[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Rochester 7-20-2000 by Ord. No. 380. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The office of Township Manager is hereby created by the Board of Commissioners of Rochester Township.
A. 
The Township Manager shall be appointed for an indefinite term by a majority of all members of the Board of Commissioners.
B. 
The Township Manager shall serve at the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners and may be removed at any time by a majority vote of all its members. At least 30 days before such removal is to become effective, the Board of Commissioners shall furnish the Township Manager with a written statement setting forth its intention to remove him/her.
A. 
The Township Manager shall be chosen solely on the basis of his/her executive and administrative abilities, with special reference to the duties of the office as herein outlined.
B. 
The Township Manager need not be a resident of Rochester Township or of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at the time of appointment, but during the tenure of office the Township Manager may reside outside Rochester Township only with the approval of the Board of Commissioners. If the Board of Commissioners fails within a reasonable time, not to exceed 60 days after the appointment, to approve the Township Manager's residence outside Rochester Township, the Township Manager must immediately become, and during his/her tenure remain, a resident of Rochester Township.
Before entering upon his/her duties, the Township Manager shall give a bond, in the sum established annually pursuant to a resolution of the Board of Commissioners, with a bonding company as surety, to be approved by the Board of Commissioners, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his/her duties, the premium for said bond to be paid by the Township.
The salary of the Township Manager shall be fixed from time to time by the Board of Commissioners.
A. 
The Township Manager shall be the chief administrative officer of the Township and shall be responsible to the Board of Commissioners as a whole for the proper and efficient administration of the affairs of the Township placed in his/her charge. The powers and duties for administration of all Township business shall be vested in the Township Manager, unless expressly imposed or conferred by statute or ordinance upon other Township officers.
B. 
Subject to recall by ordinance, the powers and duties of the Township Manager shall include the following. The Township Manager shall:
(1) 
Supervise and be responsible for the activities of all municipal departments.
(2) 
Hire and, when necessary for the good of the Township, suspend or discharge any employee under his/her supervision, provided that persons covered by the civil service provisions of the First Class Township Code shall be hired, suspended or discharged in accordance with such provisions, and provided further that the Township Manager shall report at the next meeting thereafter of the Board of Commissioners any action taken by authority of this subsection.
(3) 
Fix wages and salaries of all personnel under his/her supervision, within a range previously determined by the Board of Commissioners.
(4) 
Prepare and submit to the Board of Commissioners a budget for the next fiscal year and an explanatory budget message in such a timely fashion as will enable the Board of Commissioners to consider and adopt the budget and related tax ordinances according to the requirements of law. In preparing the budget, the Township Manager, or officer designated by him/her, shall obtain from the head of each department, agency or board, or any qualified officer thereof, estimates of revenue and expenditures and such other supporting data as is required. The Township Manager shall review such estimates and may revise them before submitting the budget to the Board of Commissioners.
(5) 
Be responsible for the administration of the budget after its adoption by the Board of Commissioners.
(6) 
Develop, in conjunction with the preparation of the budget, long-range fiscal plans for the Township, such plans to be presented annually to the Board of Commissioners for its review and adoption.
(7) 
Hold such other Township offices and head such Township departments as the Board of Commissioners may from time to time direct.
(8) 
Attend all meetings of the Board of Commissioners and its committees with the right to take part in the discussions. The Township Manager shall receive notice of all special meetings of the Board of Commissioners and its committees.
(9) 
Prepare the agenda for each meeting of the Board of Commissioners and supply facts pertinent thereto.
(10) 
Keep the Board of Commissioners informed as to the conduct of Township affairs; submit periodic reports on the condition of the Township finances and such other reports as the Board of Commissioners requests; and make such recommendations to the Board of Commissioners as deemed advisable.
(11) 
Submit to the Board of Commissioners, as soon as possible after the close of the fiscal year, a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the Township for the preceding year.
(12) 
See that the provisions of all franchises, leases, permits and privileges granted by the Board of Commissioners are observed.
(13) 
Employ, by and with the approval of the Board of Commissioners, experts and consultants to perform work and to advise.
(14) 
Attend to the letting of contracts in due form of law. The Township Manager shall supervise the performance and faithful execution of the same except insofar as such duties are expressly imposed by statute upon some other Township officer.
(15) 
Be responsible for all accounts payable and receivable.
(16) 
Serve as purchasing officer of the Township and purchase, in accordance with the provisions of the First Class Township Code, all supplies and equipment for the agencies, boards, departments and other offices of the Township. The Township Manager shall keep an account of all purchases and shall, from time to time or when directed by the Board of Commissioners, make a full written report thereof. The Township Manager shall also issue rules and regulations, subject to the approval of the Township, governing the procurement of all municipal supplies and equipment.
(17) 
Investigate and dispose of, or designate an officer to investigate and dispose of, all complaints regarding Township services and personnel and report to the Board of Commissioners thereon. All complaints regarding Township services shall be referred to the office of Township Manager.
(18) 
Enforce the ordinances and regulations of the Township.
The Board of Commissioners, its members and its committees shall not dictate or influence or attempt to dictate or influence the hiring of any person to, or his/her discharge from, municipal employment by the Township Manager or in any manner take part in the hiring, suspending or discharging of employees in the administrative service of the Township except as required by the civil service provisions of the First Class Township Code or the provisions of the Local Agency Law.[1] Other than for the purposes of inquiry, the Board of Commissioners or any of its members or any of the Township committees or their members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the Township Manager, and the Board of Commissioners or any of its members or the Township committees or their members shall not give orders, publicly or privately, to any subordinate of the Township Manager.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 2 Pa.C.S.A. § 551 et seq.
If the Township Manager becomes ill or needs to be absent from the Township, he/she shall designate one qualified member of his/her staff to perform the duties of the Township Manager during his/her absence or disability. The person so designated shall not perform these duties for a period longer than two weeks without the approval of the Board of Commissioners.