Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County. William Alexander Taylor
and keep a journal thereof, which shall be open to the inspection and examination of every citizen, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as they shall think fit to prescribe; they shall meet in the council chamber or in some other convenient place in said city, on the third Monday in April, and after having taken the oath of office before the mayor or some other officer qualified to administer oaths, they shall elect, from their own body, a president who shall preside in their meetings for one year, and a recorder and treasurer, who shall hold their offices one year, and until their successors are elected and qualified.
Sec. 6. That the city council shall provide the places and fix the times of holding their (meetings) not herein otherwise provided for, which at all times shall be open for the public; they shall appoint all assessors and collectors of taxes, city surveyor, clerk of the market, street commissioners, health officers, weighers of hay, measurers of wood and coal, wharf masters, and such other city officers, whose appointment or election is not herein otherwise provided for, as shall be necessary for the good government of said city, and the due exercise of its corporate powers, and which shall have been provided for by ordinance, and all city officers whose term of service is not prescribed and whose powers and duties are not defined in and by this act, shall perform such duties, exercise such powers, and continue in office for such term of time, not exceeding one year, as shall be prescribed by ordinance.
Sec. 7. That the said city council shall have the custody, care, superintendence, management and control of all the real and personal estate, and other corporate property belonging to said city, and all the real and personal estate, money, funds, and revenues, which from time to time, may be owned by, or of right belong to said city, with full power to purchase, hold, possess, use, occupy, sell and convey the same for the use and benefit of said city and the inhabitants thereof; Provided, that the city council shall not have power to sell any public landing, wharf or wharves, dock or docks, basin or basins, or any interest therein, or part thereof, which now is, or hereafter may be used and kept for the accommodation and convenience of the merchants, and others engaged in the trade, commerce and navigation of said city; nor shall the said city council issue any printed notes or tickets to be issued under their authority, or under the authority of said city, as a circulating medium of trade or exchange, or in any way or manner, either directly or indirectly, engage in the business of banking.
Sec. 8. That the said city council shall have power, and it is hereby made their duty to make and publish, from time to time, all such ordinances as shall be necessary to secure said city and the inhabitants thereof against injuries from fire, thieves, robbers, burglars, and all other persons violating the public peace; for the suppression of riots and gambling, and indecent and disorderly conduct; for the punishment of all lewd and lascivious behavior in the streets and other public places of said city, and for the apprehension and punishment of all vagrants and idle persons; they shall have power, from time to time, to make and publish all such laws and ordinances as to them shall seem necessary, to provide for the safety, preserve the health, promote the prosperity, and improve the morals, order, comfort and convenience of said city and the inhabitants thereof; to impose fines, forfeitures and penalties, on all persons offending against the laws and ordinances of said city, and provide for the prosecution, recovery and collection thereof; and shall have full power to regulate by ordinances, the keeping and sale of gunpowder, within the city.
Sec. 9. That the said city council shall have power to establish a board of health for said city, invest it with such powers, and impose upon it such duties as shall be necessary to secure said city and the inhabitants thereof from the evils, distress and calamities of contagious, malignant and infectious diseases, provide for its proper organization and the election or appointment of the necessary officers thereof, and make such by-laws, rules and regulations for its government and support as shall be required for enforcing the most prompt and efficient performance of its duties, and the lawful exercise of its powers; they shall have power, whenever the public peace of said city shall require it, to establish a city watch, and organize the same, under the general superintendence of the city marshal or other proper officer of the police, prescribe its duties and define its powers in such manner as will most effectually preserve the peace of said city, secure the inhabitants thereof from personal violence, and their property from fire and unlawful depredations; they shall establish and organize all such fire companies, and provide them with the proper engines and other instruments as shall be necessary to extinguish fires, and preserve the property of the inhabitants of said city from conflagration, and provide such by-laws and regulations for the government of the same as they shall think fit and expedient; and each and every person who may belong to any such fire company shall, in time of peace, be exempted from the performance of military duty, under the laws of this state; they shall erect, establish and regulate the markets, market places of said city for the sale of provisions, vegetables and other articles necessary for the sustenance, comfort and convenience of said city and the inhabitants thereof, to assize and regulate the sale of bread; and they shall have power to establish and construct landing places, wharves, docks, and basins in said city, at or on any of the city property.
Sec. 10. That for the purpose of more effectually securing said city from the destructive ravages of fire, the said city council shall have power and authority, and for such purpose, they are hereby empowered and authorized, on the application of three-fourths of the whole number of owners or proprietors of any square or fractional square in said city, to prohibit in the most effectual manner, the erection of any building or the addition to any building before erected, more than ten feet high in any such square or fractional square, except the outer walls thereof shall be composed entirely of brick or stone and mortar, and to provide for the most prompt removal of any building or addition to any building which may be erected contrary to the true intent and meaning of this section.
Sec. 11. That the said city council shall have power, and is hereby made their duty to regulate, by good and wholesome laws and ordinances for that purpose, all taverns, ale and porter shops and houses, and places where spirituous liquors are sold by a less quantity than a quart, and all other houses of public entertainment within said city, all theatrical exhibitions and public shows, and all exhibitions of whatever name or nature, to which admission is obtained on the payment of money or any other reward: the sale of all horses and other domestic animals at public auction in the said city, and impose reasonable fines and penalties for the violation of any such laws and ordinances: And the said city council shall have full and exclusive powers to grant or refuse licenses to tavern keepers, innholders, retailers of spiritous liquors by a less quantity than a quart, keepers of ale and porter houses and shops, and all other houses of public entertainment, showmen, keepers and managers of theatrical exhibitions, and all other exhibitions for money or reward; auctioneers for the sale of horses and other domestic animals, at public auction in said city; and in granting any such license, it shall be lawful for said city council to exact, demand and receive such sum or sums of money as they shall think fit and expedient, to annex thereto such reasonable terms and conditions in regard to time, place and other circumstances, under which such license shall be acted upon, and in their opinion the peace, quiet and good order of society in said city may require; and for the violation of such reasonable terms and conditions as aforesaid, the mayor shall have power to revoke or suspend such license, whenever the good order and welfare of said city may require it, in such manner as shall be provided for by ordinance.
Sec. 12. That the said city council shall have power, and they are hereby authorized to require and compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances within the limits of said city, under such regulations as shall be prescribed by ordinance; to cause all grounds therein, where water shall at any time become stagnant, to be raised, filled up, or drained; and to cause all putrid substances, whether animal or vegetable, to be removed; and to effect these objects, the said city council may, from time to time, give order to the proprietor or the proprietors, or to his or her agent, and to the nonresident proprietors who have no agents therein, by a publication in one or more of the newspapers printed in said city, for a period of six weeks, of all or any grounds, subject at any time to be covered with stagnant water, to fill up, raise or drain such grounds at their own expense; and the said city council shall designate how high such grounds shall be filled up and raised, or in what manner they shall be drained, and fix some reasonable time for filling up, raising or draining the same; and if such proprietor or proprietors,