or building adjoining any such sidewalk.
(e) If any person or persons, upon whom any of the orders specified in subSection (d) of this Section shall have been made, shall neglect to perform the requirements of any such order, in the manner and within the time specified in such order, the city engineer may execute such order at the expense of the city; and such expense, if such negligent person be only the occupant, and not the owner of such premises, may be collected from such person by warrant of distress, under the hand of the mayor of the city, in the same manner as town taxes are the law collected. If such negligent person shall be the owner of such premises, then such expense shall be and remain a lien or real encumbrance on such premises in favor of the city, and the payment thereof may be enforced by the city, in like manner, in all respects as is authorized and provided, in the case of benefits assessed for the layout or alteration of streets and highways and all the provisions in relation to liens and the collection of benefits, are incorporated into this Section and made applicable to such expenses, mutatis mutandis; provided, however, that the lien created by this action shall be good and valid, if the certificate thereof shall be lodged at any time within six months from the time of the commencement of the work for which such lien is claimed, and shall embrace any number of claims for work performed at different times during such period.
(f) The city council shall continue to have power to establish by ordinance a district or districts in the city within which no person shall erect, enlarge, or elevate any building, or addition to a building, unless the outer walls and the covering of the roof thereof be composed wholly of fireproof materials, and no person shall move any building from one place to another in said district, or from within said district outside the same, or from outside said district into the same, unless the exterior walls and the covering of the roof of such building be composed wholly of fireproof materials. If in the opinion of said city council public safety shall require, it may by ordinance establish rules and regulations concerning the compulsory use of fireproof materials, in whole or in part, in the construction within said fire limits of any building or part of building, provided any building of dimensions not greater than twelve feet square and one story in height above the ground, not having the outer walls and the covering of the roof composed of fireproof materials, may be so erected or moved, subject to the restriction that there shall be no chimney, fireplace, stove, furnace, or stovepipe in or attached to such building, and provided the city council may, by a two-thirds vote of the members thereof and the approval of the mayor thereto, remove the prohibitions herein authorized to be imposed concerning any building, upon written petition to the city council signed by each owner of property located within two hundred feet of the lot on which such building may stand or be proposed to be built.
(g) The city council may, by ordinance, regulate the moving of buildings through the streets of the city. No building shall be moved through any of the public streets or highways within the limits of the city, except in accord with such ordinance.
(h) Every person who shall violate or infringe or aid in violating or infringing any of the provisions or requirements contained in subsections (f) and (g) of this Section or any of the provisions, conditions, or regulations of any license granted or of any ordinance established by the city council, under any of the provisions of said sections, shall forfeit and pay to the city the sum of one hundred dollars, to be recovered by the city in any proper form of action; and any person who shall continue or aid in continuing any such violation or infringement, shall forfeit and pay to the city the sum of fifty dollars for each and every month during which such violation or infringement shall be continued, to be in like manner recovered; and, in addition thereto, such building or addition shall be assessed fourfold in the list of polls and ratable estate of the city.
Section 8.
In addition to such acts of the council as are required by the general statutes or by other provisions of this charter to be by ordinance, every act creating, altering or abolishing any agency, office or employment, or assigning or reassigning the same to departments, fixing compensation, 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.
Section 9.
(a) Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing and in the form required for final adoption. Every ordinance, except an ordinance making a general codification of ordinances, shall be confined to a single subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title. All ordinances which amend or repeal existing ordinances shall set forth in full the Section or subSection to be amended or repealed and if it is to be amended shall indicate matter to be omitted from the revised Section or subSection by enclosing the same in brackets and new matter by underscoring or capitalization. The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be: "Be it ordained by the city council of the City of Bridgeport."
(b) No ordinance, except an emergency ordinance as defined in subSection (d) of this section, shall be enacted unless a public hearing is first held before the city council or a committee thereof. It shall be the duty of the city clerk to publish the title and/or statement of purpose of every ordinance introduced, together with a notice of the time and place at of the public hearing thereon in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the city at least three days prior to the public hearing.
(c) Following the introduction of any ordinance it shall be the duty of the city attorney to examine it for form and legality and to provide a written opinion within sixty (60) days of the introduction of such ordinance. No ordinance shall be passed unless written opinion from the city attorney thereon is on file in the office of the city clerk.
(d) Emergency ordinances for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety may be passed, without a prior hearing at any regular meeting, special meeting or emergency meeting, provided, in the case of a special or emergency meeting, the subject thereof has been included in the notice for such meeting. An emergency ordinance shall contain a specific statement of the emergency. A two-thirds affirmative vote of the members present and voting shall be necessary for the adoption of an emergency ordinance.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this charter, every adopted ordinance shall become effective at the expiration of thirty (30) days after passage unless another date is specified therein.
(f) Every ordinance after passage shall be given a serial number, printed in the journal, and recorded by the city clerk in a book to be kept for that purpose which shall be properly indexed. All ordinances, except an ordinance making a general codification of ordinances, for the violation of which a penalty is imposed or which impose any burden on or limit the use of private property shall be published by the city clerk once in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the city, within thirty days of their passage, in the same manner and form as provided in Chapter One, Section 6, of this charter.
(g) Not later than July 1, 1993, there shall be prepared under the direction of the city attorney a codification of all ordinances in force, eliminating all obsolete and conflicting provisions. Said codification shall be passed by the council as a single ordinance. Upon its passage the city clerk shall cause it to be published in loose-leaf form. A similar recodification shall be prepared, passed and published as above provided, every ten years thereafter. Copies of all ordinances shall be printed as promptly as possible after their passage in the same loose-leaf form as the codification, for distribution.
Section 10.
(a) All elections or appointments to any office or position by the city council or of any board established by this charter or by ordinance, shall be by roll call vote; and the person receiving a majority of the whole, with the limitations herein provided, shall be elected. In case of a tie vote for any officer to be elected by the city council or by any board, the mayor shall have the casting vote.
(b) No session of the city council for the purpose of electing to any office shall be held on less than three days' notice, except as in this charter is otherwise provided.
Section 11.
Every affirmative vote, and every resolution, order or ordinance which passes the city council shall upon final passage be transmitted to the mayor, who shall either approve it, in which case it shall become operative and effectual, or disapprove it, in which case the mayor shall within twenty-one (21) days after it is transmitted to him/her, return it to the city council with a statement of objections; and after such statement has been read in said board, another vote shall be taken on such vote, resolution, order or ordinance, and if it passes the city council by a two-thirds vote of the whole number of council members, it shall become operative and effectual without the approval of the mayor. If any vote, resolution, order or ordinance which passes the city council shall not be either approved or disapproved by the mayor within twenty-one days after the same shall have been transmitted, it shall thereupon become operative and effectual without each approval. Any disapproval pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be filed with the city clerk not later than the close of business on the twenty-first day after the matter is transmitted to the mayor. In the event that such twenty-first day falls on a day when the city clerk's office is closed the period for the mayor to act and to file such disapproval shall be extended until the close of business on the next day when the city clerk's office is open for business.
Section 12. Printing of city council proceedings.
The city clerk shall cause the proceedings of the city council to be prepared in journal form and shall cause as many copies of the official proceedings to be prepared the city council as may be required. Such publication shall be the only legal publication of said official proceedings.
Section 13. Majority and Minority Leaders.
As used in this chapter, the term "majority leader" shall refer to the leader selected by the council members from the party having the largest number of members on the city council and "minority leader" shall mean the leader selected by the council members from the party or parties other than the one having the largest number of members on the city council.
CHAPTER 6 Section 1. Department of Policy and Management; Director; Powers and Duties.
(a) There shall be an department of policy and management which shall be responsible for budget analysis, development and administration; operations planning and improvements; program performance evaluation and monitoring; management improvements for all boards, commissions and departments of the city; intergovernmental relations and such other functions as the mayor or the city council may, from time to time, assign to it.
(b) The head of the department shall be a director of policy and management who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the mayor. The director shall hold a degree in public administration or management, planning, business administration, government, political science, economics, finance or a similar field or shall possess an equivalent combination of education and experience. The director may, with the approval of the mayor, appoint a deputy director who shall serve at the pleasure of the director. The heads of the various units of the department of policy and management shall be appointed by the director of policy and management, with the approval of the mayor, and shall serve at the pleasure of the director.
(c) The director of policy and management shall be responsible for the general supervision of the operations and management of the several units of the department of policy and management. He/she shall advise and assist the mayor, the city council and the boards, commissions and departments of the city with respect to matters within the jurisdiction of the department of policy and management. The director shall be responsible for the preparation of the department's budget, the supervision of all employees of the department and the preparation of an annual report on the activities of the department of policy and management.
(d) The director of policy and management shall compile the operating and capital budgets for the mayor and shall advise and assist the mayor, the city council and the boards, commissions and departments of the city in matters relating to budget preparation, adoption and administration. The director shall have full power to require each city officer or employee to furnish all the information which they may possess, and to exhibit to all books, contracts, resolutions, reports and other papers and documents in his department or in their possession, requisite, in the director's opinion to required to discharge the director's duties, and all city officers shall furnish and exhibit the same in such manner and form as may be prescribed by said director.
Section 2. Certification of Funds.
The director of policy and management shall certify as to the availability of appropriated funds for expenditure and for the payment of every obligation arising by reason of proposed purchases or contracts of every budgeted agency of the city, except purchases or contracts made by the board of education and no purchase order or contract shall be the valid obligation of the city of Bridgeport unless it bears such certificate of the director.
CHAPTER 7 Section 1. Law Department; Department Head.
There shall be a Law Department, the head of which shall be a city attorney appointed pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 of this chapter.
Section 2. Appointment of City Attorney; Deputy City Attorney; Assistant City Attorneys; Associate City Attorneys.
(a) The mayor, in the month of December of each odd numbered year shall appoint a city attorney for a term of years equal to that of the mayor's from the first day of January next succeeding such appointment. The compensation of the city attorney shall be determined by the city council from time to time by ordinance.
(b) The mayor may appoint a deputy city attorney who shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor.
(c) The mayor may appoint such assistant city attorneys to such positions as have been created by the city council. Such assistant city attorneys shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor. The compensation for the deputy city attorney and the assistant city attorney shall be determined by the city council from time to time by ordinance.
(d) The deputy city attorney and the assistant city attorneys shall be in the unclassified service.
(e) Subject to the provisions of chapters nine and seventeen of this charter, the city attorney may employ and appoint such associate city attorneys as he/she requires. Such associate city attorneys shall be in the non-competitive division of the classified service. No associate city attorney shall engage in the private practice of law.
Section 3. Supervision of Law Department.
The city attorney shall have the general supervision of the operation and management of Law Department. The city attorney shall be responsible for the presentation of a consolidated budget to the director of policy and management, the supervision of all employees of the department and the preparation of an annual report of the activities of Law Department.
Section 4. Duties of Law Department; Retention of Outside Counsel.
The Law Department shall be the legal counsel to every board, commission, department and officer of the city and shall represent the city in the prosecution and defense of all civil actions. When the interests of the city require, the city attorney may engage any necessary outside counsel, experts or assistants; provided that funds are available for such purpose. If a conflict arises between different boards, commissions, departments, officers, or between any of them and city council, the city attorney shall assign different attorneys within the Law Department to represent each said governmental body in conflict and said attorneys shall represent them in the manner required by all rules of professional conduct of attorneys unless the city attorney determines that the only manner in which a conflict can be avoided is by retention of private legal counsel for one or more of such governmental bodies, in which case the city attorney shall select said counsel. Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, no board, commission, officer or department of city shall retain legal counsel to represent it in any matter without the approval of the city attorney.
CHAPTER 8 Section 1.
(a) There shall be a Department of Finance, which shall be responsible for all matters relating to accounting, assessments, collections, financial reporting, fund custody and disbursement, debt administration, investments, purchasing, revenue planning and the levy and collection of taxes. Such department shall include the offices of comptroller, tax assessor, tax collector and city treasurer, internal audit, and any other offices or functions which the mayor or the city council may, from time to time, assign to it.
(b) The head of the department shall be a director of finance who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the mayor. The director shall have a bachelors degree in public administration or management, business administration, economics, accounting, finance or other appropriate field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience and shall be knowledgeable concerning all aspects of municipal finances and financial management systems, operations and procedures. The director may, with the approval of the mayor, appoint a deputy director of finance, who shall serve at the pleasure of the director. Unless otherwise expressly provided in this charter, the heads of the various offices of the department of finance shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the mayor. No person shall serve as director or deputy director of finance and 1) treasurer; 2) tax assessor; 3) tax collector.
(c) The director of finance shall have the general supervision and management of the several units of the department of finance. They shall advise and assist the mayor, city council and the boards, commissions and department of the city relative to financial matters including bonding. The director of finance is authorized to transfer positions and employees between units of the department as the need arises and funds are available. The director shall be responsible for the presentation of the department's budget to the director of policy and management, the supervision of all employees of the department and the preparation of an annual report on the activities of the entire department of finance, which shall include the annual reports of the tax assessor, tax collector and city treasurer.
(d) The director of finance shall, to the extent permitted by law, supervise and coordinate the activities of the comptroller, tax assessor, tax collector, city treasure, and internal audit. He/she shall have the power to inspect and audit the books and records of such officers and may require them to provide such reports and information as he/she may require in order to discharge the duties of his office. The director of finance shall have the power to establish uniform systems, policies and procedures for such offices. He/she may, from time to time, recommend to the mayor, the city council and the responsible officer or officers any measures which he/she believes are necessary in order to improve the operation of any such office.
(e) Copies of all reports and recommendations of the city's internal auditor shall be provided to the city council or a committee designated by it.
Section 2.
The director of finance shall be responsible for the disbursement of all moneys and for ensuring that appropriations are not exceeded. He/she shall keep or cause to be kept complete books of accounts showing all financial transactions of the several departments of the city and shall prepare such reports as may be required by the city council, the mayor or the director of policy and management. He/she shall certify as to the funds appropriated, encumbered and expended during each fiscal year and shall audit, or cause to be audited, every invoice, bill or claim presented for payment. He/she shall have full power to require each city officer or employee to furnish all of the information which he/she may possess, and to exhibit to him/her all books, contracts, resolutions, reports or other papers and documents in his/her department or possession, requisite, in the opinion of said director to enable him/her to discharge his duties, and all city officers shall furnish and exhibit the same in such manner and form as he/she may prescribe. Said director shall sign warrants on the treasurer of the city of the payment of all invoices, bills and claims upon approval of the invoices by the city officer having authority to give such approval, except invoices, bills and claims of the board of education and checks for the payment of debt and interest of the city, and approval of such invoices, bills and claims by the city council shall not be required to authorize said warrants, and the treasurer of the city shall accept and authorize the payment of warrants drawn in accordance with the provisions of this act. He/she shall audit, or cause to be audited, such departmental accounts as he/she shall consider should be so audited.
Section 3. Tax Collector.
(a) The tax collector shall be in the classified service and shall be selected pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 17 of this charter except as follows:
(1) The tax collector shall be experienced in business or public administration, financial management and collection systems and procedures and shall be thoroughly familiar with the procedures, powers and duties of the tax collector under the charter and the general statutes of the State of Connecticut. Nothing in this Section shall preclude the civil service commission from establishing greater qualifications for the position of tax collector, provided that such qualifications shall not include a requirement of prior service with the city of Bridgeport. Any qualification so adopted shall be based solely on the knowledge, skills and experience required for the position.
(2) The examination for the position of tax collector shall be open to any person possessing the minimum qualifications established for such position regardless of whether the applicant is currently or has ever been an employee for the city of Bridgeport. The examination shall be open and competitive and shall not be promotional.
(3) Whenever a vacancy arises in the position of tax collector, the Personnel Director shall certify to the mayor the name of the (3) candidates standing highest upon the employment list for such position. If no such list exists, the personnel director shall within 150 days of the creation of the vacancy, hold a test for such position and shall, upon the establishment of an employment list, certify to the mayor the names of the (3) persons standing highest thereon.
(4) Within sixty (60) days of receipt of the certification required by subSection (a)(3) of this section, the mayor shall appoint one (1) of the persons so certified as the tax collector and shall notify the civil service commission, the director of finance of such appointment. The mayor may designate the time when such appointment shall take effect, provided it shall not be more than ninety (90) days from the date of his receipt of the certification. Unless otherwise stated such appointment shall be effective immediately.
(5) The person so appointed shall hold office for a term of five (5) years from the effective date of this appointment but may be removed for just cause. A person holding the position of tax collector may, only within 150 days of the end of his/her term, be reappointed by the mayor for an additional term of five (5) years beginning at the expiration of such official's current term, without the need for further examination or testing. There shall be no limit on the number of times a person may be reappointed pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(6) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of tax collector, the mayor may appoint an acting tax collector. The person so appointed shall possess all of the qualifications established for the position of tax collector. Any provision of this charter to the contrary notwithstanding, the person so appointed may serve as acting tax collector until the position is filled as provided in this section.
Section 4. Tax Assessor.
(a) The tax assessor shall be in the classified service and shall be selected pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 17 of this charter except as follows:
(1) The tax assessor shall be experienced in business or public administration, financial management and real estate assessment and valuation, and shall be thoroughly familiar with the procedures, powers and duties of the tax assessor under the charter and the general statutes of the state of Connecticut. Nothing in this Section shall preclude the civil service commission from establishing greater qualifications for the position of tax assessor, provided that such qualifications shall not include a requirement of prior service with the city of Bridgeport. Any qualification so adopted shall be based solely on the knowledge, skills and experience required for the position.
(2) The examination for the position of tax assessor shall be open to any person possessing the minimum qualifications established for such position regardless of whether the applicant is currently or has ever been an employee of the city of Bridgeport. The examination shall be open and competitive and shall not be promotional.
(3) Whenever a vacancy arises in the position of tax assessor, the personnel director shall certify to the mayor the name of the three (3) candidates standing highest upon the employment list for such position. If no such list exists, the personnel director shall within 150 days of the creation of the vacancy, hold a test for such position and shall, upon the establishment of an employment list, certify to the mayor the three (3) names of the persons standing highest thereon.
(4) Within sixty (60) days of receipt of the certification required by subSection (a)(3) of this section, the mayor shall appoint the person so certified as the tax assessor and shall notify the Civil Service Commission, the director of finance of such appointment. The mayor may designate the time when such appointment shall take effect, provided it shall not be more than ninety (90) days from the date of his receipt of the personnel director's certification. Unless otherwise stated such appointment shall be effective immediately.
(5) The person so appointed shall hold office for a term of five (5) years from the effective date of his appointment but may be removed for just cause. A person holding the position of tax assessor may, only within 150 days of the end of his term, be reappointed by the mayor for an additional term of (5) years beginning upon the expiration of the assessor's current term, without the need for further examination or testing. There shall be no limit on the number of times a person may be reappointed pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(6) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of tax assessor, the mayor may appoint an acting tax assessor. The person so appointed shall possess all of the qualifications established for the position of tax assessor. Any provision of this charter to the contrary notwithstanding, the person so appointed may serve as acting tax assessor until the position is filled as provided in this section.
Section 5.
The tax assessor shall have all the powers and shall perform all the duties imposed on assessors in towns of this state, together with such other duties as are imposed by this charter. At the request of the mayor or city council the assessor shall report in writing concerning any matters pertaining to the duties of his office.
Section 6.
(a) The tax assessor shall have the power to summon to appear before said assessor within sixty days after November first in each year any person or persons whom he/she may have reason to believe to be the owner of any property taxable in said city concerning which additional information shall be desired for the purpose of making an assessment. Such person or persons shall be required to furnish under oath such information to the tax assessor. Notice of such summons shall be sent in writing by mail, postage prepaid and registered, and the person so summoned shall appear within one week from the date of the sending of such summons unless directed to appear at a later date. Such notice shall state clearly the purpose of such summons and the property concerning which information is desired. Failure to comply therewith, in addition to any penalty that may be provided by law, shall debar the right of such person to appeal to the board of tax review and to the superior court, under the statutes in such case provided, from any action which the tax assessor may take in the premises, provided, if the board of tax review shall decide that such failure to appear before the tax assessor was not willful or was excusable, such appeal may be allowed if made within the time as provided by the general statutes.
(b) The town clerk shall file with the assessor daily, a complete abstract of all deeds and conveyances of land or of personal property or of certificates of intention to transfer personal perperty placed in this custody for record during the day preceding.
Section 7.
(a) The tax collector shall perform all the duties and shall have all the powers prescribed by the general statutes and by this charter. He/she shall present at such other times as the mayor or city council may require, a list of all delinquent taxes owed to the city, together with the name and address of each delinquent taxpayer, with the amount of the tax and, separately, of interest and other charges thereon due.
(b) He/she shall give bond to the city in the amount established by ordinance. The city council may require other persons employed by the collector, who handle the funds of the city to give bond in the like manner in such amount as it may determine. Each such bond shall be conditioned on the faithful performance of the duties of the official or employee for which it shall have been given.
Section 8.
The tax assessor and the tax collector shall make such rules and regulations for the conduct of their respective offices as may be approved by the director of finance.
Section 9.
The tax collector shall present to the city attorney, not later than the fifteenth (15) day of December of each year, a list of all personal taxes which shall have been due and unpaid for six months, and all taxes and assessments secured by a lien which are due and unpaid and the city attorney shall, forthwith, upon receiving such list, bring any action necessary to obtain judgment upon such overdue taxes assessments and execution thereon. Nothing in this Section shall preclude the tax collector from more frequently referring matters to the city attorney.
Section 10.
(a) There shall continue to be a board of tax review, which shall consist of three members appointed by the mayor, with the advice and consent of the city council, as provided in this section. Not more than two members of the board of tax review shall be members of the same political party. The board of tax review so constituted shall possess all of the powers and shall annually perform all of the duties in and for the city imposed by law on the board of tax review. The board of tax review shall keep a record of its actions and activities and shall, on request, report, in writing, to the mayor and city council concerning the performance of its duties.
(b) During the month of December, annually the mayor shall, with the advice and consent of the city council, appoint a member of the board of tax review to serve for a term of three years from the first day of January next succeeding and until his successor is appointed and has qualified. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment of the mayor, with the advice and consent of the city council, for the balance of the term vacated.
Sections 11. Treasurer.
(a) In December of each odd-numbered year the mayor shall appoint a treasurer, who shall serve for a term of two (2) years, from the first day of January next succeeding. Vacancies in the office of the city treasurer shall be filled by the mayor for the unexpired portion of the term of the person vacating the office. The treasurer shall be experienced in and knowledgeable concerning accounting; municipal finances; investments; department management; and cash revenue and management. The treasurer shall devote his full time to the duties of this office.
(b) The treasurer shall have the same powers as treasurers of towns and shall be accountable to the city in the same manner and to the same extent as town treasurers. He/she shall be custodian of all funds belonging to the city and shall deposit the same in any national bank, state bank or trust company within the state in such proportions and under such conditions as the treasurer shall determine the interests of the city require, provided any interest or other consideration of value allowed on deposits shall belong to said city. The treasurer shall comply with all regulations, orders and ordinances consistent herewith which may be made by the city council respecting the duties of said office.
(c) In the event the treasurer is absent of unable to act, the mayor may designate a person to act as treasurer until such time as the treasurer returns or is able to act.
Section 12. Public Purchases.
There shall be, within the department of finance, an office of public purchases, which shall be headed by a purchasing agent appointed pursuant to the provisions of Section 13 of this chapter. The office of public purchases shall purchase all articles and materials for the use and needs of all departments, boards, committees and officers of the city, including the board of education, park board and library board, provided, such departments, boards, committees and officers may prescribe the dimensions, composition, quality, character and general standards of the articles and materials required by them, respectively.
Section 13.
(a) The position of purchasing agent shall continue to be in the classified civil service. All vacancies in the position of Purchasing Agent filled after the adoption of this charter shall be filled in the manner provided in subSection (b) of this section.
(b) The purchasing agent shall be selected pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 17 of this charter except as follows:
(1) The qualifications for the position of Purchasing Agent shall not include a requirement of prior service with the city of Bridgeport. Any qualification for such position shall be based solely on the knowledge, skills and experience required for the position.
(2) The examination for the position of purchasing agent shall be open to any person possessing the minimum qualifications established for such position regardless of whether the applicant is currently or has ever been an employee of the city of Bridgeport. The examination shall be open and competitive and shall not be promotional.
(3) Whenever a vacancy arises in the position of purchasing agent, the civil service commission shall certify to the mayor the name of the candidate standing highest upon the employment list for such position. If no such list exists, the personnel director shall, within 150 days of the creation of the vacancy, hold a test for such position and shall, upon the establishment of an employment list, certify to the mayor the name of the person standing highest thereon.
(4) Within sixty (60) days of receipt of the certification required by subSection (a)(3) of this section, the mayor shall appoint the person so certified as the Purchasing Agent and shall notify the Civil Service Commission, the director of finance and the Board of Public Purchases of such appointment. The mayor may designate the time when such appointment shall take effect, provided it shall not be more than ninety (90) days from the date of his receipt of the personnel director's certification. Unless otherwise stated such appointment shall be effective immediately.
(5) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of purchasing agent, the mayor may appoint an acting purchasing agent. The person so appointed shall possess all of the qualifications established for the position of purchasing agent. Any provision of this charter to the contrary notwithstanding, the person so appointed may serve as acting purchasing agent until the position is filled as provided in this section.
Section 14.
(a) There shall be a board of public purchases, consisting of the director of finance and four members appointed by the mayor. The members appointed by the mayor shall be knowledgeable concerning or experienced in procurement, finance, business or public administration or other disciplines related to the work of the department. In December of each year the mayor shall appoint two persons to serve for a term of two years from the first day of January following their appointment and until a successor is appointed and has qualified. The board shall elect one of the members appointed by the mayor as President and may elect such other officers as it deems necessary. The members of the board shall serve without compensation.
(b) The board of public purchases shall: 1) advise the city concerning the affairs of the office of public purchases; 2) approve the city's annual purchasing policy statement; 3) approve all procedural rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this part; and 4) hear such appeals from the decisions of the purchasing agent as may be authorized by law.
Section 15.
(a) The city council shall, by ordinance, provide for the competitive procurement of goods and services for use by the city and its agencies, including, but not limited to, authorized procurement methods: advertising and solicitation of bids and proposals and action thereof: consultation with the effected department or departments: award and execution of contracts: bonds: exclusions from competitive procurement: waiver of competitive procurement requirements, appeals from decisions of the purchasing agent: disposition of surplus property and such other matters as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this part.
(b) The purchasing agent may, with the approval of the board of public purchases, adopt procedural rules and regulations concerning the operation of the office of public purchases. No such rule shall be inconsistent with the ordinances adopted pursuant to subSection (a) of this section.
CHAPTER 9 Section 1. Budgeted Agency Defined.
As used in this chapter, "budgeted agency" shall mean each board, commission, department, officer or agency, of the city to which funds are appropriated.
Section 2. Fiscal Year; Certain fiscal requirements.
The fiscal year of the city shall begin on the first day of July in each year and end on the last day of the succeeding June, both days inclusive.
Section 3.
(a) No money, other than that appropriated pursuant to Section 5 of this chapter shall be expended for any purpose, unless a special appropriation therefore by the city council shall first be approved by a two-thirds vote, taken by yeas and nays, of all members of the city council. The city council shall have no power to make any such special appropriation unless the unappropriated revenues of the city are sufficient for the purpose, and the order or resolution making such special appropriation shall state specifically what the unappropriated revenues of the city thus appropriated consist of. No budgeted agency shall contract debts in excess of its appropriations, and if any such debt be so contracted it shall not be paid out of any future appropriation.
(b) If a special appropriation in excess of the unappropriated revenues of the city is required for any purpose, an estimate of the same shall be prepared by the director of policy and management with the approval of the mayor and submitted to the city council, at a special meeting called for that purpose, and the city council, at said meeting or any adjournment thereof, shall have power to make any such appropriation and to lay a special tax to meet the same; but no such appropriation shall be made unless a special tax is laid sufficient to cover the amount of excess of such appropriation over the unappropriated revenues of the city.
Section 4. City Council– Power to procure information.
The city council shall have full power to require the different city officers and employees to furnish all the information which they may possess and to exhibit to it all books, contracts, reports and other papers and documents in their respective departments, or in their possession, requisite, in the opinion of said board, to enable it to discharge the duties imposed upon it by this chapter and it is hereby made the duty of all the city officers to furnish and exhibit the same when so required.
Section 5. Budget; Mill Rate.
(a) The city council shall have the power to levy taxes on the polls and estates within the limits of the city for such purposes as the city is by law authorized. Every tax hereafter laid by the city council shall be laid upon the grand list of the city, which shall have been made according to law next before the laying of such tax.
(b) Each budgeted agency shall, on or before a date determined by the mayor, report to the office of policy and management an estimate of the amount of money required agency for the next ensuing fiscal year, giving details as far as practicable.
(c) Not later than the first Tuesday in April of each year, the mayor shall present to the city council a proposed budget for the ensuing fiscal year. The proposed budget shall include the following information: (1) an itemized statement of appropriations proposed by the mayor for current expenses, capital items and permanent improvements for each budgeted agency for the ensuing fiscal year together with comparative statements, in parallel columns of the requests made by the various budgeted agency of the appropriations and expenditures for the current and preceding fiscal years; the increase and decrease between the current and ensuing fiscal years in the appropriations recommend; and the expenditure estimates required by clause (c)(3) of this section; (2) an itemized statement of the taxes required and of the estimated revenues of the city from all other sources for the ensuing fiscal year with comparative statements, in parallel columns, of the taxes and other revenues for current and preceding fiscal years; of the increase and decrease estimated or proposed, and the revenue estimates required by clause (c)(3) of this section; (3) an estimate of the expenditures required by each budgeted agency for the fiscal year following the next ensuing fiscal year and an estimate of the taxes required and of the estimated revenues of the city from all other sources for the fiscal year following the next ensuing fiscal year; (4) a statement of the assumptions on which the estimates required by clause (c)(3) are based; and (5) such other information as the city council shall, by ordinance, require. The estimates and statements required by clauses (c)(3) and (c)(4) of this Section shall be advisory only.
(d) The city council shall have the following powers with respect to any item in the budget recommended by the mayor.
(1) It shall have the power to reduce or delete any item in the budget recommended by the mayor by a majority vote of the council members present and voting;
(2) It shall have the power to increase any item in said budget or add new items to said budget only on a two-thirds (2/3) affirmative vote of the entire membership of the council.
(e) Prior to taking final action on the proposed budget and mill rate the city council shall hold at least one public hearing at which members of the public shall be allowed to comment thereon.
(f) Not later than the seventh day after action on the budget is completed, the city council shall, by resolution, set a mill rate for the ensuing fiscal year, which shall, together with other sources of revenue, generate sufficient funds to support the budget adopted by the city council. Such resolution may be disapproved by the mayor in the manner set forth in subSection (e) of this section. For the purposes of this section, action on the budget shall be deemed to be completed when (1) the budget takes effect pursuant to subSection (h) of this section; or (2) the mayor approves the budget or it becomes effective without the mayor's approval pursuant to subSection (g) of this section; or (3) the city council completes action on any and all items disapproved by the mayor pursuant to subSection (g) of this section.
(g) The budget adopted by the city council as provided in subSection (b) shall be submitted to the mayor not later than the second Tuesday in May of each year. The mayor shall sign the adopted budget if he/she approves it, or within fourteen days after adoption of the budget by the city council as provided herein, the mayor may veto any action taken by the city council pursuant to subSection (d) of this section. The veto power of the mayor shall be that of a line item veto only, and any such veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the city council. If the mayor shall disapprove any action by the city council, he/she shall, no later than the close of business on the last day of said fourteen day period, return the proposed budget to the city council with a statement of objections. Thereupon, the president of the city council shall call a meeting of said council to be held no later than seven days after the receipt of the mayor's veto. At such meeting the mayor's statement of his reasons for disapproving any item shall be read to the city council and thereafter another vote shall be taken on such item and if it passes the city council by a two-thirds vote of the whole number of council members, it shall become operative and effectual without the approval of the mayor. If, within fourteen days after the adoption of a budget by the city council, as provided herein, the mayor neither signs the adopted budget nor disapproves any action of the city council, said budget shall become operative and effectual without such approval.
(h) If the city council fails to adopt the budget by the second Tuesday in May of any year, the budget proposed by the mayor shall become the budget of the city for the ensuing fiscal year.
(i) Transfers between line items of the adopted budget may be requested by the mayor, the director of policy and management or the head of any budgeted agency and be approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the council members present and voting. Such transfers may be disapproved in the manner set forth in Chapter 5 of this charter.
Section 6. Capital budget.
(a) Not later than the first day of November of each year, every budgeted agency of the city shall submit to the director of policy and management an estimate of the capital expenditures required in each of the next three fiscal years. The estimates shall be in such form and supported by such information as the director of policy and management shall prescribe. The director of policy and management shall review such estimates and shall develop, after consultation with the department of finance, a draft capital budget which shall consist of two parts: first, a three year capital improvement plan listing the capital projects required in each of the next three years; and second, an annual element listing programs to be funded during the next fiscal year and the source of such funding. The draft capital budget shall be submitted to the mayor not later than the first Tuesday in February annually.
(b) Not later than the first Tuesday in March of each year, the mayor shall submit a proposed capital budget to the city council. Such proposed capital budget shall contain the same elements as the draft capital budget and shall also identify those projects to be funded from the general fund budget and those which are to be funded from other sources.
(c) The city council shall solicit suggestions, comments and recommendations from city officials and the members of the public regarding the proposed capital budget and shall conduct at least one public hearing.
(d) Not later than the first Tuesday in May, the city council shall adopt the annual element of the capital budget, including a statement of the funding sources for all projects included in the annual element, and shall make such changes in the five year plan as it considers appropriate. The city council shall include in the general fund budget of the city sufficient funds to support all projects identified in the capital budget as being funded from such general fund.
(e) The city council may, by ordinance, prescribe the type and dollar value of the projects to be included in the draft capital budget, the proposed capital budget and the adopted capital budget.
(f) Any provision of this charter to the contrary notwithstanding, no bonds of the city shall be issued in support of any project which is not included in the capital budget unless a statement of the need for such project is first (a) signed by the mayor and filed with the city clerk; or (b) adopted by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the whole number of council members.
Section 7. Monthly Financial Report.
(a) Not later than the fourth Friday of each month, the Mayor shall submit the City Council a report showing: (1) budgeted and actual revenues up to the last day of the prior month; (2) budgeted and actual expenditures for each budgeted agency of the city up to the last day of the prior month; and (3) the projected budget surplus or deficit for the fiscal year. Such report shall also be filed in the office of the City clerk and copies made available to the public.
(b) The City council may, by ordinance, require that additional information be included in such report.
Section 8. Enterprise Funds.
(a) As used in this Section "enterprise fund" shall mean a fund used solely to support a specified activity or activities of a budgeted agency.
(b) The city council may, by ordinance, provide for the establishment and maintenance of one or more enterprise funds. Such ordinance shall specify the monies to be deposited in such fund and the activities to be supported by the fund and shall provide for the administration of such funds.
(c) The City Treasurer shall be the custodian of all enterprise funds and shall be responsible for investing them in same manner as other city funds.
(d) Expenditures form enterprise funds shall be included in the operating budget of the city and shall be subject to the same controls as other appropriations.
Section 9. Special Funds.
The city council may, by ordinance, regulate the establishment of and the accounting for grants, bond proceeds, trust and other special purpose funds.
Sections 10. Grants.
Each budgeted agency may apply for and with the approval of the mayor and city council, accept grants from federal, state and private sources to support the activities of such agency.
CHAPTER 10 Section 1.
(a) The city council of the city of Bridgeport, by vote of the majority of the whole number of council members may authorize the issuance of bonds for the use of the city of Bridgeport, the property of which are to be used for any public work or improvement of a permanent nature, the purchase or taking of land or interests in land, the improvement of land taken or acquired for such public work or improvements, the purchase of equipment of a lasting character and for any other purpose for which cities and towns are authorized by the general statutes to issue bonds. Bonds for a single purpose may be authorized and issued at one time or from time to time and bonds for two or more purposes may be consolidated into a single bond issue which may be sold at one time or from time to time, all as the city council shall determine. The city council shall determine or shall authorize the city treasurer or the mayor, to determine the date, maturities, interest rate or rates, form, manner of sale and other details of the bonds of each authorized bond issue but such bonds shall conform to the provisions of the applicable general statutes as to maximum term, serial maturities, authentication and maximum rate of interest.
(b) Bonds of the city of Bridgeport shall be signed by the mayor, treasurer and director of finance/comptroller of the city, provided that the city council may be permit such signatures to be executed with a facsimile of such signatures printed on the bonds. The coupons annexed to any bonds issued in coupon form shall bear the facsimile signatures of the mayor, treasurer and director of finance/comptroller. Any bonds of the city of Bridgeport and any coupons appended thereto, if properly executed, whether or not such execution shall be by manual signature or by the printing of facsimile signatures thereon shall be valid and binding according to their terms notwithstanding that, before the delivery thereof and payment therefor, any or all of such officers shall have for any reason ceased to hold office.
(c) Any premium received from the sale of bonds less the cost of preparing, issuing and selling such bonds, shall be used to pay the principal of the first of such bonds to mature. The proceeds of bonds when received shall be delivered to the city treasurer and shall be kept by him/her in separate accounts according to the purpose or purposes for which such bonds were authorized and, except for premium, shall be used solely for such purpose or purposes, provided, if there should be any accumulation of interest from the investment of the proceeds of such bonds pending the accomplishment of the specific purpose or purposes for which such bonds were issued, such interest may be placed in a capital account to be used for the purpose of reducing the bonded indebtedness of the city or to be used for any purpose for which bonds of the city could be issued. If a surplus remains from the proceeds of bonds issued for a particular purpose or purposes after such a purpose has been accomplished, the city council may authorize the use of such surplus bond proceeds for any purpose for which bonds of the city could be issued or for paying the principal of such bonds as they mature. The city council, by vote of a majority of the whole number of members, may declare that a purpose for which bonds of the city have been issued has been abandoned and thereupon the balance of the proceeds of such bonds available for such purpose shall be deemed surplus bond proceeds and may be used as hereinbefore in this Section provided.
(d) Nothing in this charter shall be deemed to affect adversely the validity of any of the outstanding bonds of the city of Bridgeport.
CHAPTER 11 Section 1.
There shall continue to be a board of appraisal of benefits and damages, composed of three electors of the city. The mayor, in December of each year, shall appoint a member of said board for the term of three years from the first day of January next succeeding. Not more than two members of such board shall be members of the same political party. In case any member of said board shall become disqualified by reason of interest in any public improvements in connection with which said board is to estimate benefits and damages, the may or shall appoint another person to take his place temporarily to perform his duties in respect to the particular improvement causing such disqualification, and no other, and no longer. The board may appoint a clerk from outside of its number, who shall receive such compensation as is established by ordinance.
Section 2.
(a) The board of appraisal of benefits and damages shall have the exclusive jurisdiction of appraising, assessing and apportioning all benefits and damages accruing or resulting to any persons from such public improvement, or from the construction or purchase of any sewer or sewers, or from any other public improvement in the city whatsoever which shall be ordered or determined upon by the city council, an in connection with which an appraisal of benefits and damages is required by this charter to be made.
(b) Before making any such appraisal of benefits and damages, the board of appraisal of benefits and damages shall give reasonable notice to all persons having an interest in any land affected by such public improvement, of the time and place it will meet for that purpose. A written or printed notice in the name of a majority of said board sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested to the usual place of abode of any person interested as aforesaid at least fourteen days before the time fixed in such notice for such meeting shall be reasonable and sufficient notice to such interested person. The board of appraisal of benefits and damages shall meet at the time and place designated in such notice and at such other times as it may adjourn to, and shall hear all parties in interest who may appear before it. It shall determine the person or persons who will be damaged by such taking of land or such public improvement, and the amount thereof in excess of any special benefits received; also the person or persons who will be specially benefited thereby, and the amount of benefits in excess of any damages received. The amount of benefits assessed for any particular public improvement shall not exceed the amount of damages assessed on account of such public improvement. It shall report the amount of damages and benefits determined and the names of the person to whom the same respectively appertain and belong, to the city council. Before assessing benefits and damages for such public improvement the board of appraisal of benefits and damages shall file in the office of the town clerk a notice containing a general description of such public improvement. Such notice shall be signed by the chairman or clerk of the board and shall be recorded by the town clerk in a volume kept for such purpose. The provisions of this Section shall not require notice to mortgages, or to persons claiming any lien, or to any person whose interest is not disclosed by the land records.
(c) The report of the board of appraisal of benefits and damages shall be continued until the next regular meeting of the city council before being acted upon, and shall be printed in the journal of the city council. The city council may thereupon accept said report or return it to the board for reconsideration and correction. It shall not be necessary that such reconsidered or corrected report be laid over, but the same may be forthwith accepted or otherwise acted upon by the city council. Upon the acceptance of said report, the city clerk shall record the same; and he/she shall also record and attest the survey and particular description hereinbefore required. The city council shall cause a notice, signed by the mayor or city clerk, containing the names of the persons thus assessed, with the respective amounts thereof, to be published in the manner provided for by this charter, and such publication shall be legal and sufficient notice to all persons interested in such assessments. When said assessments shall have been recorded in the records of the city council they shall immediately become due and payable. The city council shall order the damages thus assessed to be paid to the person or persons to whom they respectively belong, provided, if any person shall refuse or neglect to receive the amount so found due and ordered paid to him/her, it shall be deposited in the city treasury, to be paid to the person entitled to receive it whenever he/she shall apply for the same. The city council shall fix the time within which such public improvements shall be opened for public use, and may give notice of such limitation as it deems necessary and proper to appropriate the same to such public purposes.
Section 3.
(a) The assessments of benefits so made shall be and remain a lien upon the land upon which they are respectively made and shall take precedence of all other liens or encumbrances thereon except taxes due the state, and the land on which any such lien may exist shall be liable to be foreclosed in a suit by the city, in the same manner as a mortgage; provided such lien shall not continue to exist for a period longer than sixty days after the assessments as aforesaid, unless within that period a certificate, signed by the tax collector and describing the land upon which such lien exists and the amount claimed as a lien thereon, shall be lodged with the town clerk; and provided such lien shall cease to exist whenever a certificate to that effect signed by the tax collector, shall be lodged with the town clerk. Such assessments may also be collected by warrants in the same manner as municipal taxes are collectible.
(b) All municipal or improvement liens upon private property which shall have been recorded in the land records of the city of Bridgeport for more than fifteen years shall be invalid, and such property shall be free from the encumbrance of such lien unless an action or foreclosure shall have been commenced during such period of fifteen years and a notice of lis pendens filed for record in the office of the town clerk, the town clerk shall, if no such notice shall have been filed, upon the request of any interested person, discharge such lien of record by noting on the margin of such record "Discharged by operation of law" and thereafter no payment of the debt evidenced by such lien shall be enforced against any person or corporation.
Section 4.
The City of Bridgeport shall have the power to take land for the purposes and in the manner provided by law.
Section 5. Power to lay out, alter or discontinue streets.
The city council shall have power and authority as it shall deem needful to lay out new highways, streets, public walks, public avenues and public landing places, in the city, and to alter, extend, or enlarge any highway, street, public walk, public avenue, or public landing place in the city, and to discontinue or exchange the same for any other highway, street, public walk, public avenue, or public landing place in the city, and to make and cause to be executed all such orders relating thereto as it shall judge proper. Any person desiring to lay out any walk, public avenue, or open any new highway, street, or public landing place in the city, shall give notice of such intended layout by publishing a description as near as may be of the same, in the manner provided for by Section before making application to the city council for such street, public walk, public avenue, or public landing place, and then, having obtained from the city council permission therefor may lay out the same as, and the same shall become and be, a public highway, street, avenue, walk, or landing place, whenever so laid out or opened; and a survey and particular description thereof, made by the person so opening the same, and approved by the city council, shall be recorded in the records of the city council.
Section 6. Orders as to certain uses of streets.
The city council may, by ordinance, establish regulations governing corporations or persons using the streets of the city for the purpose of burying conduits, pipes, and wires therein, including limitations upon the use of such streets and the repair thereof by the responsible person or corporation to repair any and all damages resulting from such activity. No such corporation or person shall be permitted to excavate in any street where a permanent pavement is laid unless arrangements for the repair of the pavement, acceptable to the Director of Public Works, are made prior to beginning of such excavation. Every person or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this Section shall forfeit and pay to the city a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, to be recovered by the city in proper form action and shall further be liable for the cost of any necessary repairs.
Section 7. Establishment of building lines.
The city council shall have the power to designate and establish a line or lines on the land of any proprietor adjoining any public highway, street, walk or avenue, now or hereafter existing in the city, except where building lines are already established and any building has been constructed on such highway, street, walk or avenue, and provided the city council may, by ordinance, permit the extension of cornices and by windows above the first story of any building and not more than thirty inches beyond such line. Every person who shall erect or locate any building, or part of a building, between any such line and any such highway, street, walk or avenue, except as above provided, shall forfeit and pay to the city a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, to be recovered by the city in any proper form of action; and, in addition to such penalty, all such buildings shall be annually assessed fourfold in the list of polls and ratable estates of the city. An injunction may be obtained by the city or any property owner who has built back of any such line, restraining the erection of any building by any person, if the building being erected or to be erected or located between any such line and the street adjacent shall be within a block in either direction distant from the building of the property owners with a block on either side of the line sought to be modified or abolished.
Section 8. Establishment of harbor lines.
The city council shall have power to designate and establish a line or lines on or along either or both sides of Bridgeport harbor and Pequonnock River, or any part thereof, from the mouth of said harbor to the head of tidewater, and on or along either or both sides of Black Rock harbor, Yellow Mill Pond, Burr Creek, Cedar Creek, Johnson's Creek or River, and all other rivers, creeks, or estuaries, so far as the same lie within the territorial limits of the city, between which line or lines and the channel, no dock, pier, or wharf, or part thereof, shall be erected or constructed; and the city council shall also have power to take and appropriate any saltwater creek or portion thereof, and the mudflats bordering the same, within the limits of the city, for the purpose of a reservoir or basin, from which the tidewater may be or now is excluded by means of a dike or dam, and in which the water discharged therein from any sewer or gutter may be, or now is, retained during high tide and discharged therefrom at low tide.
Section 9. Public hearing required before making of improvements.
(a) Before the city council shall determine to exercise any of the powers referred to in sections six, seven and eight of this chapter it shall hold a public hearing at which or at any adjournment thereof all parties in interest shall be invited to appear and be heard relative thereto. Notice of such public hearing shall be by publication as set forth in this charter and such notice shall describe in general terms the nature and location of such proposed public improvement and the time and place when and where such public hearing will be held. Such publication shall be made at least six days before the day set for such hearing.
(b) If after such hearing the city council shall resolve to make any such public improvement, it shall appoint a committee, whose duty it shall be to make a layout of such public improvement, and to report in writing its doings to the city council, which report shall embody a survey and particular description of any such public improvement. If such report shall be accepted and approved by the city council, it shall be referred to the board of appraisal of benefits and damages for action by it.
Section 10. Sewers– Construction; assessment procedure.
The city council shall have power to construct or alter or cause to be constructed or altered, sewers, with sells or catchbasins, through or along any street or public grounds, or across, through, in or upon the land of any person in the city; and to alter and purchase for the city any such sewer already constructed and not owned by the city. It shall have power to cause to be assessed, on a uniform rate basis, an amount not exceeding the total cost of any sewer so constructed or purchased, upon the person or persons whose property may be especially benefited thereby; shall have power to cause to be assessed and apportioned all damages which may arise from the construction of any such sewer and shall have power to cause go be assessed, on a flat rate basis, an amount not exceeding the total cost of any sewer so constructed or purchased, upon the person or persons whose property may be especially benefited thereby, although the land of such person or persons may not abut upon the street through which such sewer may be laid; and, if such sewer be a lateral or connecting sewer, it shall have power to cause to be assessed not only an amount not exceeding the cost of such lateral or connecting sewer, but, in addition thereto, a reasonable or proportional part of the expense of the main or trunk sewer into or through which such lateral or connecting sewer may be discharged. In case any sewer constructed or purchased by the city shall require relaying or altering on account of defective construction, the entire cost of such relaying or altering shall be borne by the city. Before proceeding to construct or purchase any such sewer, the city council shall give notice of such proposed construction or purchase, and of a time and place when and where the parties interested therein may be heard by said council in relation hereto, by publishing the same in the manner provided for by this charter at least six days before said hearing; provided, in case any sewer or sewers shall be constructed across, through, in or upon the land of any person, notice shall be given to the owner or owners of such land in the same manner, in all respects as is hereinbefore prescribed to be given in the layout of highways in this charter. In all proceedings concerning the construction, alteration or purchase of sewers, the city council may act by itself, through a Water Pollution Control Authority or similar body or by a committee appointed for that purpose from among the members of the city council.
Section 11. Same– Connection of sewers within Stratford, Fairfield and Trumbull to Bridgeport system.
(a) The city of Bridgeport, acting through its city council, may, with the approval of the town council of the town of Stratford, the town council of the town of Trumbull or the representative town meeting of the town of Fairfield, permit any property owner in said towns to discharge storm or sanitary sewers, either directly of through other sewer lines, into the sewer system of the city of Bridgeport, upon the payment by the property owner of such sum to said city as may be prescribed by its city council and subject to the payment of such future sums for the maintenance and improvement of the sewer facilities of said city as its city council may provide.
(b) If such permission shall be granted, the ordinances of the city of Bridgeport, and the penalties therein provided, relating to the construction, installation and maintenance of the sewers within the city of Bridgeport and to the substances which may be discharged therein shall apply to the sewers in said adjacent towns which, directly or indirectly, discharge into the sewer system of the city of Bridgeport so long as such discharge continues. The director of public facilities of the city of Bridgeport shall have the same rights and powers with relation to said sewers and to the sewer lines through which said sewers discharge into the sewer system of the city of Bridgeport as he/she would have, under said ordinances, if said sewers and sewer lines were located within the city of Bridgeport. In the installation and maintenance of said sewers and sewer lines, the property owners constructing or maintaining the same shall also be subject to and shall comply with all ordinances and regulations of the town in which the property is located which is serviced by said sewers.
(c) No sewer in any of said adjacent towns shall be connected with the sewer system of the city of Bridgeport, and no sewer shall be connected to any sewer line in any of the said adjacent towns which shall directly or indirectly discharge into the sewer system of Bridgeport, until a permit, as may be required by the ordinances of the city of Bridgeport, shall have been obtained therefor and until such permits as may be required by the ordinances of said adjacent towns shall likewise have been obtained and until a writing, signed by the owner of said property and said director of public facilities, shall have been entered into and recorded on the land records of said adjacent town setting forth the permission which has been granted to make such connection and describing in general terms the conditions and limitations under which said connection may be made and maintained.
(d) Any person in any of said adjacent towns who shall make any connection to the sewer system of the city of Bridgeport, or any connection to any sewer line in said adjacent towns which directly or indirectly discharges into the sewer system of the city of Bridgeport, except in accordance with the provisions hereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars for each offense or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Section 12. Same– Assessments and liens.
After the construction of any such sewer and the assessment as provided in Section eleven has been made and accepted the city council shall give notice as is provided to be given in relation to assessments on streets, etc., to said property holders, of the several sums so assessed upon them respectively, and of the time when the same shall be due, and thereupon, at the time specified, such assessments shall be deemed to be completed, and said sums shall be due and payable, and the payment thereof may be enforced by the city in like manner, in all respects, as is authorized and provided in case of assessments of benefits for the layout or alteration of highways and streets; and all the provisions of this charter in relation to liens and the collection of benefits are incorporated into and made part of this section.
Section 13. Street paving assessments.
The city council shall have power to order that any street, macadamized, asphalted, or otherwise improved, and to cause all orders to be executed. It shall have power, upon the execution of any such order, to cause to be assessed one-half of such expense upon the persons whose property may be especially benefited thereby; and notice of such proposed improvement shall be given, and the assessments therefor shall be made, published, collected, or secured, as the case may be, in the same manner as provided and required in the case of sewers.
Section 14. Street connections before paving.
Whenever the city council shall contemplate ordering any street to be paved, macadamized, asphalted, or otherwise improved, or shall contemplate repairing any street already paved, macadamized, cobbled, asphalted, or otherwise improved, wherein any sewers or water or gas mains are laid, the city council shall have power to order the owners of property fronting on such streets to lay branches or connections from any such sewer, water, or gas main to the gutter or curb in front of their respective premises and to place a stopcock on such branch from water or gas main, on a level with the grade of sidewalk just inside the curbline; and in case of neglect or refusal so to do, for the period of fifteen days after such order is made, and notice thereof given in the manner provided for by Section ten, the city engineer shall cause such branches or connections to be laid and the expenses thereof shall be and remain a lien or real encumbrance on the property in front of which the same are laid similar in effect, and to be proceeded with, in all respects, as provided in Section nine and such expenses may also be collected by warrant as provided in Section eight.
Section 15. Appeals from determinations as to benefits and damages.
Any person who shall be aggrieved by any act of the board of appraisal of benefits and damages or the city council in making any of the assessments of benefits or damages authorized in this act may, within thirty days after public notice is given of the acceptance of the report of such board by the city council, make written application for relief to the superior court; provided he/she shall give notice to the city of such application by causing a copy to be left with the city clerk, or at his usual place of abode, at least twelve days before the return day of such appeal, and within thirty days after such public notice is given. Said superior court may make such order as equity may require, and may allow costs to either or neither party and may inquire into the validity of the proceedings upon which such assessment is based. No land taken for a public square, park, street, highway, bridge or walk, or alteration thereof, laid out under the provisions of this act, shall be occupied by the city until the expiration of the time limited for the giving of notice to said city of such an application for relief nor shall any land be occupied as to which such an application for relief has been made until such application shall be finally disposed of by said superior court, except on appeals where no question is raised as to the validity of the proceedings upon which such assessment is based; provided any person claiming to be aggrieved shall be deemed, by taking an appeal as provided in this section, to have waived any claim of illegality arising from the failure of such board to give or file the notices required in Section two (b) of this chapter.
Section 16. Construction of sidewalks and gutters.
The city council shall have power and authority, from time to time, as public convenience may require, to designate and establish the width, course, height, and grade of all sidewalks and gutters in and upon the streets and highways in the city. The city council may, from time to time, order the proprietor or proprietors of the land and buildings fronting such sidewalks and gutters, at their own expense, to grade, raise, or form such sidewalks and gutters on their several fronts, according to the width, course, height, and grade designated as aforesaid, and also to lag, pave or make such sidewalks and gutters in such manner and of such materials as the city council shall direct; and the city council may limit such time as it may deem reasonable for so grading, raising, forming, flagging, paving, or making such sidewalks or gutters. In cases where the land or buildings fronting such sidewalks or gutters shall be holden for a term of years, or any other estate less than a fee simple, the city council may, by its order, apportion in such manner as it shall judge equitable the expenses of raising, grading, forming, flagging, paving, or making such sidewalks and gutters, among the different persons having an interest in the lands or buildings holden as aforesaid. The giving of said orders according to the requirements of Section one hundred and thirty shall be good and sufficient notice under the provisions of this section.
Section 17. Completion of work by city upon neglect of owners to comply with orders of city council.
If any proprietor of any such land or buildings shall neglect to grade, raise, form, flag, or make any such sidewalk or gutter, in such manner, of such materials, and within such time as the city council may, after such notice, and after the expiration of the time ordered, instruct the director of public facilities to raise, grade, form, flag, pave, or make such sidewalk or gutter, and may adjust and liquidate the expense thereof, and such expense shall be a lien or real encumbrance on such land and building in favor of the city, and payment thereof may be enforced by the city, and in like manner, as provided in Section one hundred and twenty-eight in the case of benefits assessed for the layout or alteration of streets and highways, and the provisions of said Section in relation to liens and the collection of benefits are incorporated into this Section and made applicable to such expense, mutatis mutandis.
Section 18. Sidewalk repairs– How compelled.
The director of public facilities of the city of Bridgeport shall have authority, whenever, in his judgment, public convenience or necessity may require, to order the proprietor or proprietors of any land or building fronting on any highway or street in said city to repair the sidewalks, curbs or gutters on their several fronts in the manner and within the time specified in such order. A written or printed notice in the name of the director of public facilities left by any person with or at the usual place of abode of such proprietor or proprietors, residing in the city, at least fourteen days before the time specified in such order for the making of such repairs or replacement shall be good and sufficient notice under the provisions of this section. If the proprietor or proprietors, as the same shall appear upon the records of the tax assessor, at least twenty-one days before the time specified in such order for the making of such repairs or replacement shall be good and sufficient notice under the provisions of this section.
Section 19. Same– Power of director of public facilities to make.
If any proprietor or proprietors of any such land shall neglect to repair or relay any such sidewalks, curbs or gutters in such manner and with such materials and within such time as said director of public facilities shall order and limit, said director may, after notice given as aforesaid, and after the expiration of the time so limited, repair or relay such sidewalks, curbs or gutters, and may adjust and liquidate the expense thereof; and such expense when reported to and accepted by the city council shall be a lien or real encumbrance of such land and buildings in favor of the city, and payment thereof may be enforced by the city, and in like manner, as provided in Section one hundred and twenty-eight of the charter of the city in the case of benefits assessed for the layout or alteration of streets and highways, and the provisions of said Section in relation to liens and the collection of benefits are incorporated in this Section and made applicable to such expense, mutatis mutandis.
Section 20. Construction of crosswalks.
The city council may cause any of the crosswalks in the city to be suitably graded, raised, paved, flagged, or made at the expense of the city.
Section 21. Interest on assessments; lien therefore.
If any assessment or expenses which have been or shall be made a lien or real encumbrance on property situated in the city shall remain unpaid sixty days or more after legal notice that the same is due, and addition of three-quarters of one per centum shall be made to the amount of such assessments or expenses for each month the same shall so remain unpaid after said lien is filed, and the same shall be collectible as a part of such assessment or expenses and be and remain a lien on such real estate, in like manner and subject to the same modes of enforcement and collection as the principal sum to which the same is added. It shall be the duty of the collector of said assessments to demand payment by a written or printed statement of the character and amount of such assessment, within ten days from the date when the same shall have been placed in his hands, sent to all persons against whom such assessments are laid.
Section 22. Water Pollution Control Authority.
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to limit the authority of the city council to establish, in the manner provided by law, a Water Pollution Control and to transfer to its duties, powers and responsibilities which this charter vests in other agencies of the city, including the duties, powers and responsibilities vested in the city council and the director of public facilities under Section 11 of this chapter. Nor shall it effect the existence, powers or prior acts of the Water Pollution Control Authority heretofore established.
CHAPTER 12 Section 1.
The duties, powers and responsibilities of the department of public facilities shall be established by ordinance.
Section 2.
The head of the department of public facilities shall be a director of public facilities who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the mayor. The director may, with the approval of the mayor, appoint one or more deputy directors who shall serve at the pleasure of the director. The qualifications and duties of the deputy directors shall be established by ordinance.
Section 3.
The director of public facilities shall have the general supervision of the operation and management of the several units of the department which are under its jurisdiction including engineering, streets and sanitation, maintenance and parks and recreation. He/she shall advise the mayor, the city council and all boards, commissions and departments of the city relative to public facilities matters. The director is authorized to transfer positions and employees between units of the department of public facilities as the need arises and funds are available. The director shall be responsible for the presentation of a consolidated budget to the director of policy and management, the supervision of all employees of the department and the preparation of an annual report of the activities of the entire department of public facilities.
Section 4.
The city council may, by ordinance, provide for the establishment of a central maintenance bureau and shall designate the services to be provided by such bureau and the agencies to be served.
Section 5. City Engineer.
(a) The city engineer shall be in the classified service and shall be selected pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 17 of this charter except as follows:
(1) The city engineer shall be a licensed professional engineer. Nothing in this Section shall preclude the civil service commission from establishing greater qualifications for the position of city engineer, provided that such qualifications shall not include a requirement of prior service with the city of Bridgeport. Any qualification so adopted shall be based solely on the knowledge, skills and experience required for the position.
(2) The examination for the position of city engineer shall be open to any person possessing the minimum qualifications established for such position regardless of whether the applicant is currently or has ever been an employee of the city of Bridgeport. The examination shall be open and competitive and shall not be promotional.
(3) Whenever a vacancy arises in the position of city engineer, the personnel director shall, upon request, certify to the mayor the names of the three (3) candidates standing highest upon the employment list for such position. If no such list exists, the personnel director shall within 150 days of the creation of the request, hold a test for such position and shall, upon the establishment of an employment list, certify to the mayor the names of the three (3) persons standing highest thereon.
(4) Within sixty (60) days of receipt of the certification required by subSection (a)(3) of this section, the mayor shall appoint one (1) of the persons so certified as the city engineer and shall notify the Civil Service Commission and the director of personnel and labor relations of such appointment. The mayor may designate the time when such appointment shall take effect, provided it shall not be more than ninety (90) days from the date of his receipt of the personnel director's certification. Unless otherwise stated such appointment shall be effective immediately.
(5) The person so appointed shall hold office for a term of five (5) years from the effective date of his appointment but may be removed for just cause. A person holding the position of city engineer may, only within 150 days of the end of his term, be reappointed by the mayor for an additional term of five (5) years, effective upon to expiration of the city engineer's current term, without the need for further examination or testing. There shall be no limit on the number of times a person may be reappointed pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(6) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of city engineer, the mayor may appoint an acting city engineer. The person so appointed shall possess all the qualifications established for the position of city engineer. Any provision of this charter to the contrary notwithstanding, the person so appointed may serve as acting city engineer until the position is filled as provided in this section.
(b) The assistant city engineer shall be in the classified service.
Section 6.
The duties, powers and responsibilities of the city engineer shall be established by ordinance.
Section 7. Airport.
(a) There shall be in the city of Bridgeport an airport commission which shall consist of the mayor, the director or finance/comptroller, the city clerk and the president of the city council, all acting ex officio, which commission shall have the care, management, control, operation and administration of, and the use of, all airports, and all buildings and real and personal property used in connection therewith, owned or controlled by said city, both within and without the corporate limits of said city, and the maintenance, operation and use of such airports and of all buildings and real and personal property used in connection therewith shall be an essential governmental function of said city, both as to said city and as to its servants and agents. In all matters relating to the care, management, control, operation, administration and use of the Bridgeport Municipal Airport located in the town of Stratford, the administrative head of said town, acting ex officio, shall be a member of said airport commission, and said airport commission shall consist of the above indicated officials of the city of Bridgeport and said administrative head of the town of Stratford.
(b) The city council is authorized, from time to time, to prescribe by ordinance the powers and duties of said airport commission and to enact such ordinances as may be needful or proper for the use, care, management, control, operation and administration of and for the maintenance of safety and the preservation of order and property at any such airports, whether such airports be within or without the corporate limits of said city, and to provide fines and affix penalties for the violation or disobedience of such ordinances.
(c) Said airport commission shall have the power to make and enforce rules and regulations governing said airports and their use, and governing all buildings and real and personal property used in connection therewith, not inconsistent with any ordinance of said city or any general statute or special act, which rules and regulations shall have the force and effect of ordinances of the city of Bridgeport; provided no such rule or regulation shall be of any effect unless it shall have been first approved by the city council, and then published in full in a newspaper published in Bridgeport and printed copies thereof posted in conspicuous places within the limits of the airport to which such rule or regulation is intended to apply. For the purpose of enforcing such rules and regulations and the ordinances authorized in subSection (c) of this section, and the penalties prescribed thereby, all such airports and property, whether within or without the corporate limits of said city, are placed under the police jurisdiction of the city of Bridgeport; and complaints for violations of such rules, regulations or ordinances may be made by the prosecuting attorney to the superior court of said city. Any member of the police department of said city may arrest without warrant in or upon any such airport, whether within or without the corporate limits of the city of Bridgeport, any person who has violated or failed to comply with any such rule, regulation or ordinance, or committed an offense in or upon said airport; and the superior court of said city of Bridgeport shall have jurisdiction of all offenses and violations of such rules, regulations and ordinances committed within the limits of said airport, in the same manner and to the same extent as if they had occurred within the corporate limits of said city.
(d) The powers, duties and functions of the city engineer, the director of public facilities, the director of parks and recreation and the board of park commissioners and of all other officers, boards, commissions and agencies of said city shall, respectively, extend and apply to municipal airports of the city of Bridgeport, whether within or without the corporate limits of said city, so far as the services, facilities and equipment of such officers, boards, commissions and agencies are or may be required for or in connection with the care, use, operation, maintenance and construction thereof or any part thereof.
(e) The terms of any general statue, or any part thereof, inconsistent with any of the terms of this act, shall not apply to the city of Bridgeport, but nothing herein contained shall impair or abrogate any rights of the town of Stratford under Section one thousand one hundred and fifty-five of the general statutes.
Section 8. Parking.
(a) For the purposes of this chapter "parking facilities" shall mean and include lots, garages, parking terminals and other structures and accommodations for the parking of motor vehicles off the street or highway and open to public use with or without charge. "Parking authority" shall mean the commission established under subsections (b) and (c) of this Section and exercising the powers herein provided.
(b) The city of Bridgeport, acting through its city council, when in legal meeting assembled, by a vote of the majority of the members present and voting, subject to the approval of the mayor as provided by the Chapter 5 of this charter, shall have the power and authority to create and establish off-street parking facilities; acquire by purchase, gift, devise, lease or condemnation in the manner provided by law for the taking of land for highway purposes, real property or any interest therein necessary for or incidental to the construction, maintenance or operation of off-street parking facilities, including the erection, construction and improvement of, buildings and other structures and the installation therein of such equipment, furnishing, fixtures, mechanisms, and apparatus as may be necessary or incidental for use thereof as a public bus terminal and waiting room, public garage, public comfort station, and for such other and like purposes as may be determined by said city council, in like manner, including the erection and installation therein of such stands, stores, shops or shopping facilities as may serve the convenience, necessity of welfare of the public utilizing such structure or structures; prepare necessary plans and drawings for the same; construct and improve or cause to be constructed and improved such parking facilities and structures by contract or otherwise, maintain and operate of all such parking facilities and structures; establish and collect reasonable parking fees and other fees and rentals for the use thereof.
(c) When and after said land has been acquired and the construction and erection of such building or buildings, structure or structures has been completed, and said equipment, furnishings, fixtures, mechanisms and apparatus have been installed, the city of Bridgeport is authorized, empowered and directed to conduct, operate, maintain and improve all of the same under the supervision and direction of the Director of Transportation. Any land owned, acquired or rented by the by the city for or in connection with the purposes hereinbefore authorized, and adjoining or abutting upon any building or structure hereinbefore authorized to be erected and constructed, shall not be or be deemed to be public highways of the city, notwithstanding that the same may be used by motor vehicles or pedestrians in connection with the purposes for which such building or structure may be erected and maintained. The city shall not be immune from liability for damages by reason of injuries caused to a person or for damages caused to property by the negligence of said city unless written notice of such damage and a general description of the same and of the cause thereof and of the time and place of its occurrence shall, within ten days thereafter, be given to the clerk of said city.
(d) The city of Bridgeport is authorized and empowered, upon approval of the city council and the mayor as provided in this charter, to enact ordinances relating or with respect to or regulating or controlling the use, operation and conducting of said buildings and structures and the public operations conducted therein, and the use thereof by members of the general public, which ordinances may contain such penalties for their violation as said city is permitted by law to prescribed.
Section 9.
(a) Effective July 1, 1993, the parking authority and the department of transportation of the City of Bridgeport, as it existed at the passage of this charter is abolished. All powers vested in and duties heretofor placed upon the parking authority and the department of transportation by law or by the charter are vested in and transferred to the department of public facilities.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall prevent the city from establishing a parking authority in the manner provided in the general statutes of the State of Connecticut. Notwithstanding any provision of this charter, any authority so established may exercise all the powers granted to it by the general statutes.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall effect, in any manner, the validity of any bonds issued under the authority of Special Act 560 of the 1951 session of the Connecticut General Assembly. Any obligations imposed on the former parking authority by virtue of the issuance of such bonds are hereby imposed upon and shall be assumed by the City of Bridgeport.
Section 10. Board of Park Commissioners.
(a) The public parks of the city of Bridgeport now in existence and those that may hereafter be established, whether within or without the corporate limits of the city, with all park property which may be acquired, shall continue to be under the management, care and control of a board under the name and style of the board of park commissioners.
(b) The board of park commissioners shall consist of eight members to be appointed as hereinafter provided. The mayor shall be a member of said board, ex officio, but shall have no vote in the proceedings of said board except in case of a tie vote. The membership of said board, with the exception of the mayor, shall at all times consist of no more than four members of one political party.
(c) The mayor, during the month of December of each year, shall, with the advice and consent of the city council, appoint two members of said board to serve for four year terms commencing the first day of January next succeeding and until a successor has been appointed and qualified. Any vacancy which may occur through death, resignation or otherwise may be filled for the unexpired term by an appointment of the mayor with the advice and consent of the city council.
(d) The board of park commissioners shall elect such officers as it deems necessary and may appoint a clerk.
(e) The city council may, by ordinance, provide for an advisory board of recreation and such other advisory boards and committees as it deems appropriate. Such boards and committees shall advise the board of park commissioners with respect to such matters as are assigned to them.
Section 11.
(a) The director of parks and recreation shall be appointed every three years in the month of January by the board of park commissioners with the approval of the mayor.
(b) The qualifications for the position of director of parks and recreation shall not include a requirement of prior service with the city of Bridgeport. Any qualification for such position shall be based solely on the knowledge, skills and experience required for the position.
(c) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of director, the mayor may appoint an acting director. The person so appointed shall possess all of the qualifications established for the position of director. Any provision of this charter to the contrary notwithstanding, the person so appointed may serve as acting director of parks and recreation until the position is filled as provided in this section.
Section 12. Acquisition of Park Property.
(a) The board of park commissioners constituted as aforesaid shall have the care, management and control of all parks and grounds used for park purposes, all boulevards connecting parks, and structures thereon, and all parkways now or hereafter owned by or in control of the city, and may give proper designating name thereto.
(b) The board shall have power to acquire, and the city of Bridgeport to hold, property, whether within or without the corporate limits of said city, for the purpose of establishing public parks and squares or the enlarging of existing parks, or for boulevards connecting parks or parkways by condemnation or by contract for the same; to accept conveyances thereof; to receive gifts, donations or devises of land or other property for park purposes; to lay out and improve with walks, drives and roads; to build necessary culverts and bridges; to drain, plant and otherwise at their discretion to improve and adorn the parks and other property thus held or acquired by said board; to erect such buildings as may be needed for the purpose of administration, or for the use, protection and refreshment of the public; provided in no case shall any expenditures be made in excess of the amount previously appropriated.
(c) The board shall have power to make and alter, from time to time, all needful rules and regulations for the maintenance of order, safety and decency in said parks, both within and without the limits of the city, and affix penalties for disobedience thereof, which rules and regulations shall have the force of ordinances of the city of Bridgeport when adopted by city council and approved by the mayor as provided in the case of ordinances. For the purpose of enforcing such rules and regulations all such parks and property, whether within or without the limits of said city, are hereby placed under the police jurisdiction of the city of Bridgeport; and complaints for violations of such regulations may be made by the state's attorney to the superior court. Any member of the police department may arrest without warrant, in any such parks or places whether within or without the limits of the city of Bridgeport, and person who has broken any park rule or committed an offense in said park; and the superior court shall have jurisdiction of all misdemeanors, felonies and offenses committed within the limits of said parks.
(d) When said board of park commissioners desires to exercise the power conferred upon it to acquire property either within or without the corporate limits of said city for the purpose of establishing public parks and squares, or enlarging existing parks or for boulevards connecting parks or parkways the city engineer shall, at the request of said board, prepare a descriptive survey of the property proposed to be acquired, and said board shall ascertain the price of such property from the owners thereof. If said board shall be unable to agree with the parties as to the price to be paid for such land, said board may, on behalf of said city, bring an application to the superior court for the appointment of appraisers and ascertainment of the compensation to be paid for such land, and the superior court shall proceed upon each application in the same manner as provided this Section of the charter for the ascertainment of compensation to be paid for property desired to be taken by the city council. Such land shall not be used or enclosed by said city until such amount shall be paid to the person to whom it is due or shall be deposited for this use with the treasurer of said city. Upon such payment or deposit, such land shall become the property of said city. The city shall pay the committee making such assessment a reasonable compensation to be taxes by said court or judge.
(e) Said board shall have the supervision, management and direction of the planting, regulation and care of all shade and ornamental trees in the public highways of the city, and shall have the power to enact such rules and regulation as they may require to carry out this work, provided no such enactment shall in any way conflict with any ordinances or resolves of the city council, governing the use and care of the highways of the city. The director of parks and recreation shall act as tree warden of the city and perform all the duties required of said tree warden under the general laws of the state.
Section 13. Sale or lease of park land.
No parks or park land belonging to the city shall be sold or capital leased unless such sale or capital lease is recommended by the board of park commissioners and approved by a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the city council, both bodies having conducted a public hearing prior to taking any action. Any such approval may be disapproved by the mayor, in the manner provided in Chapter Five of this charter.
Section 14. Control over use of park properties.
The board of park commissioners shall have sole power to determine the places in said parks and other property under its control, where sewers and gas and water pipes shall be laid; and no trench for these purposes shall be opened until the board shall have designated the location of same and given permission in writing. No railroad, telegraph, telephone, or electric light wires, or other wires or posts or supports therefor, shall be erected in, upon, through, or over said parks or parkways, without the consent in writing of said board, which shall designate the place and the manner of erecting and maintaining the same, to be altered at such time and in such manner and under such conditions as the said board may deem best.
Section 15. Beechwood Park; use for school purposes authorized.
(a) The city of Bridgeport is authorized and empowered to permit the board of education to construct and erect a high school on that portion of land known as "Beechwood Park" in the city of Bridgeport, which land was purchased by said city and dedicated as a public park.
(b) The city shall thereupon make available to the park department other land to be dedicated for park purposes or provide funds to be used for the further development of existing parks.
(c) If the portion of property so used shall no longer be used for school purposes or said site shall be abandoned as a proposed site for school purposes hereunder, said site shall revert to the control and supervision of the park board and be rededicated for park purposes.
Section 16. Park property exempted from taxation.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 21 of number 461 of the special acts of 1907, all real and personal estate of the city used for park purposes within the limits of any other town shall be exempt from taxation.
Section 17. Connecting of parks.
The said board of park commissioners shall have power to connect any public park under its control with any other park over which it has jurisdiction, by a boulevard or parkway; and whenever, in its judgment, necessary, it may designate as such any existing highway, or parts thereof, which shall thereupon be deemed a part of said parkway; but the same shall remain under the control of the city authorities now having jurisdiction thereof.
Section 18. Title to certain beach property.
All the right, title and interest of the state in and to the public lands and public beaches within the town of Bridgeport, lying between the property formerly of P.S. Pearsall and Ash Creek and the waters of Long Island Sound, is hereby granted, ceded and relinquished to the city of Bridgeport to be held, improved and enjoyed as a public park. The land and rights herein conveyed shall be under the jurisdiction of the board of park commissioners of the city of Bridgeport in the same manner as all other lands and property held as public parks by the city of Bridgeport. Whenever the board of park commissioners of the city of Bridgeport shall agree with the owners of the property adjoining said public land and public beaches relative to any disputed boundary line between them, said board of park commissioners may, by their agreement, settle such dispute and establish such boundary lines, and for and in the name of the city of Bridgeport, make and deliver such deeds of conveyance as may be necessary to carry into effect such agreement for the location and establishment of said boundary lines.
Section 19. Procedure in improving land of doubtful title.
The city, before proceeding to lay out, alter, exchange, or extend any public park or part thereof, or any public highway through or upon the property of private individuals, the title and ownership of which, or any part thereof, is deemed to be in doubt, or obscure or unknown, shall cause a notice to be given to all parties in interest, by publishing such notice in the manner provided for in Chapter One, Section six, at least six days before the hearing herein provided, which said notice shall contain a general description of the proposed layout, alteration, exchange, or extension of such park or highway, and of the time when and where a hearing will be had in reference to said extension. Pursuant to the terms of said notice, the city council shall assemble in manner and form as by this act provided, and shall hear all parties interested in reference to such layout, alteration, exchange or extension. The city shall take such other proceedings for the taking and appropriation of such lands for the aforesaid purposes in the manner and form now specified in this act for the layout of highways. All persons, whose land is taken and appropriated as aforesaid, shall, upon demand and upon proof of title, be entitled to receive, and the city clerk shall cause to be paid to each of said persons, the value of said land so taken and which belongs to them, less the benefits received by said persons from said improvements.
Section 20. Gifts of land for park purposes.
The board shall not be compelled to accept any gift or offer of land which, in its judgment, is unsuited for parks purposes, or the improvements of which would entail an injudicious outlay.
Section 21. Capital improvement fund.
(a) There shall continue to be a fund to be known as the "Park Capital Improvement Fund." Said fund shall be separate and distinct from any other fund of the city, and shall consist of all moneys received from the sales of any park department property. Said fund shall be used for the purposes of relocating, equipping, acquiring or developing park properties at any time leased or owned by the city, or any combination of such purposes.
(b) All moneys belonging to said fund shall be deposited with the city treasurer of said city, who shall be responsible for the management and investment of said fund. No expenditures shall be made from said fund without the approval of the board of park commissioners. All orders on said fund shall be signed by the president of the board of park commissioners.
Section 22. "Park property" defined.
The term "park property" includes all parks, squares, and areas of land within the management of said board and all buildings, structures, improvements, seats, benches, fountains, boats, floats, walks, drives, roads, trees, plants, herbage, flowers, and other things thereon, and enclosures of the same, all shade trees on streets or thoroughfares, resting places, watering stations, playgrounds, parade grounds, or the like, all connecting parkways and roads or drives between parks, all avenues, roads, ways, drives, walks, with all trees, shrubbery, vines, flowers, and ornaments of any description, all objects of interest or instruction, and all tools, birds, animals or curiosities, or objects and implements, placed in or on any of such enclosures, ways, parkways, roads, or places; and said included terms shall be liberally construed.
CHAPTER 13 Section 1.
(a) The Mayor of the City of Bridgeport shall exercise, through the Chief of Police ultimate operational control of the Police Department.
(b) The Board of Police Commissioners shall establish departmental policies, goals and objectives and perform the duties set forth in Section 3 of this chapter.
(c) The Chief of Police shall be the head of the Police Department and shall be responsible for the operation of the department consistent with the directives of the mayor and the policies of the Board of Police Commissioners as provided in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
Section 2. Board of Police Commissioners.
(a) There shall continue to be a board of police commissioners which shall consist of seven members. The mayor, in December of each odd numbered year, shall appoint, with the approval of the city council, four members of said board who shall serve for the term of two years from the first day of January next succeeding. The mayor, in December of each even numbered year, shall appoint, with the approval of the city council, three members of said board who shall serve for the term of two years from the first day of January next succeeding.
(b) The city council may, after notice and hearing, by a two-thirds vote, remove any member of the board of police commissioners for cause. The mayor shall, ex officio, be a member of the board of police commissioners, but shall have no vote in any of its proceedings except in case of a tie vote. The mayor may preside at all meetings of said board at which he/she may be present. At all meetings of said boards, four members, exclusive of the mayor, shall constitute a quorum and the concurrent vote of four members shall be necessary for the transaction of business.
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