The meetings of the Canton Village Board of
Trustees are to be conducted within the provisions of the New York
State Village Law. Whereas the New York State Village Law does define
the duties and responsibilities of elected and appointed officials
of village government, it is not specific as to the procedures by
which a Village Board shall conduct its business. The procedures below
are implemented by the authority granted in Article 4, § 4-412,
Subdivision 2, of the New York State Village Law. The purpose of these
procedures is to supplement the New York State Village Law so as to
further define the process to be used to conduct business of the Village
Board of Trustees of Canton, New York.
A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business and is further explained in Article
4 of the New York State Village Law.
All Village Board meetings will be open to the
public and the news media, except for executive sessions.
A. Regular meetings. These meetings are to be scheduled
as determined at the first meeting of the official year.
B. Special meetings. It will be necessary for the Village
Board of Trustees to be convened at times other than the regular monthly
meeting. The following define these situations:
(1) Emergency meetings. An emergency is an unforeseen
combination of circumstances which calls for immediate action by the
Village Board. No written notice or prepared agenda is possible. Only
items relative to the emergency shall be officially acted upon at
this meeting, and a written report of the proceedings must be recorded.
Emergency meetings shall be called at the direction of the Mayor or
at the request of any Trustee.
(2) Nonemergency meetings. A special meeting of a nonemergency
nature would include a situation where it is necessary to convene
the Village Board of Trustees to consider action on items which are
not possible or feasible to postpone until the next regular meeting.
Written notice, to include an agenda of the item(s) to be considered,
must be received by the Board members at least 24 hours prior to the
meeting. Only those items on the agenda of a special meeting of this
nature will be officially acted upon. A written report of these meetings
must be recorded. Nonemergency meetings shall be called at the direction
of the Mayor or at the request of any Trustee.
C. Information meeting. These meetings are to be convened
to receive or dispense information relative to any matter of concern
or responsibility of the Village Board of Trustees. No written agenda
is necessary, and no official voting action can be conducted during
an information meeting.
D. Executive session. These meetings are to be called
at the direction of the Mayor or any Trustee to discuss certain situations
at which it is felt only Village Board members should be present.
[Added 5-21-2018 by L.L.
No. 1-2018]
A. Village Law § 3-302 includes the following provisions:
(1) Village Law § 3-302(1) provides that the Village's
official year begins at 12:00 noon on the first Monday in the month
following the date of the general Village election.
(2) Village Law § 3-302(2) provides that the term of office
of each elective Village officer shall commence at the start of the
official year after his or her election.
(3) Village Law § 3-302(3) provides that the term of office
of the Mayor and each Trustee shall be two official years.
(4) Village Law § 3-302(5)(a) provides that the Board of Trustees,
by resolution or local law, subject to permissive referendum, may
extend to four years the term of office of Mayor, the terms of office
for all Trustees, or the terms of office of Mayor and all Trustees.
No such resolution or local law, however, shall become effective within
30 days prior to a general Village election.
(5) Village Law § 3-302(7)(a) provides that the Board of Trustees
may include in any resolution or local law which extends to four years
the term of office of Mayor, the terms of office for all Trustees,
or the terms of office of Mayor and all Trustees, a provision that
general Village elections shall be held biennially in odd-numbered
years or in even-numbered years, as the Board shall determine. No
such resolution or local law, however, shall become effective within
30 days prior to a general Village election.
(a)
Village Law § 3-302(7)(d) provides that if such resolution
or local law shall become effective between a general Village election
in an odd-numbered year and 30 days prior to a general Village election
in the next even-numbered year and provides that general Village elections
shall be held in odd-numbered years, the successor to a Mayor or Trustee
whose term of office expires in an even-numbered year shall, at the
general Village election preceding the expiration of such term of
office, be elected for a single three-year term, and their successors
shall thereafter be elected for terms of four years.
B. Pursuant to the authority provided by the Village Law and the Municipal
Home Rule Law:
(1) Subject to the provisions of Subsection
B(2) of this section, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Canton hereby extends to four years the terms of office of the Mayor and all Trustees of the Village of Canton, to commence at the beginning of the official year following the 2018 general Village election at which such offices are to be filled.
(2) The Board of Trustees of the Village of Canton hereby determines
that, following the 2018 general Village election, general Village
elections in the Village of Canton shall be held biennially in odd-numbered
years, commencing with the 2019 general Village election. Accordingly:
(a)
The successor to a Mayor or Trustee whose term of office expires
in 2018 shall, at the 2018 general Village election, be elected for
a single three-year term, and their successors shall thereafter be
elected for terms of four years each.
(b)
The successor to a Mayor or Trustee whose term of office expires
in 2019 shall, at the 2019 general Village election, be elected for
a four-year term, and their successors shall thereafter be elected
for terms of four years each.
C. This section is subject to permissive referendum pursuant to Village
Law Article 9, Accordingly:
(1) Within 30 days after the adoption of this section there may be filed
with the Village Clerk a petition signed and acknowledged by at least
20% of the electors of the Village of Canton, as shown on the register
of electors for the previous general Village election, protesting
against this section and requesting that it be submitted to the electors
of the Village for their approval or disapproval. In such event, this
section shall not take effect until approved by the affirmative vote
of a majority of the qualified electors of the Village voting on such
proposition for its approval.
(2) If a valid petition is not filed with the Village Clerk, then this
section shall take effect 30 days after its adoption and upon filing
with the Secretary of State.
D. This section shall be effective upon the date it is filed with the
Secretary of State and shall be effective for general Village elections
scheduled for the Village of Canton for November 2018 and thereafter.