Chapter 2.12
ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND REGULATIONS
Sections:
2.12.020 Acts required to be by ordinance.
2.12.030 Preparation of ordinances.
2.12.040 Ordinances confined to a single subject.
2.12.050 Presentation and hearing of ordinances.
2.12.060 Form and content of ordinances.
2.12.080 Codes of regulations.
2.12.090 Repeal shall not revive any ordinances.
2.12.100 Effect of repeal of ordinances.
2.12.130 Ordinances—Effective date.
2.12.140 Formal acts by resolution—Form and contents.
2.12.150 Resolutions—Reading, hearing, adoption, and posting.
2.12.010 Acts of the council.
All acts of council shall be adopted by a majority of the total membership of the body. Law of a general, uniform and permanent nature shall be reduced to ordinance. Laws of a temporary or of a special character, such as emergency ordinances and bond issue authorizations, shall not be codified. When the council expresses opinion, principles, facts or propositions, it shall be in the form of a resolution. When the council expresses anything by way of command, the form of expression shall be “ordered”; when it expresses opinions, principles, facts or propositions, the form shall be “resolved.” (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.020 Acts required to be by ordinance.
In addition to other actions which Title 29 of the Alaska Statutes requires to be by ordinance, the council shall use ordinances to:
A. Establish, alter or abolish municipal departments;
B. Fix the compensation of officials in accordance with Sections 2.03.040 and 2.06.050 of this code;
C. Provide for a fine or other penalty, or establish rules or regulations for violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed;
D. Provide for levying of taxes, except that the mill levy, the date of the board of equalization hearing and the date taxes become delinquent may be fixed by resolution;
E. Make appropriations and supplemental appropriations or transfer appropriations;
F. Grant, renew, or extend a franchise;
G. Regulate the rate charged by a public utility;
H. Adopt, modify or repeal the comprehensive plan, zoning and subdivision ordinances, building and housing codes, and the official map;
I. Provide for the retention or sale of tax-foreclosed property; or
J. Exempt contractors from compliance with general requirements relating to payment and performance bonds in the construction or repair of municipal public works projects within the limitations set out in AS 36.25.025. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.030 Preparation of ordinances.
All ordinances, except ordinances initiated by the electors of the city under the provisions of Alaska Statutes shall be prepared for presentation of the council unless requested by a council member, the mayor or the city manager, or prepared by the city attorney on his or her own initiative. Effort shall be made by the drafter of the ordinance to ensure that the proposed ordinance or amendment does not conflict with existing code provisions or if conflicts do exist that the proposed ordinance or amendment also includes language amending those conflicting provisions. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.040 Ordinances confined to a single subject.
Every ordinance shall, as far as is reasonably practicable, be confined to one subject unless it is an appropriation ordinance or one codifying, revising, or rearranging existing ordinances. Ordinances for appropriations shall be confined to appropriations. The subject of each ordinance shall be expressed in the title. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.050 Presentation and hearing of ordinances.
A proposed ordinance may be presented for consideration only by a member or committee of the council, the mayor or the city manager at any regular or special meeting of the council. Ordinances may be introduced by reading the title only and shall be read in full only when requested by a majority of the council or unless otherwise provided by law. Upon presentation, a proposed ordinance shall be rejected, deferred, reworded, or accepted as introduced by a majority vote of the council. After acceptance the council shall publish the proposed ordinance and a notice setting out the time and place for a public hearing on the proposed ordinance. The public hearing of a proposed ordinance shall follow publication by at least five days; it may be held at a regular or special council meeting. At the public hearing, copies of the proposed ordinance must be made available to the public or must be read in full. All interested persons shall have an opportunity to be heard.
After the hearing, the council shall consider the proposed ordinance and may adopt it without amendment. The council shall print and make available copies of adopted ordinances.
As used in this section, the term “publish” means that the proposed ordinance and notice of hearing shall be posted in three public places, to be determined by the city clerk, for at least five days, as well as published in full or by summary once in a paper of general circulation distributed in the city. Within three business days following enactment, the ordinance shall be posted in full in three public places within the city. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986; Ord. 92-18 § 1, 1992; Ord. 17-09 § 2, 2017.)
2.12.060 Form and content of ordinances.
A. All ordinances enacted by the council shall be in substantially the following form:
1. The proposed ordinance shall have a heading and number.
2. A short summary of the ordinance’s provisions shall be included in a title at the head of the ordinance. The title shall make reference to any penalties imposed by the ordinance which are different than or additional to the general penalties set forth in Chapter 1.20.
3. The enacting clause shall read: “BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DILLINGHAM, ALASKA.”
4. The provisions of the ordinance will follow the enacting clause.
5. If the ordinance is an emergency, temporary or special act which will not be of substantial continuing importance to the community after its expiration, a section shall be added stating, “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY/TEMPORARY/SPECIAL ORDINANCE WHICH IS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE TEMPORARY AND SPECIAL ACTS COMPILATION OF CITY ORDINANCES.”
6. Appropriate places shall be provided for the signatures of the mayor and the clerk.
7. The enactment and passage date of the ordinance shall be attested by the clerk.
B. Ordinances which amend, add to or repeal sections of the city’s code of ordinances shall refer to the code sections by number. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.070 Signature.
Each ordinance shall be signed by the mayor at its adoption and attested by the clerk, and in the absence of the clerk, by the deputy clerk or a member of the council. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.080 Codes of regulations.
The council may in a single ordinance adopt or amend by reference provisions of a standard published code of regulations. The regular ordinance procedure applies except that neither the code of regulations nor its amendments need to be distributed to the public or read in full at the hearings. For a period of fifteen days before adoption of the regulations, at least five copies of the code of regulations must be made available for public inspection at a time and place set out in the hearing notice. Only the adopting ordinance need be printed after adoption. The council shall provide for copies of the adopted code to be sold to the public. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.090 Repeal shall not revive any ordinances.
The repeal of an ordinance shall not repeal the repealing clause of the ordinance or revive any ordinance which has been repealed. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.100 Effect of repeal of ordinances.
Ordinances repealed remain in force for the trial and punishment of all past violations of them, for the recovery of penalties and forfeitures already incurred, for the preservation of all rights and remedies existing by them and, so far as they apply, to any office, trust, proceeding, right, contract or event already affected by them. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.110 Severability.
Any ordinance enacted before or after the adoption of this code which lacks a severability clause shall be construed as though it contained the following language: “If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance and the application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.” (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.120 Amendments.
A. All ordinances passed after the adoption of this code which amend, repeal or in any way affect this code shall be numbered according to the numbering system of this code. Repealed chapters, sections and subsections or any portion of them shall be excluded from the code.
B. Amendments to this code shall be made by specific reference to the section number of this code in substantially the following language: “Chapter _____ § _____ of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Dillingham, Alaska, is hereby amended to read as follows:”
C. If a new chapter or section is to be added to this code, substantially the following language shall be used: “The Code of Ordinances of the City of Dillingham, Alaska, is hereby amended by addition of the following chapter (or section).” The provisions to be repealed must be specifically repealed by section or chapter number.
D. The provisions of Section 2.12.030 also apply to amending ordinances. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.130 Ordinances—Effective date.
An ordinance which has been approved by the city council shall be effective upon adoption or at a time or date otherwise stated in the ordinance. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.140 Formal acts by resolution—Form and contents.
A. Formal acts by the council not required by law to be enacted by ordinance and not being acts of a general and permanent nature may be adopted by resolution. A resolution shall have:
1. The heading “City of Dillingham, Alaska”;
2. The space for a number to be assigned — “Resolution No. _____”;
3. A short and concise title descriptive of its subject and purpose;
4. Short premises or whereas clauses descriptive of the reasons for the resolution, if necessary;
5. The resolving clause “Be It Resolved:”;
6. Provision for signatures of the mayor and clerk; and
7. An attestation.
B. All resolutions adopted by the council whether at the request of a third party, or on the motion of the council, shall conform to the requirements set forth in A above.
C. Resolutions shall not be included in any municipal code of ordinances, but a permanent file of all resolutions adopted shall be maintained by the city clerk. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986.)
2.12.150 Resolutions—Reading, hearing, adoption, and posting.
A. Every resolution shall be introduced in writing before any vote for passage is taken.
B. On any vote to pass the resolution, all persons interested shall be given an opportunity to be heard. After the hearing, the council may finally pass the resolution with or without amendments.
C. Within three business days following adoption, every resolution shall be posted in full in three public places within the city. Every resolution, unless it specifies a later date, shall become effective following final passage, or, if the resolution is submitted at a referendum election when state law so requires, then upon a favorable vote of the requisite number of those voting on the resolution. (Ord. 77-6 § 2 (part), 1977; Ord. 84-8, 1984; Ord. 86-8 § 1, 1986; Ord. 09-02 § 2, 2009.)