The Council shall elect one of its members to serve as Mayor, pursuant to the Charter, for a term of one year, and such person may succeed himself. The Council may designate a Deputy Mayor from among its members to serve in the event of the temporary absence or disability of the Mayor and shall fill any vacancy in that office in accordance with the Charter.
The Mayor shall have only such functions, powers and duties as are prescribed by the Charter, as follows:
A. 
He shall preside at all meetings of the Council and shall have a voice and vote in its proceedings.
B. 
He shall execute on behalf of the township all authorized bonds, notes, contracts and written obligations of the township.
Any provision of a statute conferring the appointing power or other power upon the Mayor or other executive head of the municipality shall be construed as meaning the Township Manager, except as otherwise provided by the Charter.
A. 
All powers of the township and the determination of all matters of policy shall be vested in the Council, except as otherwise provided by or pursuant to the Charter or this chapter.
B. 
It is the intention of this article that unless otherwise specifically provided by the Charter, the Township Council shall act in all matters as a body, and it is contrary to the spirit of the Charter for any of its members to seek individually to influence the official acts of the Manager or any other officer, or for the Council or any of its members to direct or request the appointment of any person to or his removal from office, or to interfere in any way with the performance by such officers of their duties. The Council and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the Manager and shall not give orders to any subordinates of the Manager, either publicly or privately. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the Council from appointing committees or commissions of its own members or of citizens to conduct investigations into the conduct of any officer or department or any matter relating to the welfare of the township, and delegating to such committees or commissions such powers of inquiry as the Council may deem necessary.
Members of the Council shall be paid such sum as shall be provided by ordinance, in the same manner as other township salaries are paid, in full compensation for their services and expenses, except as may be otherwise provided by resolution with respect to occasional and specific expenses.
The Council shall, by resolution, determine its regular meeting time and provide for special meetings, rules of procedure, its standing order of business and agenda for each meeting. As to any matter not covered by the rules of procedure, Robert's Rules of Order shall apply.
A. 
Preparation of ordinances. All ordinances shall be prepared for presentation to the Council upon the request of a Councilman or request in writing by the Manager.
B. 
Prior approval by administrative staff. All ordinances, resolutions and contract documents, before presentation to the Council, shall be:
(1) 
Approved as to form and legality by the Township Attorney or his authorized representative.
(2) 
Examined as to administration by the Manager or his authorized representative. The Manager shall submit to the Council a written memorandum concerning the administrative aspects of each ordinance, resolution and contract unless he shall advise the Council that no administrative questions are involved. Each administrative memorandum shall include the specific comments and written recommendation of the department head concerned with the subject of the memorandum.
C. 
Introducing for passage or approval.
(1) 
Ordinances, resolutions and other matters or subjects requiring action by the Council shall be introduced and sponsored by a member of the Council, except that the Manager or Attorney may present ordinances, resolutions and other matters or subjects to the Council, and any Councilman may assume sponsorship thereof by moving that such ordinances, resolutions, matters or subjects be adopted; otherwise, they shall not be considered.
(2) 
Resolutions, unless held over by a majority vote of the Council, shall be acted upon the day of introduction or presentation.
(3) 
Ordinances and resolutions shall be called up for action only on motion of a member of the Council.
[Added 2-6-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-3]
A. 
When it is necessary to conduct an online public meeting, the Township Clerk shall cause the link to be published on the Township's website and posted at the municipal building to encourage public participation in such meetings.
B. 
The meeting will be recorded and retained as required by the state's document retention guidelines. Failure to record all or a portion of the meeting will not void or nullify any action taken during the meeting.
C. 
To avoid interference with the meeting, when members of the public enter a public meeting, each person should do so with their microphone muted to avoid disturbance with the conduct of the meeting.
D. 
Members of the public wishing to use their camera should choose a background that is appropriate for a public meeting.
E. 
At appropriate times of the meeting, members of the public may use the raise-hand feature to be called on to allow public comment. See § 4-8.2 for procedures for public comment.
F. 
The Township will not use the chat feature during the meeting and it will be disabled.
G. 
Any member of the public that refuses to follow the above procedure will be asked by the presiding officer to conform to the rules. After the second warning, the individual may be removed from the meeting by the municipal official serving as the meeting host.
[Added 2-6-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-3]
The Chair will receive and direct all questions from and answers to the public using the following guidelines:
A. 
Public wishing to make comment shall start by stating the person's name and home address.
B. 
While there is a presumption that a person speaks in an individual capacity, if the member of the public is a member of another body (for example, the school board or homeowners' association), the speaker shall acknowledge whether the comments are made as an individual or a member of that body.
C. 
Speakers are encouraged to limit discussions to matters directly impacting Mount Laurel Township.
D. 
Speakers providing materials for consideration shall submit the materials to the Clerk or Secretary of the Board for dissemination to the body.
E. 
Comments including answers from the body shall be limited to three minutes to ensure that all members of the public have an opportunity to speak. Speakers may not yield time to other speakers. The Chair may waive the three-minute requirement. The three-minute requirement shall not apply to public hearings on ordinances or objection to land use applications.
F. 
In response to comments or questions, the Board may respond (or ask the Manager or Solicitor to do so), or may also opt to take the matter up at a future meeting so that the matter is researched by the Township administration.
G. 
No board or body will discuss matters of personnel, litigation or negotiations in public.
H. 
The presiding officer may interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant's statement when the statement is too lengthy, abusive, obscene, repetitive, or irrelevant.
The Manager shall be responsible to the Council for proper administration of the affairs of the township. He shall attend all Council meetings and may participate in Council discussions.