The Council shall appoint a Borough Solicitor for an indefinite
term and shall fix his compensation. He shall be an official of the
Borough and shall be appointed either on a full-time basis or a part-time
basis or on a retainer basis and shall serve the Borough as needed
and required. The Borough Solicitor shall be admitted to the Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania and shall have at least five (5) years' experience
in active legal practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Council may remove the Borough Solicitor at any time, with
or without cause.
The Borough Solicitor may from time to time perform his duties
by delegation of authority to persons acting as his agents.
A.
The Borough Solicitor shall be the chief legal officer of the Borough.
He shall have the following powers and duties:
(1)
He shall furnish legal advice to the Mayor, to the Council, to the
Borough Manager, and to all other elected or appointed officers, boards
and commissions concerning any matter or thing arising in connection
with the exercise of their official powers or performance of their
official duties and, except as otherwise expressly provided by the
Council, shall supervise, direct and control all of the law work of
the Borough.
(2)
The Borough Solicitor shall collect, by suit or otherwise, all debts,
taxes and accounts due the Borough which shall be placed with him
for collection by Council, any official, officer, department, board
or commission, and shall represent the Council and every official,
officer, department, board or commission in all litigation arising
from official duties, unless his representation of an official, officer,
department, board or commission in litigation conflicts with his representation
of the Borough.
(3)
He shall prepare or approve all contracts, bonds and other instruments
in writing in which the Borough is concerned and shall approve all
surety bonds required to be given for the protection of the Borough.
(4)
At the direction of the Mayor or the Council, he shall investigate
any violation or alleged violation within the Borough of statutes
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or of the United States of America
or of ordinances of the Borough or the County, and shall take such
steps and adopt such means as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate
to enforce or cause the enforcement within the Borough of such statutes
and ordinances.
(5)
Upon the request of the Council or of the chairman of any committee
of Council or of the Mayor or of the Borough Manager, the Borough
Solicitor shall prepare or assist in preparing any ordinance or resolution
for presentation before the Council.
(6)
At the direction of the Council, he shall appear for and represent
the Borough, its officials, officers, employees and appointees, or,
if appropriate, the residents of the Borough as a class on matters
before the courts or various regulatory agencies of other governmental
bodies.
The Borough Solicitor shall have the right of access at all
times to all records of the Borough including those in possession
of any official, officer, department, board or commission.
