HomeMy WebLinkAbout901 08-26-1986ORDINANCE NO. 901
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 799 TO
PROVIDE A DIFFERENT NOTICE PERIOD FOR NOTICE
TO THE CITY OF EULESS OF PROPERTY DAMAGE,
PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH, PROVIDING THE TIME
AND LOCATION WHERE SUCH NOTICE IS TO BE
GIVEN; PROVIDING THAT SUCH NOTICE MAY NOT BE
WAIVED; AND PROVIDING THAT THE TIMELY FILING
OF SAME BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS A CONDITION
PRECEDENT TO THE INSTITUTION OF ANY SUIT;
PROVIDING FOR VERIFICATION OF THE NOTICE OF
CLAIM; AND PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE.
WHEREAS, the City Council is the ultimate repository of authority
for the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has the management and control of the
finances, properties, the contractual obligations and the
policies of the City; and
WHEREAS, in the course of providing the many services to its
citizenry, claims in the nature of contract, tort, property
damage, personal injury, wrongful death, and equitable relief may
from time to time arise; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the City, the citizenry,
and the claimants that the City Council be expeditiously informed
of the details of such claims; and
WHEREAS, an expeditious opportunity for the City Council to
review and consider the validity of said claims can allow for
resolution without resort being made to the already overburdened
judiciary; and
WHEREAS, in order to realistically access the merits of any claim
presented to it, the City Council is in need of current, accurate
factual documentation from those asserting such claims; and
WHEREAS, recent judicial decisions have suggested that the notice
period previously provided for and required by Ordinance No. 799
may be too proscriptive:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED THAT Ordinance No. 799 is herewith
amended to be replaced by this ordinance to hereafter be and read
as follows:
F
SECTION 1
The City of Euless shall never be liable for any such claim for
property damage or for personal injury, whether such personal
injury results in death or not, unless the person damaged or
injured, or someone in his behalf, or in the event the injury
results in death, the person or persons who may have a cause of
action under the law by reason of such death injury shall, within
sixty (60) days or within six (6) months for good cause shown
from the date the damage or injury was received, give notice in
writing to the City Secretary of the City of Euless of the
following facts:
(A). The date and time when the injury or damage occurred
and the place where the injured person or property was
at the time when the injury was received.
(B). The nature of the damage or injury sustained.
(C). The apparent extent of the damage or injury sustained.
(D). A specific and detailed statement of how and under what
circumstances the damage or injury occurred.
(E). The amount for which each claimant will settle.
(F). The actual place of residence of each claimant by
street, number, city and state on the date the claim is
presented.
(G). In the case of personal injury or death, the names and
addresses of all persons who, according to the
knowledge or information of the claimant witnesses the
happening of the injury or any part thereof and the
names of the doctors, if any, to whose care the injured
person is committed.
(H). In the case of property damage, the location of the
damaged property at the time the claim was submitted
along with the names and addresses of all persons who
witnessed the happening of the damage or any part
thereof.
No suit of any nature whatsoever shall be instituted or
maintained against the City of Euless unless the plaintiff
therein shall aver and prove that previous to the filing of the
original petition the plaintiff applied to the City Council for
redress, satisfaction, compensation, or relief, as the case may
be, and that the same was by vote of the City Council refused.
ORDINANCE NO. 901, Page 2 of 3
SECTION 3
All notices required by this ordinance shall be effectuated by
serving them upon the City Secretary at the following location:
201 North Ector Drive, Euless, Texas, 76039, and all such notices
shall be effective only when actually received in the office of
the person named above.
SECTION 4
Neither the Mayor, a City Councilmember, nor any other officer or
employee of the City shall have the authority to waive any of the
provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 5
The written notice required under this ordinance shall be sworn
to by the person claiming the damage or injuries or by someone
authorized by him to do so on his behalf. Failure to swear to
the notice as required herein and by the Charter of the City of
Euless shall not render the notice fatally defective, but failure
to so verify the notice may be considered by the City Council as
a factor relating to the truth of the allegations and to the
weight to be given to the allegations contained therein.
SECTION 6
If any provisions of this ordinance or the application hereof to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall
not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance
which can be given effect without defeating the purpose or
objective of the provisions, and to this end, the provisions of
this ordinance are declared to be severable.
PRESENTED AND GIVEN FIRST READING at a regular meeting of the
Euless City Council on the t� day of HIkqugi , 1986, by a
vote of /� ayes, O nays, and _0 absten.
GIVEN SECOND READING, PASSED, AND APPROVED at a regular meeting
of the Euless City Council on the 26th day of August ,
1986, by a vote of 5 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 abstentions.
ATTEST:
Kay Rianey, City Seca Lary
APPROVED AS
Z" s din��
Harold D. Samuels, Mayor
Bob McFairland City Attorney
ORDINANCE NO. 901, PAGE 3 OF 3