Canon City Daily Record, A BILL FOR ORDINANCE NO. 11, SERIES OF 2014 AN ORDINANCE REFERRING TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY AT THE CITY'S NOVEMBER 4, 2014 SPECIAL ELECTION THE QUESTION OF WHETHER THE CITY CHARTER SHOULD BE AMENDED TO STRIKE THEREFROM THE SECOND PARAGRAPH OF SECTION 1 OF ARTICLE XIV TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT VOTER AUTHORIZATION MUST BE OBTAINED BEFORE THE CITY MAY ACQUIRE PUBLIC PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, GOLF COURSES, SWIMMING POOLS, OR RECREATIONAL PLACES AND AREAS. WHEREAS, City Council has determined that the provisions of the second paragraph of Section 1 of Article XIV of the City Charter, which requires voter authorization prior to the City's acquisition of any new park, playground, golf course, swimming pool or recreational place or area has had the effect of depriving the City and its inhabitants of periodic opportunities to acquire, at little or no cost, land and facilities suitable for use as public parks, playgrounds and other recreational areas desired by and beneficial to local citizens of all ages; and WHEREAS, from time to time, property owners have offered or proposed to offer land and/or facilities to the City for use as parks, playgrounds and/or recreational areas only to be told that the City Charter requires the City to obtain authorization from its electors before it may accept such property and/or facilities for such purposes; and WHEREAS, most such offers were withdrawn or never formally made because the offering property owners did not wish to wait for required elections to occur or did not wish to cope with the uncertainty associated with elections before making important decisions regarding the use or other disposition of their assets; and WHEREAS, as a result, the City has sometimes lost good opportunities to receive gifts (or make low-cost purchases) of well-located land that was suitable for development and use as public parks, playgrounds or recreational areas; and WHEREAS, the City is likely to continue losing such opportunities if the City Charter is not amended to directly authorize City Council to do what is necessary and prudent to evaluate and consider in a timely fashion offers of land and facilities for use as public parks, playgrounds and recreational areas and to acquire such land and facilities, if and when they become available, on terms that City Council determines to be advantageous to and affordable by the City; and WHEREAS, the Council has previously called a special election for November 4, 2014 and now wishes to refer the Charter amendment proposed herein to the City's electors for their consideration at such election. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF CANON CITY, COLORADO, as follows: Section 1 . All action heretofore taken (not inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance) by the City and the officers thereof, directed towards the election and the objects and purposes herein stated is hereby ratified, approved and confirmed. Section 2 . At the special election called for November 4, 2014 the official ballot, including absentee, mail and all other legal forms of ballots, shall state the substance of the ballot issue to be voted upon and, so stated, shall constitute the ballot title, designation and submission clause, and each registered elector voting at the election shall indicate his or her choice on the question submitted, which will be in the following form: SHALL THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF CANON CITY BE AMENDED BY REPEALING AND STRIKING THEREFROM THE SECOND PARAGRAPH OF SECTION 1 OF ARTICLE XIV TO REMOVE FROM THE CHARTER THE REQUIREMENT THAT VOTER AUTHORIZATION MUST BE OBTAINED AT A GENERAL OR SPECIAL ELECTION BEFORE THE CITY MAY ACQUIRE, BY PURCHASE OR GIFT, ANY NEW PUBLIC PARK, PLAYGROUND, GOLF COURSE, SWIMMING POOL, OR RECREATIONAL PLACE OR AREA? YES ________ NO ________ Section 3 . If a majority of the votes cast by the registered electors of the City shall be in favor of the Charter amendment proposed in Section 1 hereof, the second paragraph of Section 1 of Article XIV of the Charter shall be stricken, with the effect being that voter authorization will no longer be a mandatory prerequisite to the City's acquisition, by purchase or gift, of land and facilities that will be used for public parks, playgrounds, golf courses, swimming pools, and other recreational purposes. Section 4 .The effective date of this ordinance shall be five (5) days following its adoption, or five (5) days following its final publication, whichever occurs later. BE ADVISED that the foregoing Bill for Ordinance No. 11, Series of 2014, will be considered for adoption on second reading at a regular meeting of the City Council to be held at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, August 18, 2014, at City Hall, 128 Main Street, at which time all persons wishing to speak will be heard. /s/Cathy Rabe, MMC, City Clerk City of Canon City, Colorado Published in the Canon City Daily Record on August 8, 2014. Ad # 5626486
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