Borough Council shall be made up of six Councilpersons elected by the citizens of the Borough of Stone Harbor entitled to vote.
The Borough Council shall be the legislative body of the Borough and shall have all the powers designated by the general law of boroughs, including but not limited to those contained in N.J.S.A. 40A:60-1 et seq. and shall include, to the extent not inconsistent with said laws, the following powers:
A. 
The power to pass, adopt, amend and repeal any ordinances or, where permitted, any resolutions for any purpose required for the government of the Borough or for the accomplishment of the public purposes of the Borough and for which the Borough is authorized to act under general law.
B. 
Control and regulate the finances of the Borough and raise money by borrowing or taxation.
C. 
Create such offices and positions as may be deemed necessary for the proper operation of the Borough government.
D. 
Investigate any activity of the Borough.
E. 
Remove any officer of the Borough, other than those officers excepted by law, for cause.
F. 
Override a veto of the Mayor by a two-thirds majority of all the members of Council.
G. 
Exercise all the executive responsibilities of the Borough not placed, by general law or by N.J.S.A. 40A:60-1 et seq., in the office of the Mayor.
H. 
Delegate, by ordinance, all or a portion of the executive responsibilities to an Administrator, who shall be appointed pursuant to the law.
I. 
May adopt, by ordinance, an administrative code.
J. 
May create such advisory councils to the Borough as it may choose.
K. 
Shall, at its annual meeting, establish for its members such committees of Borough Council as it deems necessary for the proper operations of Borough Council for the ensuing year.
L. 
May, as individual members of Borough Council, act as liaisons to Stone Harbor Property Owners Association, the Stone Harbor Museum and the Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce, for the purpose of facilitating communications between the Borough Council and these enumerated organizations.
[Added 3-2-2021 by Ord. No. 1583]
[Amended 2-5-2013 by Ord. No. 1412]
The annual organization meeting of the Borough shall henceforth be on the first Tuesday in January; provided, however, that should the first Tuesday fall on January 1, the meeting shall be held on January 2. The Council shall hold such other meetings or adjourned meetings at such time and place as it may by resolution direct, but all regular meetings shall be held within the Borough. The Mayor shall, when necessary, call special meetings of the Council; in case of his neglect or refusal, any four members of the Council may call such meeting at such time and place in the Borough as they may designate, and in all cases of special meetings notice shall be given to all the members of the Council in writing left at their places of residence or by actual contact with the members by telephone or otherwise.
Three Councilmen and the Mayor or, in the absence of the Mayor, four Councilmen, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but a smaller number may meet and adjourn from time to time.
The Council at its annual meeting shall, by the vote of a majority of the Council, elect from their number a President of the Council, who shall preside at all its meetings when the Mayor does not preside. He shall hold office for one year and until the next annual meeting. He shall have the right to debate and vote on all questions before the Council. If the Council at its annual meeting fails to elect a President, the Mayor shall appoint the President from the Council, and in that case no confirmation by the Council shall be necessary.
If the Mayor is absent from the Borough for a period of three days or for any reason is unable to act, the President of the Council shall perform all the duties of the Mayor during such absence or inability. The Mayor, in case of his intended absence from the Borough for more than three days at any one time, shall notify the President in writing of the intended absence. Upon receipt of that notice, and the commencement of the Mayor's absence, the President shall be and become Acting Mayor thereafter, and continue to act until the Mayor's return. In case of the temporary inability of the President of Council to so act, the member of Council having the longest term of service may act temporarily, not only as President of Council, but also as Acting Mayor in the Mayor's absence.
The Council shall provide rules of procedure by resolution. These rules shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this code. Except where the Council provides otherwise by resolution, the proceedings at all meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, revised. The Borough Attorney shall be ex officio parliamentarian and shall be prepared, at the request of any member of the Council, to give his opinion on any question of procedure.
All regular and special meetings of the Council shall be open to the public. The Borough Attorney, the Clerk, and any other Borough officer or employee whose presence shall be required by resolution of the Council shall attend such meetings.
A. 
In conjunction with the Borough Administrator and department heads, committees shall, for their functional areas, perform the following:
(1) 
Develop and implement policies which are unique to their function.
(2) 
Develop operating plans for the function.
(3) 
Develop budgets for presentation to Council.
(4) 
Monitor performance of the departments.
(5) 
Make reports and recommendations to the Council.
(6) 
Approve purchase orders in line with Council policy.
(7) 
Initiate and conduct investigations of activities within their functional areas.
(8) 
With the help of the Borough Solicitor, develop ordinances and resolutions to implement recommended actions.
B. 
Standing committees may not:
(1) 
Develop and implement policies which are universal in nature and cross functional area lines.
(2) 
Make promises or commitments to anyone which directly or by inference tend to bind the Council.
(3) 
Authorize deviations from expense budgets and salary plans previously approved by Council, unless the deviation is approved by Council prior thereto.
(4) 
Act in such a manner or make decisions which may set a precedent to bind Borough Council or which violate established Council policy.
(5) 
Circumvent the chain of command to directly supervise employees.
Each of the standing committee's responsibilities shall be directed to the following specific functional areas:
A. 
Public Safety Committee. Police, Fire Prevention, Municipal Court, Emergency Management, Animal Control, Beach Patrol, Beach Taggers and liaison with Rescue Squad and Fire Department.
[Amended 3-15-2016 by Ord. No. 1473; 4-4-2017 by Ord. No. 1493]
B. 
Administration and Finance Committee. Legal services, personnel policy and practices, insurance, tax assessment (to the extent permitted by law), tax collection, financial planning and control, construction and inspection, coordination of capital project priorities and public relations.
C. 
Public Works Committee. Buildings, grounds, streets, bulkheads, beach structures, solid waste, recycling, the Board of Health, street sweeping.
[Amended 3-7-2006 by Ord. No. 1251]
D. 
Beach, Recreation and Tourism Committee. The public beach, the marina, parks and playgrounds (including, but not limited to, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball fields, football fields, soccer fields and the like) and tourism events and activities.
[Amended 10-6-2009 by Ord. No. 1346]
E. 
Natural Resources. Beach replenishment, dredging and dredging-related issues, including sites for placement of dredge material, Bird Sanctuary, Borough waters and bay islands, Conservation Management District, open space; the Shade Tree Advisory Committee; pest control and flood control.
[Amended 3-15-2016 by Ord. No. 1473]
F. 
Utilities Committee. Water, sewer, cable television, telephone service, gas service, electric service and other similar utilities.
Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the governing body from forming committees for special purposes. Such committee shall consist of no more than three members of the governing body. Such committee shall be formed by way of motion or resolution duly offered at a meeting of the Council, specifying the membership of the committee, the committee chairperson, the specific purpose of the committee and the duration of the committee. Such committee shall have the ability to consult with any person whose input the committee may find helpful, but may not pay for such consultation without the consent of the Council by simple majority vote and compliance with applicable law. Upon the expiration of the committee, or as requested by Council, the committee shall deliver a report to Council at a meeting of the governing body on the activities of the committee.