Vermont § 304 - General powers and duties

§ 304. General powers and duties

• (a) General powers. All powers of the City shall be vested in the Council, except as otherwise provided
  by law or this charter, and the Council shall provide for the exercise thereof for
  the performance of all duties and obligations imposed on the City by law. (b) Additional powers. In addition to powers otherwise conferred upon it by law, the City, by the action
  of the Council or, if specifically required by law or this charter, by the action
  of its voters, has the following powers and rights, including: (1) To acquire property within or outside its corporate limits for any lawful purpose,
  including urban renewal, and by any lawful means, including condemnation, in fee simple
  or any lesser interest or estate, by purchase, gift device, lease, or other means
  of transfer, and may sell, lease, mortgage, hold, manage, and control such property,
  as its interest may require, in the manner provided by general law. (A) In addition to and not in limitation of the powers set forth in subdivision (1) of
  this subsection, the power to acquire lands for the purpose of eventual rental, lease,
  or resale to industrial or to commercial users or purchasers, or for the purpose of
  erecting thereon and with the further right and power by the City to erect thereon
  one or more speculative industrial or commercial buildings and to rent, sell, or lease
  the same to others, with or without option to purchase, as the City Council may find
  to be necessary in the public interest and to issue its bonds or other evidence of
  debt therefor in an amount as the City Council shall establish by a majority of the
  entire Council. However, no such indebtedness shall be authorized unless the City
  Council shall determine first that the value of such lands and buildings together
  with the amount of the sale agreement if sold or the rents accruing therefrom if rented
  and the purchase option (if any) thereto appertaining will be reasonably sufficient
  from time to time to cover the payment of bonds or other debt outstanding issued to
  defray the cost of any such lands or buildings; and provided further no such expenditure
  shall be made or indebtedness incurred unless authorized by a majority vote of the
  legal voters voting on such question at an annual or at a special meeting duly warned
  and held for that purpose. (B) All monies received from the sale, rental, or lease of any such lands and buildings
  shall be kept in a separate fund to be used solely to pay any such expenditure or
  indebtedness as the same becomes due and payable. In the event the amount in the fund
  shall have become more than sufficient to meet such expenditures or indebtedness,
  the City Council may transfer any surplus to the General Fund of the City. (C) Any speculative commercial or industrial building or urban renewal improvement authorized
  herein shall be exempt from local, county, and State taxes. (2) To adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce ordinances relating to the construction of improvements,
  including curbs, sidewalks, street lighting, and storm drains; to the installation
  of curbs, sidewalks, street lighting, and storm drains; in a manner specified under
  the ordinance as a condition precedent to the issuance of a building permit, to the
  assessment of part or all of the expenses of such improvements against property owners
  benefited thereby in proportion to respective frontage upon highways or to respective
  values of property or by such standard, as determined from time to time by the City
  Council, and to provide for violation or nonperformance. (3) To adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce civil and criminal ordinances relating to the
  regulation or prohibition of any condition, activity, enterprise, public nuisance,
  or matter concerning the promotion of public health, safety, and welfare, as permitted
  by the general law of the State. (4) To adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce in accordance with the general laws of the State
  ordinances relating to the regulation or prohibition of the possession and use of
  dangerous objects and substances; the discharge of firearms and air rifles; and the
  possession and use of other weapons and devices having a capacity to inflict personal
  injury. (5) To adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce ordinances relating to the licensing of any activity
  or enterprise, as permitted by the general law of the State. (6) To adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce personnel and other policies relating to any
  activity or enterprise that does not require adoption of an ordinance under this charter. (7) To provide for resident participation in appropriate departments. (8) To fix, demand, impose, and enforce such items, conditions, and regulations for the
  excavation of any street or highway by any person, as shall be just and reasonably
  related to the City’s reconstruction and maintenance costs, including any sum or sums
  of money to be paid to the City for the damages resulting from excavation of any street
  or highway, or for the purpose of therein erecting and maintaining any poles, wires,
  or any other apparatus in or under the surface of the street, and to prohibit the
  use of any street by any such person until such terms have been complied with. (9) To be responsible for the financial affairs of the City. (10) To appoint and, when deemed necessary for the good of the service, suspend or remove
  the following, who shall hold office at the will of the City Council: (A) a City Treasurer; (B) a City Attorney or firm; (C) an Auditor or firm; and (D) a Health Officer and his or her deputies. (11) In consultation with the City Manager, to establish, alter, and abolish City departments
  for the purpose of budgeting and managing all operations of the City. (12) To serve as, and exercise the powers of, the local Board of Health, the local Liquor
  Control Board, and the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners and serve as members
  of the Board of Civil Authority. (Added 2013, No. M-9, § 3, eff. June 4, 2013; amended 2015, No. M-19 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 17, 2016; 2021, No. M-6, § 2, eff. June 24, 2021.)