HOUGHTON — Several amendments to Houghton’s charter will go before city voters next year.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the council approved several resolutions proposing amendments to the city’s charter, as well as the ballot language for each amendment. The election would take place sometime in 2025.

One amendment would call on the council to implement a conflict-of-interest and ethics ordinance that would apply to all councilors, elected officials, appointees and employees.

The city’s charter commission had spent the most time on that amendment, Clerk Ann Vollrath said.

“We did spend a lot of time, and it was coming from multiple sources, and then just trying to make it be as comprehensive and as helpful as it could be,” said commission member Susan Peterson.

Restrictions would include areas such as acting in an official capacity on matters where the official has an interest separate from that of the general public, accepting gifts and other things of value and the use of confidential information.

The ordinance could be overridden in specific cases by a two-thirds vote of the council, leaving out the affected member, that the person’s participation would serve the best interests of the city.

Another amendment would revise the city’s procedure for filling vacancies. The span within which a vacancy would not need to be filled would be expanded to 90 days before an election, versus 60 days now.

One of the other proposed amendments would align the city’s charter with state authorized election dates for biennial and special elections. A regular election will be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years. Special elections will be held after being called by resolution of the city council, in line with the dates authorized by the state.

A fourth amendment would change all gender-specific terminology within the charter to gender-neutral terms.

In other action, the council:

• Approved a resolution proclaiming Saturday as Betty Chavis Day in the city. Chavis, who began work at Michigan Technological University in 1989, created the annual Parade of Nations and also developed Black History Week and Women’s History Week programs.

“She’s one of the greatest people to work with,” said Councilor Robert Megowen, who said he has worked with her on several projects. “If you see her in public, if you see her in public, if you see her in (MarketPlace Foods), she’s just a breath of fresh air. Talk about volunteerism — she knows how to volunteer. She’s one of the most beautiful, beautiful people. This community is lucky to have her.”

• Approved the discharge of a mortgage with the company that owns The Den, which has a loan through the city’s revolving loan fund. Houghton holds a mortgage on a property the company is selling in Hancock. The company would use the proceeds of the sale to pay the balance of its loan, which would allow the city to discharge the mortgage.