Loading...
ORD CC 08/09/49 - Boaz TaxicabsAN ORDINANCE GRANTING A YEAR TAXICAB FRANCHISE TO E. A. BOAZ AND J. A. BOAZ, AND PROVIDING THE TERMS, CONDITIONS, RULES AND REGULATIONS CONTROLLING SUCH GRANTING BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTS - VILLE, TEXAS: SECTION 1: GRANT OF FRANCHISE AND DEFINITION OF TERMS: 1. Subject to the terms, conditions and provisions of this ordinance, a franchise is hereby granted to E. A. Boaz and J. A. Boaz in the City of Huntsville, Texas, operating under the trade name City Taxi Service, hereinafter designated "grantee ", to operate a taxicab service for a period of W-5 years, com- mencing with the effective date of this ord Hance, upon and over the streets within the corporate limits of the City of Huntsville, Texas, for the transportation of passengers for hire. 2. The word "street" shall mean and include any street, alley, avenue, lane, public way or highway within the corporate limits of the City of Huntsville, Texas. 3. The word "taxi" or "cab" or "taxicab" shall mean, cover and embrace any vehicle for hire for the transporting or conveying of not more than seven (7) passengers, upon or over the streets of the City of Huntsville, Texas, whether operated wholly within the city or between points outside of the city and points within the city, not operating over a fixed route or routes, and carrying a passenger or passengers for hire by special trips to and from particular points as designated by the passenger or pas- sengers, except bus lines operating through the city and having a permit from the Railroad Commission of the State of Texas, and except buses hauling school children on a regular scheduled route. 4. The word "person" shall include both the singular - 1 - and the plural, and shall mean and embrace any person, firm, cor- poration, association, partnership, system or trust. 5. The taxicabs operated or maintained under this fran- chise shall be used solely for the purpose of transportation of passengers and the personal luggage of such passengers. 6. As used herein, the word "city" shall specifically designate the City of Huntsville, Texas. SECTION 2: LIMITATIONS OF THE GRANT. 1. All taxicabs used in connection with this taxicab service shall be operated in accordance with the Laws of the State of Texas and ordinances of the city, as well as all amendments thereof, or either of them, relating to or regulating the opera- tion of vehicles upon the streets. 2. In granting this franchise, the city expressly re- tains and reserves all the rights, privileges and immunities that it now has under the law to fully improve, maintain, patrol, po- lice and use for other public uses the streets, alleys and public ways within the city, and the rights of the grantee herein to use said streets shall be at all times subservient to the right of the governing body of the city to fully exercise its rights or control over said streets. 3. Notwithstanding any other apparently contradictory section or paragraph of this ordinance, this franchise or right is granted expressly subject to the provisions of Article I, Sec- tions 17 and 26 of the Constitution of the State of Texas, all applicable state laws, city ordinances or resolutions, and such future laws, ordinances and resolutions as may be enacted by the legislature or governing body of the city, or any amendments there- to. SECTION 3: FEES AND RECORDS. - 2 - 1. The grantee shall, during the life of this fran- chise, pay to the city, at the office of its tax collector, in lawful money of the United States of America, as a city permit fee, two (2) per cent of the gross receipts per annum from the operation of the taxicab service, which said payment shall be made monthly on or before the 15th day of each calendar month for the preceding calendar month, in the manner hereinafter pro- vided. 2. On or before the 15th day of each and every month the grantee shall file with the Tax Collector of the city a sworn statement showing all receipts received by the grantee in the op- eration of said taxicab service for the preceding month, and shall concurrently with the filing of such sworn statement pay to the city, as hereinabove provided. two (2) per cent of such gross re- ceipts. 3. The compensation provided for in this section shall be in lieu of any other fees or charges imposed by any other or- dinance now in force, but shall not release the grantee from the payment of ad valorem taxes levied or to be levied on property owned by grantee. 4. The compensation to be paid by grantee to the city under this section may hereinafter be raised or lowered in such amount as may be justified, taking into consideration a fair and reasonable return to grantee upon its investment in physical as- sets, not including good will or franchise value. 5. The grantee herein shall install and adequately keep a system of books and records to be approved by the City Comptrol- ler, which books and records shall be subject to inspection by the governing body of the city, or such person or persons as may be designated by the city, or either of them, so as to enable the city -3- to check the correctness of the accounts kept, to compute the a- mount of gross receipts and to determine the amount due to the city, as well as for any other lawful purpose. SECTION 4: BOND REQUIREMENTS. 1. This franchise shall not be effective unless and un- til the grantee herein shall have procured and deposited with the City Comptroller of the city a good and sufficient bond, subject to. the approval of the Comptroller, and payable to the city, for the use and benefit of any person or persons who may suffer in- jury to their person or property by reason of the negligence of the grantee, its agents, servants or employees in the operation of any taxicab within said city, which bond shall be in the penal sum of not less than Five Thousand ($5,000.00) Dollars covering prop- erty damage and not less than Five Thousand ($5,000.00) Dollars for one person and Ten Thousand ($10,000.00) Dollars for all per- sons injured in the same accident, and which said bond shall be subject to the approval of the City Comptroller as to its form and the sufficiency of its sureties, provided, however, that in lieu of such bond the grantee may procure and deposit with the City Comp- troller insurance policy or policies issued by a company acceptable to the City Comptroller in the amounts provided for in said bond and providing for the same coverage, which said insurance policy or policies shall not be approved or accepted by the City Comptrol- ler unless and until satisfactory proof has been made that all prem- iums due thereon have been paid. Such policy or policies shall likewise provide that the insurer will pay all judgments which may be recovered against the grantee based upon claims for loss or dam- age or personal injury or loss of or injury to property occurring during the term of said policy or policies of insurance and aris- ing out of the operation of said taxicabs, and such policy or poli- - 4 - cies shall also provide for successive recovery to the complete exhaustion of the face amount thereof, and that such judgments will be paid by the insurer irrespective of the solvency or in- solvency of the insured. Such liability and property damage in- surance shall be continuously maintained in full force and ef- fect for and on each and every taxicab while being operated by grantee. SECTION 5: GENERAL CONDITIONS. 1. During the entire life of this franchise, the city expressly reserves the right to, and by the acceptance hereof the grantee agrees that the city may, modify, alter, amend, change or eliminate any of the provisions of this franchise, either by ordi- nance or resolution, to effect any of the following purposes: (a) To eliminate or delete from the same such condi- tions as then prove obsolete or impractical. (b) To impose such adcitional conditions upon the grant- ee as may be just and reasonable, such conditions to be those that may be deemed necessary for the purpose of insuring adequate ser- vice to the public. (c) To make reasonable orders respecting the character, extent, quality and standard of service. (d) To alter or cringe the rate or rEtes to be charged by grantee for taxicab service. No change in rate may be made by grantee without the consent and approval of the City Council by ordinance or resolution. (e) To prescribe the number of cabs to be operated by the grantee in accordance with the public necessity and convenience. (f) To inspect any and all equipment used or proposed to be used by grantee, and to reject any such equipment not deemed safe and adequ ,-te by the governing body of the city. (g) To inspect the books of the grantee at all reEson- able ti.-.es and to prescribe reasonable rules and regulations con- cerning the method of keeping such records by the grantee. (h) To make such other rules and regulations as may be reasonably necessary to facilitate the service to be rendered to the public under this franchise. SECTION 6: TAXI STANDS. 1. Vehicles operated under the terms of this franchise shall be known as "public service vehicles ", and permits may be issued to grantee allowing any such vehicles which awaiting em- ployment to stand at certain designated places upon the streets of the city. Additional locations may be granted by the govern- ing body of the city upon application being filed. The issuance of such permit or permits shall remain in the absolute discretion of the governing body of the city, who shall determine the public interest in the establishment of such stand or stands as petitioned for, as well as the number of vehicles which may be authorized to occupy the same at any one time, together with such other reason- able regulations thereof as the governing body may deem proper. No such stand shall ever be used so as to interfere with proper in- gress or egress to abutting private property or the iovement of traffic upon the streets. 2. The stands so authorized shall be subject to control of the Police Department and subject to change at the will of the governing body of the city. 3. Each such stand shall be mar' {ed and properly desig- nated under the supervision of the Chief of Police and, insofar as it is practicable, shall be located by the Police Department in such manner as to permit the use of present established loading and unloading zones. 6 SECTION 7: PAYMENT OF TAXES. The grantee shall promptly pay all ad valorem taxes and such other levies and assessments, if any, that may be lawfully imposed upon it by the City Council. SECTION 8: OPERATION OF FRANCHISE. 1. In the performance of its duties and privileges un- der this grant, the grantee may provide for the conduct of such taxicab service by operating the same through divisions or units, under trade names or trade marks or through operating companies, provided each such operation shall first be approved by the govern- ing body of the city, by resolution or ordinance duly adopted, and provided further that no such operation shall diminish the obli- gation of the grantee hereunder or the revenue accruing to the city under this grant. 2. No assignment or sub -lease of this grant shall ever be made without the consent of the governing body of the city, evi- denced by resolution or ordinance duly passed. SECTION 9: FORFEITURE. 1. By the acceptance of this grant, the grantee express- ly agrees that either the governing body of the city or the grantee may cancel this franchise for any reason deemed adequate by the can- celling party upon sixty (60) days notice to the other party. 2. Each and all of the covenants, obligations and dut- ies herein imposed upon the grantee are expressly declared to be material covenants and obligations, the breach of any of which shall work a forfeiture of this franchise, at the election of the city. 3. Should this franchise be terminated by the act of the City Council or by reason of the failure of the grantee to per- form the obligations and covenants herein imposed upon it, this - 7 - grant, as well as any property rights, if any, in the streets and other public property shall thereupon, without other or further compensation to grantee, be and become the property of the city and all rights of the grantee therein shall cease and be of no further force and effect. SECTION 10: SAVINGS CLAUSE. Should it be determined that any clause, condition or covenant of this franchise is for any reason, illegal or unrea- sonable, such clause, condition or covenant shall be destroyed, and the elimination of the same shall not affect the remaining clauses, conditions or covenants of this franchise. SECTION 11: EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be effective from and after its passage and approval, but shall not take effect unless within ten (10) days after its passage and approval the grantee herein shall file with the City Secretary, in writing, the acceptance of all of the terms and provisions of this grant, and shall have complied with or made arrangements to comply with Section 4 hereof. The above and foregoing ordinance was duly passed and approved this thetoteay of August, 1949. ATTEST -e CITY SECRETARY 12; r MAYOR