88.251.  Utilities, franchises and contracts, procedure to grant, extend or renew — ballot form — majority vote required — notice required. — Each franchise or contract provided for in sections 71.530, 77.210, 78.190, 78.630, and sections 88.613, 88.770, and 88.773 shall remain on file with the city clerk for public inspection at least thirty days before the final passage or adoption thereof.  The effective date of such franchise or contract shall be the earliest date upon which one of the following events occurs:  the bill approving the franchise or contract is signed by the mayor or person exercising the duties of the mayor's office; the board of aldermen overrides the mayor's veto; or the conclusion of the next meeting of the board of aldermen when the mayor has neither signed nor vetoed the bill.  Every such franchise or contract provided for above shall be subject to approval or disapproval of the voters of such city whenever twenty-five percent of the voters of such city, as appears from the number of voters who voted for mayor at the last preceding municipal election, file with the city clerk, within thirty days after the passing of the franchise or contract, a petition, in the following form, calling for the submission of the question of approval or disapproval of the grant of the franchise or contract to the voters of such city at a special election or at a regular municipal election:

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Upon receipt of such a petition by the city clerk, it shall be the duty of the city clerk to determine whether the petition has presented the question in the form required by this section and whether the petition has been executed in compliance with the terms of subsection 4 of section 115.019.  If the petition satisfies the requirements of this section and subsection 4 of section 115.019, the city clerk shall cause the appropriate election authority to give notice of an election and to submit the question of approval or disapproval of the grant of the franchise or contract to the voters at a special election, or at a regular municipal election.  Not later than the tenth Tuesday prior to an election, the city clerk shall send to the appropriate election authority a certified copy of the legal notice to be published.  The legal notice shall include the particular question to be voted on at such election, the date and time of the election and a sample ballot.  The appropriate election authority shall cause legal notice of such election to be published as required in chapter 115.  The ballots used when voting upon such franchise or contract shall contain, but not be limited to, the following language:

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If a majority of the voters voting on that issue vote against such franchise or contract, the same shall no longer be effective on the date the election authority certifies the election results.  If a majority of the qualified voters voting on such proposed franchise or contract shall vote in favor thereof, such franchise or contract shall continue to be an effective, valid and binding franchise or contract of the city and shall remain in full force and effect and cannot be repealed or amended.  Nothing contained herein shall be interpreted to prohibit the granting of a franchise by the use of the right of initiative petition.