The legislative branch of the government of Ferguson Township
shall consist of an elective governing body which shall be known as
the Township Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors when lawfully
convened, shall constitute a legislative, appropriating, policy-determining
and governing body of the municipality.
The Board of Supervisors hereafter referred to as the "Board,"
shall have, but not by way of limitation, the following required powers
and duties:
1.
To make appropriations, incur indebtedness and adopt the budget.
2.
To adopt, amend or repeal an Administrative Code.
3.
To create, alter, combine, or abolish municipal departments, bureaus,
boards and commissions not otherwise specified in this Charter.
4.
To levy taxes.
5.
To fix the amount of bond if required of officers and employees paid
from municipal funds.
6.
To adopt by resolution all necessary rules and regulations, for its
conduct and procedure.
7.
To make or cause to be made such studies, or post audits and investigations
as it deems to be in the best interests of the municipality.
8.
To make provisions for any matter of township government, not otherwise
provided for, including but not restricted to any necessary matter
involved in the transition to this Charter form of government.
9.
Make investigations into any affairs of the Township and subpoena
witnesses, administer oaths and require the submission of evidence.
10.
To require any Township official or member of any administrative
department, board, commission or other agency to appear before it
relative to that office, its function and performance subject to a
forty-eight-hour written notice, which notice shall state the subject
of inquiry and shall be sent to any and all persons required to appear.
There shall be a Township Board of Supervisors consisting of
five members elected by the qualified voters of the Township. Three
shall be elected by the ward system and two shall be elected at large.
The Board membership may be increased to seven members when the population
of Ferguson Township reaches 10,000 people as determined by the most
recent regular or special U.S. Census. Approval for addition of the
two supervisors at this time shall be by referendum which can be initiated
by ordinance or citizen's petition. The election of the additional
two supervisors shall be at large and held at the municipal election
when the other two supervisors are elected at large.
The regular election of the supervisors shall be held on the general municipal election day as established from time to time by the law of the Commonwealth. The term of the office of Supervisor shall be 4 years, commencing on the first Monday of January following the year in which they are elected, except that a supervisor appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only until January 1 of the year following the next municipal election as described in Section 2.10. The regular election of supervisors shall be held in such manner that not more than four supervisors are elected in one year for a four year term. The limit of four does not apply to special elections to fill supervisor's positions which are vacated prior to the completion of the 4 year term. A board of five supervisors shall be elected as follows: two at large in a municipal election and three by the ward system in the following municipal election. One supervisor shall be elected from each ward. If a ward fails to nominate a candidate in the primary election, that seat reverts to an at-large seat during the general election for the 4 year term. The wards are to be established by the Court of Common Pleas and are to be redistricted every 10 years beginning in 1975. The Board is responsible for petitioning the Court of Common Pleas to reapportion the wards in conjunction with the United States Census.
A candidate for the office of Supervisor shall be a citizen
of the United States and shall have been a resident and a registered
elector of Ferguson Township for at least one year prior to the date
of his/her election.
(As amended by Ord. 955, 8/1/2011, § 1)
Each supervisor shall receive as compensation an amount that
equals the annual compensation permitted by the Second Class Township
Code (currently $3,250.00 per annum). At any time that the Second
Class Township Code maximum permitted supervisor compensation increases,
the Township of Ferguson's supervisor compensation shall increase
without additional vote by the Township electors or the Township Board
of Supervisors. Supervisors shall receive no other compensation, direct
or indirect, for the performance of their duties; they shall receive
no pensions, insurance, or other forms of fringe benefits. They shall,
however, be entitled to their actual expenses incurred in the performance
of their duties, as authorized by the Board.
(As amended by Ord. 367, 7/26/1988, § 1A; by Ord.
818, 8/4/2003, § 1A; and by Res. 2004-25, 7/6/2004)
Supervisory authority shall be the responsibility of the Board.
No individual supervisor shall have any authority under this Charter,
unless such authority is specifically delegated by the Charter.
No supervisor shall hold any other Township office, be a member
of a board or commission, or hold Township employment during the term
for which he/she is elected to the Board. No former supervisor shall
hold any compensated appointive Township employment, nor shall be/she
act as a paid consultant to the Township, until 1 year after he/she
leaves office, either by expiration of term, resignation or otherwise.
No supervisor shall serve more than two consecutive terms as a member
of the Board of Supervisors. Service of 2 years or more of a partial
term shall be considered a full term of office and two terms of office
separated by at least 2 years shall be considered non-consecutive
terms of office.
(As amended by Res. 2004-25, 7/6/2004)
The office of Supervisor shall become vacant upon the Supervisor's
death, resignation, removal from office in any manner authorized by
law or this Charter, or forfeiture of office, or for failure to assume
such office after election thereto within 45 days of the commencement
of the term thereof. If a ward supervisor changes residence from one
ward to another that Supervisor must resign from the Board; if the
Supervisor fails to resign the Board shall declare his/her office
vacant. A supervisor shall forfeit office if the Supervisor lacks
at any time during the Supervisor's term of office, any qualification
for the office prescribed in this Charter, or by law or is convicted
of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude or fails to attend
at least three or more consecutive regularly scheduled meetings in
a 1-year period without being excused by the Board.
(As amended by Res. 2004-25, 7/6/2004)
The Board shall by a majority vote fill a vacancy by appointing
a person qualified under this Charter to hold such office until the
following municipal election. An election for the remaining period
of the vacated seat will be held if more than 2 years remain in the
unexpired term. If a ward seat is vacated, then an election shall
be held in that ward, otherwise an at-large election shall be held.
If the Board shall refuse, fail or neglect or be unable, for any reason
whatsoever, to fill such a vacancy within 45 days after the vacancy
occurs, then the Court of Common Pleas shall, upon petition of the
Board or of any five citizens of the Township, fill the vacancy in
such office by the appointment of a qualified resident of the Township.
The Supervisors, prior to assuming office, shall take and sign
an oath of office as shall from time to time be prescribed by the
laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Such oath may be taken and
signed before any judge, district magistrate or notary public of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and no person shall be permitted to assume
such office until the oath, in written form, is filed with the Township.
The Board shall organize on the first Monday of January of each
year by electing one of their number as Chairman and one of their
number as Vice Chairman. If the first Monday is a legal holiday, the
meeting and organization shall take place the first day following.
The Board may transact any further business it deems necessary or
appropriate at the reorganization meeting. At the organization meeting,
the Supervisors shall appoint a secretary who will be responsible
for minutes, codification and/or maintenance of ordinances and other
duties as assigned by the Board. The secretary may be the manager
or other Township employee.
The Board shall meet not less than once a month. The Board may
adjourn to a stated time for general business or for special business.
If no quorum is present at a regular or adjourned meeting, a majority
of those who do meet may agree upon another date for a meeting and
may continue to so agree until the meeting is held. Special meetings
may be called by the Chairman upon written request of at least a of
the members thereof. Members shall have at least 24 hours notice of
such special meetings. The notice shall state whether it is for general
or special purpose, and if it is for special purposes, the notice
shall contain a statement of the nature of business to be considered.
Presence at a meeting constitutes waiver of notice. The Manager is
responsible for publishing in a local newspaper of general circulation,
a notice containing the agenda items between 3 and 7 days prior to
the general business meeting and 1 to 14 days prior to a special meeting
of the Board. Regular meetings are defined as the scheduled meetings
as set by the Board of Supervisors at their organizational meeting
on the first Monday after January 1 of each year.
(As amended by Ord. 367, 7/26/1988)
Supervisors shall make and preserve minutes and records of its
proceedings. These minutes and records shall be open for public inspection
during regular business hours.
All official meetings of the Board shall be open for public
attendance all official votes of the Board shall be taken openly.
The Board shall adopt rules of procedure for its meetings and
for assignment of members to committees. Such rules shall be designed
so as to assure full and equal participation in the deliberations
of the Board by all of its members.
A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum.
The Board shall conduct no business except in the presence of a quorum.
The action of a majority of the entire Board, unless otherwise
stated in this Charter, shall be binding upon and constitute the action
of the Board.
Official actions of the Board may be taken by adoption of an
ordinance, or a resolution, or by motion. All ordinances and resolutions
must be in written form. All actions of a legislative character shall
be taken by ordinance. All other actions of the Board shall be by
resolution or motion, unless otherwise required by State law, in this
Charter, or in the ordinance establishing the rules of Board procedure.
However, no such administrative action shall be void or otherwise
adversely affected if it shall have been taken by ordinance. All final
action in adopting ordinances or resolutions shall be by roll call
vote, and the vote of each member of the Board shall be entered in
the minutes of the meeting.
The Board shall provide reasonable opportunity for Township residents to address the Board on matters of general or special concern. This opportunity shall be afforded the public either at the regular monthly Board meeting or at another regular monthly meeting specially set for this purpose. Further, the public shall have the right to submit agenda items to the Board for the next scheduled meeting. These agenda items are to be submitted at least 1 week prior to the scheduled meeting. Accepted agenda items are to be published between 3 and 7 days before the meeting, as specified in Section 2.13.
(As amended by Ord. 367, 7/26/1988)
Every ordinance shall contain the date of its enactment, and
its enactment shall be verified by the signature of the presiding
officer of the meeting where final action thereon was taken. The official
seal of the Township shall be affixed to the original copy of each
ordinance. However, failure on the part of the presiding officer to
sign an ordinance or affix the official seal shall not in any way
invalidate an otherwise valid ordinance. No final action shall be
taken on any ordinances and amendments thereto without public hearing
thereon and at least 10 days prior public notice, containing a summary
of the major provisions of the ordinance or the entire ordinance,
in a newspaper circulating generally in the Township.
All ordinances and resolutions of the Township shall be entered
verbatim in permanent separate record books for ordinances and resolutions.
No ordinance shall be considered in force until the same is recorded
in the ordinance book. The ordinance book and the resolution book
shall be open and available for public inspection at reasonable hours.
These books shall be in the custody and control of the Township Manager
and all entries made therein shall be at the direction of the Manager.
After adoption, all ordinances shall be published one time in
a newspaper circulating generally within the Township. The full text
of the ordinance need not be published; instead the title and a general
summary of the substance of the ordinance will be sufficient to meet
publication requirement. Publication shall occur within 30 days of
the enactment of the ordinance. The effective date of the ordinance
shall be the publication date unless a later date is specified in
the ordinance, or required by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Penalties for violation of any ordinance shall be specified
in the ordinance or in the Administrative Codes. Any ordinance may
provide that for continuing violations, each day that a violation
exists may be regarded as a separate offense and punishable as such.
The limit of fines may be increased by the Supervisors to the extent
of the maximum fine that may be levied by any non-charter municipality
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as that limit is from time to
time established by the General Assembly.
To meet a public emergency affecting life, health, property
or public safety, the Board by a b vote of the entire Board may adopt
an emergency ordinance at the meeting at which it is introduced, and
may make it effective immediately except that no such ordinance may
be used to levy taxes, grant or extend a franchise, or authorize the
borrowing of money. After the adoption of an emergency ordinance,
the Board shall have it published in full within 10 days in a daily
newspaper of general circulation. Unless otherwise revoked, emergency
ordinances will be subjected to a time limit of one year after the
date of passage.
Within 3 years after adoption of this Charter, all ordinances
and resolutions of the Township of a general and permanent nature
shall be codified and promulgated according to a system of continuous
numbering and revision as specified by ordinance.
