Township of Greenwich, NJ Township Council

Special meetings may be called by the Mayor at any time or shall be called by the Mayor upon the written request of a majority of the Councilmen. Such request shall be in writing and signed by a majority of the members of the Council and shall specify the purpose for which such meeting is to be called. No business shall be transacted at any special meeting other than that specified in the request.

Upon receipt of any such request, the Mayor shall promptly direct the Clerk to serve notice, in writing, of such special meeting upon each member of the Council at least 48 hours prior to the time for which the meeting is called and to serve all notices required by the Open Public Meetings Act (N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.). The notice shall designate the purpose of the special meeting, and no other business shall be conducted.

Emergency meetings.

Should the Mayor or a majority of the Council determine that a state of emergency exists which is of such urgency and importance that the delay necessary to call a special meeting would be likely to result in substantial harm to the public interest, the Mayor or a majority of the Council may call an emergency meeting.

The call shall be filed with the Clerk at any time not less than three hours prior to the time set for the emergency meeting and shall be signed by the Mayor or a majority of the Council and shall designate the purpose of the emergency meeting.

Whenever an emergency meeting is called, the Clerk shall forthwith cause written notice to be served upon each member of Council at his place of residence or at his regular place of business by leaving a copy thereof with the Councilmen personally or with a responsible adult, said notice stating the date, time and place of the meeting and the purpose for which the meeting is called. Such written notice shall not be required if a written waiver of notice is executed by all members of Council. The Police Department shall cooperate fully with the Clerk in serving such notice.

(4)

At the time and place of the emergency meeting, the meeting may proceed upon the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members present if:

(a)

Such meeting is required in order to deal with matters of such urgency and importance that a delay for the purpose of providing adequate notice would be likely to result in substantial harm to the public interest;

(b)

The meeting is limited to discussion of and acting with respect to such matters of urgency and importance;

(c)

Notice of such meeting in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 is provided as soon as possible following the calling of such meeting; and

(d)

Either the Council could not reasonably have foreseen the need for such meeting at a time when adequate notice could have been provided or, although the Council could reasonably have foreseen the need for such meeting at a time when adequate notice could have been provided, it nevertheless failed to do so.

Executive session. The Council shall not exclude the public from any meeting or portion thereof unless:

The matter to be discussed is enumerated in N.J.S.A. 10:4-12b(1) through (9); and

The Council has passed a resolution at a meeting to which the public shall be admitted:

(a)

Stating the general nature of the subject to be discussed; and

(b)

Stating as precisely as possible the time when and the circumstances under which the discussion conducted in closed session of the Council can be disclosed to the public.

Special public hearings.

Any member of the Council may, when he deems it in the public interest, move for the holding of a special public hearing, for the purpose set forth in his motion. No ordinance, resolution or motion shall be voted upon at such special hearing, and such special hearings shall not include public hearings on ordinances which are a part of the order of business of regular meetings.

Should a special public hearing be called, the Clerk shall cause the time, place and purpose of said hearing to be advertised once in the official newspaper of the Township. Such advertisement shall appear at least seven days in advance of the date of the hearing.

The Councilman moving for the holding of a special public hearing shall chair the hearing. Any interested parties may appear to be heard at such hearing for the purpose set forth in the advertisement of the hearing.

All meetings of the Council shall be open to the public, except for executive sessions in circumstances set forth in Subsection E of this section.

§ 5-9 Rules and procedure.

Agenda. The agenda for each regular meeting of the Council shall be prepared by the Municipal Clerk and made available to the Council members on the Friday prior to each regular meeting.

[Amended 8-4-1997 by Ord. No. 13-1997; 12-7-1998 by Ord. No. 23-1998]

Order of business. Promptly at the hour designated, all regular and special meetings of the Council shall commence. Unless otherwise authorized by resolution of Council, all business coming before the Council shall be heard and voted on in the following order:

Quorum call.

Approval of minutes of the previous meeting.

Receipt of bids.

(4)

Scheduled public hearings.

(5)

Ordinances, final reading.

(6)

Ordinances, first reading.

(7)

Payment of bills.

(8)

Resolutions.

(9)

Reports of elected officials, department heads, Township officers and official correspondence.

(10)

Written communications.

(11)

Old business.

(12)

New business.

(13)

Petitions of citizens and public discussion.

(14)

Adjournment.

Call to order. The Mayor shall call each meeting to order. In his absence, the President of the Council shall call the meeting to order and shall preside during the absence of the Mayor. The Mayor shall assume the Chair as soon as he is in attendance at any meeting which may have been called to order in his absence, and the President of the Council shall thereupon relinquish the Chair.

Presiding officer. The presiding officer shall:

State the question and announce the result on all matters upon which the Council may vote.

Rule on all questions of order, subject to appeal to the Council.

Sign the minutes of all meetings of the Council.

Quorum call. At the opening of each meeting of the Council, the Clerk shall call the roll, and the names of those present shall be recorded in the minutes. Three members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of business. If a quorum is not present by 1/2 hour after the appointed time for any meeting, the meeting shall be deemed adjourned.

Distribution and reading of minutes. The Clerk shall, insofar as is practicable, prepare and distribute to the Council the minutes of each meeting within 15 days of the meeting. The minutes of any meeting may be approved without reading whenever they have been distributed at least 24 hours prior to the time of approval. The Clerk shall promptly post a copy of the approved minutes in a public place in the Municipal Building and shall leave such copy posted for 30 days.

Committees. The rules of the Council shall, insofar as applicable, govern meetings of the Committee of the Whole[1] and other committees of the Council which may be appointed from time to time. Special committees of the Council for legislative purposes may be appointed by the Mayor pursuant to resolution. No special committee shall proceed to the consideration of any matter referred to it unless a majority of the members of that committee shall be present. No special committee shall report on a matter referred to it at the same meeting at which reference is made, except by unanimous consent of the members of the committee.

[1]

Editor's Note: Reference to "Committee of the Whole" makes reference to work sessions of Council during which Council may consider matters informally but at which formal action may be taken.

Nominations and appointments.

Nominations submitted by the Mayor will be considered in the Committee of the Whole and may be confirmed at the regular meeting at which they are submitted or may be acted upon at the next regular meeting.

With respect to appointments to be made by the Council, any member of the Council may nominate as many candidates as there are offices to be filled. The Council will consider such nominations in the Committee of the Whole, which will report to a regular meeting of Council. Where there is a single office to be filled, the sense of the Council on the appointment shall be taken as to each nominee in alphabetical order, and the first nominee to receive a majority shall be deemed appointed. Where there is more than one office to be filled, such as a board, commission or authority, the same procedure shall be followed with respect to each office separately until the total number of appointments to be made has been completed. In the discretion of the Chair, a group of nominations may be considered at once where there is no apparent division in the Council as to the nominees included in the group.

Rules of debate.

Except as otherwise specifically provided in these rules, the proceedings of Council shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.

The presiding officer shall have all of the rights, powers and duties of a Councilman, as elsewhere provided within this code.

A member of the Council shall be entitled to the floor only upon recognition by the Chair. Once a member has been recognized and has taken the floor, he shall not be interrupted for any reason other than a call to order, and in such case the Chair shall promptly rule on the point of order, and the speaker shall be allowed to continue if he is in order.

(4)

A motion to reconsider may be made by a Councilman on the prevailing side. Such motion may be made only at the same meeting or at an adjournment thereof at which the action was taken.

(5)

A Councilman shall be entitled to have his remarks included in the minutes, with the consent of the Council.

(6)

The Mayor, with the consent of the Council, may direct a synopsis of the debate on any question to be included in the minutes.

Addressing Council.

Persons other than Councilmen may be permitted to address the Council in the proper order of business. A person present may, upon recognition by the Chair, be heard in the order of petitions of citizens and public discussion. A person present may, upon recognition by the Chair and with the consent of a majority of the Councilmen present, be heard at any other time. No person shall address any remark or question to any specific Councilman nor to any other person present except by permission of the majority of the Council. A Councilman may, through the Chair, respond to any communication or address received pursuant to this section.

Except upon consent of the Council, each person addressing the Council pursuant to this section shall be required to limit his remarks to five minutes and shall at no time engage in any personally offensive or abusive remarks. The Chair shall call any speaker to order who violates any provision of this rule.

Decorum.

Each member of the Council shall cooperate with the Chair in preserving order and decorum, and no member shall, by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings of the Council, disturb any member while speaking or fail to abide by the orders of the Council or its presiding officer, except as specifically permitted by these rules.

Any person who shall disturb the peace of the Council, make impertinent or slanderous remarks or conduct himself in a boisterous manner while addressing the Council shall be forthwith barred by the presiding officer from further audience before the Council, except that if the speaker shall submit to proper order under these rules, permission for him to continue may be granted by majority vote of the Council.

The Police Department shall designate a member of the Department to serve as Sergeant-at-Arms at Council meetings. He shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at such meetings. He shall not be required to be in attendance at the meeting, provided that he is present in the Municipal Building during the time of the meeting whenever possible.

Filing of reports, petitions and resolutions. All reports to the Council and all resolutions and all petitions shall be filed with the Clerk and referenced in the minutes of the Council.

Adjournment. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and shall be decided without debate.

Roll call votes; minutes. The vote upon every motion, resolution or ordinance shall be taken by roll call. The vote shall be "aye" or "nay" or words to that effect of affirmative or negative by each member, and there shall be no further discussion following the commencement of the roll call. The vote of each member shall be entered on the minutes. Any member of the Council may abstain from voting at any time. When the roll is called on any question, the silence of a Councilman present shall constitute an affirmative vote, unless he states that he abstains. The question shall be determined by a majority of those members voting unless otherwise provided by law. The minutes of each meeting shall be signed by the officer presiding and by the Township Clerk.

§ 5-10 Introduction, passage and approval of ordinances and resolutions.

Preparation. Except as may be otherwise provided in the Optional Municipal Charter Law, all ordinances and resolutions shall either be prepared by the Municipal Attorney or reviewed by him prior to introduction.

Preintroduction review.

Prior to introduction, any proposed ordinance permitting or requiring administrative action shall be submitted to the Mayor and to the department head concerned.

Prior to its introduction before the Council, the Township Clerk shall give each Council member a copy of each ordinance.

Introduction.

An ordinance or resolution may be introduced by any member of the Council. Each ordinance or resolution shall be introduced in written or typewritten form and shall be read and considered as provided by general law.

All ordinances and resolutions shall require an affirmative vote from a majority of the Council for adoption unless specified otherwise.

Publication.

After introduction and passage at first reading, each ordinance shall be published in accordance with general law.

An ordinance may incorporate by reference any standard technical regulations or code, official or unofficial, which need not be so published whenever 10 copies of such regulations or code have been placed on file in the office of the body or department charged with the enforcement of said ordinance for examination by the public so long as said ordinance is in effect.

Second reading and public hearing.

At the time and place so stated in the publication or at any time and place to which the meeting for the further consideration of the ordinance shall from time to time be adjourned, all persons interested shall be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the ordinance. The opportunity to be heard shall include the right to ask pertinent questions concerning the ordinance by any resident or any other person affected by the ordinance. Final passage thereof shall be at least 10 days after the first reading.

Upon the opening of the hearing, the ordinance shall be given a second reading, which reading may be by title, and thereafter it may be passed with or without amendments or rejected. Prior to said second reading, a copy of the ordinance shall be posted on the bulletin board or other place upon which public notices are customarily posted in the principal municipal building, and copies of the ordinance shall be made available to members of the general public who shall request such copies. If any amendment is adopted which substantially alters the substance of the ordinance, the ordinance as so amended shall not be finally adopted until at least one week thereafter, and the ordinance as amended shall be read at a meeting of the Council, which reading may be by title, and shall be published, together with a notice of the introduction and the time and place when and where the amended ordinance will be further considered for final passage, at least two days prior to the time so fixed. At the time and place so fixed or at any other meeting to which the further consideration of the amended ordinance may be adjourned, the Council body may proceed to pass the ordinance as amended or again amend it in the same manner.