Pursuant to the Charter, the legislative power
of the municipality will be exercised by the Council.
Pursuant to the Charter, the Council, at its
first meeting after each election for Councilmen, shall elect a President
of the Council from among its members to serve until the election
and qualification of his successor. At the same time, the Council
may elect a Vice President of the Council to serve until the election
and qualification of his successor, who shall have all of the functions,
powers and duties of the President of the Council whenever the President
may be absent. In the absence of both the President and Vice President
of the Council, the Council shall elect a temporary presiding officer,
who shall have all of the functions, powers and duties of the President
during his absence. The President of the Council shall preside at
its meetings. He shall preserve order and decorum at all meetings
of Council. He shall state every question coming before the Council,
announce the decisions of the Council and decide all questions of
order subject to appeal to the Council. He may vote on all questions,
his name being called last. He shall appoint all special committees
of the Council and shall sign all ordinances and resolutions adopted
by the Council during his presence.
[Amended 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-32]
The Township Clerk shall keep a journal of Council
proceedings and record the minutes of every meeting and shall have
such other functions, powers and duties as are provided by the code.
A.
Regular meetings. The regular meetings of the Council
will be held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 8:00
p.m.
[Amended 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-32]
B.
Special meetings. As provided by the Charter, the
Mayor may, and upon written request from the majority of the members
of the Council shall, call a special meeting of the Council. In the
call, he shall designate the purpose of the special meeting, and no
other business shall be considered at such meeting. The call for a
special meeting shall be filed with the Township Clerk during regular
business hours at least 48 hours before the time for which the meeting
is called, and the Clerk shall forthwith serve notice thereof upon
each of the Councilmen by leaving a copy of the call at their respective
places of residence and/or by telephone communication, if possible,
at such place as each Councilman, in writing, may designate. The Clerk
shall also forthwith release copies of the call to the press and post
at least one copy in a prominent place near the entrance of the Clerk's
office.
C.
Location. All meetings of the Council shall be held
in the Council chambers in the municipal building, except that, in
case of an emergency making it impracticable to conduct the business
of the Council at such chambers with respect to the physical conditions
of the chambers or overcrowding due to the number of people desiring
to attend the meeting, the Council, upon such reasonable public notice
as the circumstances permit, may meet in or adjourn a meeting to any
other public building.
D.
Meetings open to the public; executive session. All
meetings of the Council shall be open to the public. In order to prepare
for meetings, study matters before it and gather information, the
Council may convene as a committee of the whole and in informal conference,
which shall be open to the public, although public comment shall not
be permitted unless the President of Council invites comments. Such
conferences and meetings shall be designated as "executive sessions"
of the Council.
[Amended 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-32]
E.
Scheduling of special sessions and rescheduling of
meetings that fall on holidays are scheduled and advertised by the
Council on a need basis.
[Added 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-32]
On the Wednesday preceding each regular meeting,
the Council will hold an agenda conference at 8:00 p.m. at the municipal
building. All reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions, contract
documents or other matters to be submitted to the Council shall be
delivered to the Clerk, whereupon the Clerk shall immediately furnish
a copy thereof to each member of the Council, the Mayor, the Business
Administrator and the Director of the Division of Law as far in advance
of the meeting as time for preparation will permit.
A.
Call to order. The President of the Council or, in
his absence, the Vice President shall take his chair precisely at
the hour appointed for the meeting and shall immediately call the
Council to order. In the absence of the President and Vice President,
the Clerk or his assistant shall call the Council to order, whereupon
the members of the Council present shall elect a temporary Chairman,
who shall forthwith assume the chair and proceed with the meeting
and who shall immediately relinquish the chair upon conclusion of
the particular business before the Council as soon as the President
or Vice President is present.
B.
Roll call. As soon as a meeting is called to order,
the Clerk or his Deputy shall call the roll of the members, and the
names of those present shall be entered in the minutes.
C.
Quorum. The majority of all of the members elected
for the Council shall constitute a quorum at any regular or special
meeting of the Council, but a lesser number may adjourn any meeting
from time to time.
D.
Order of business. The business of the Council at
each regular meeting shall be taken up for consideration and disposition
in the following order:
[Amended 3-1-1989 by Ord. No. 1989-4; 3-15-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-6]
(1)
Call to order and flag salute.
(2)
Sunshine statement and roll call.
(3)
Approval of minutes of previous meeting(s).
(4)
Financial correspondence.
(5)
Regular correspondence and petitions.
(6)
Approval of applications, permits and licenses.
(7)
Public meeting.
(8)
Introduction and adoption of resolutions and ordinances.
(9)
Reports of officers, boards and committees.
(10)
(11)
Unfinished business.
(12)
New business.
(13)
Report of local Board of Health.
(14)
Miscellaneous.
(15)
Adjournment.
E.
Minutes. Unless a reading of the minutes of the previous
meeting is requested by a member of the Council, such minutes may
be approved without a reading if the Clerk has previously furnished
each member with a copy thereof.
F.
Rules of debate.
(1)
The President or such other member of the Council
as may be presiding may move, second and debate from the chair, subject
only to such limitations of debate as are by these rules imposed on
all members and shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges
of the Councilmen by reason of his acting as the presiding officer.
(2)
Every member desiring to speak shall address the chair
and, upon recognition by the presiding officer, shall confine himself
to the question under debate, avoiding all personalities and indecorous
language.
(3)
A member, once recognized, shall not be interrupted
when speaking unless it is to call him to order or as herein otherwise
provided. If a member, while speaking, is called to order, he shall
cease speaking until the question of order is determined, and, if
in order, he shall be permitted to proceed.
(4)
The Councilman moving the adoption of an ordinance
or resolution shall have the privilege of closing the debate.
(5)
A motion to reconsider any action taken by the Council
may be made only on the day such action was taken. It may be made
either immediately during the same session or at a recessed or adjourned
session thereof. Such motion must be made by one of the prevailing
side but may be seconded by any member and may be made at any time
and have precedence over all other motions or while a member has the
floor, and it shall be debatable. Nothing herein contained shall be
construed to prevent any member of the Council from making or remaking
the same or any other motion at a subsequent meeting of the Council.
(6)
A Councilman may request, through the presiding officer,
the privilege of having an abstract of his statement on any subject
under consideration by the Council entered in the minutes. If the
Council consents thereto, such statement shall be entered in the minutes.
(7)
The Clerk may be directed by the presiding officer,
with consent of the Council, to enter in the minutes a synopsis of
the discussion on any question coming regularly before the Council.
(8)
A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and shall
be decided without debate.
(9)
Any matter not covered by these rules shall be governed
by Roberts' Rules of Order, as revised.
The President of the Council may request the
Police Department to designate a police officer to serve as Sergeant
at Arms at Council meetings. He shall carry out all orders and instructions
given by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order
and decorum at Council meetings, and it shall be his duty to place
any person under arrest who violates the order and decorum of a meeting
and to cause him to be prosecuted under the provisions of this Code
upon a complaint signed by the presiding officer.
[Amended 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-32]
Unless a member of the Council states, upon
the call of the roll, that he is abstaining, his silence shall be
recorded as an affirmative vote. A member of Council may abstain from
voting on any matter. An abstention, for all purposes, shall not be
counted as an "aye" or "nay" vote nor as a vote either for or against
the particular matter in which the abstention is given. The Council
member abstaining from the vote shall be deemed to have taken a strict
neutral position on the matter.
There shall be no standing committee of the
Council other than the Committee of the Whole. The President of the
Council shall be the presiding officer of the Committee of the Whole,
and the rules of proceeding in the Council shall be observed in the
Committee of the Whole as far as the same may be applicable.
A.
Nominations submitted by the Mayor will be considered
in the Committee of the Whole at an agenda conference or executive
session and may be reported to the Council at a regular meeting. Any
member of the Council may move a nomination.
B.
With respect to appointments to be made by the Council,
any member of the Council may nominate as many candidates as there
are offices to be filled. The Council will consider such nominations
as Committee of the Whole, which will report to a regular meeting
of the Council. Where there is a single office to be filled, the sense
of the Council on the appointment shall be taken as to each nominee,
and the nominee receiving a majority shall be deemed appointed. Where
there is more than one office to be filled, such as on a board, commission
or authority, the same procedure shall be followed with respect to
each office separately until the total number of appointments to be
made has been completed. In the discretion of the chair, a group of
nominations may be considered at once where there is no apparent division
in the Council as to the nominees included in the group.
A.
The Council may, for cause, remove any municipal officer
other than the Mayor or a member of the Council. A two-thirds vote
of Council, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:69A-37, shall be required for
the removal of any municipal officer.
[Amended 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-32]
B.
The Council will consider a motion to remove for cause
only after removal has been duly proposed and considered at a meeting
of the Committee of the Whole.
C.
A motion for removal shall set forth the alleged cause
for removal, making specific charges, and provide for notice and an
opportunity to be heard to the affected officer. The Clerk shall forthwith
cause a copy of the motion for removal, together with a statement
of the causes and charges involved and notice of the time and place
fixed for the hearing, to be served personally or by registered mail
upon the officer affected. A hearing shall be held not less than 10
days nor more than 15 days after the date of such service and may
be adjourned from time to time. Such hearing shall be open to the
public, and the officer charged shall be entitled to be represented
by his own counsel. Following the conclusion of the hearing, the Chairman
shall call for a vote on the motion, which shall be determined by
a majority vote of the Council.
Pursuant to the Charter (N.J.S.A. 40:69A-37),
the Council may, in its discretion, require any municipal officer
to prepare and submit sworn statements regarding his official duties
and performance thereof, and the Council may otherwise investigate
the conduct of any department, office or agency of the municipal government.
The Council shall cause to be made an annual
audit of the municipality's accounts and financial actions as required
by law. Such annual audit shall be made by a registered municipal
accountant of New Jersey selected by the Council.