There shall be a Borough Council of seven (7) members elected by the qualified voters of the Borough at-large.
A member of Council shall be a citizen of the United States, shall have been a resident of the Borough for at least one year prior to the date of the primary election in which he is a candidate, and shall be a registered elector of the Borough at the time of his candidacy and during his term.
A member of Council shall not hold any other compensated Borough office or be employed by the Borough or act as a paid consultant to the Borough, either during his term of office or until after the expiration of his term of office, if for any reason he does not complete said term.
The terms of all members of Council shall be four (4) years, commencing at 8:00 p.m. on the first Monday of January following the year in which they are elected, except that a member of Council appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the balance of the unexpired term. Members of Council shall serve successive staggered terms beginning with those set forth in Section 305.
A. 
The election of members of Council shall be held on the general municipal election day as established from time to time by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The procedure for nomination and election of the members of Council shall be as established by the general laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for municipal elections.
B. 
The first election of members of Council under this Charter shall be held on the date of the municipal election in the year 1975. Three (3) members of Council shall be elected for a term beginning the first Monday of January, 1976. The four (4) members of Council elected in 1973 under prior law shall remain in office for the full terms for which they were originally elected as provided in Section 1802 of this Charter. Four (4) members of Council shall then be elected in the municipal election in the year 1977 for a term beginning the first Monday of January, 1978.
A. 
The office of a member of Council shall become vacant upon his death, resignation, removal from the Borough, removal from office in any manner authorized by law or this Charter, or forfeiture of his office, or for failure to assume such office after election thereto within forty-five (45) days after the commencement of the term thereof. A member of Council shall forfeit his office if he lacks at any time during his term of office any qualification for the office prescribed by this Charter or by law or is convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude or is absent from at least three (3) consecutive regular meetings of the Council without reasonable cause.
B. 
In the case of forfeiture of office, Council shall declare that office vacant by a majority vote on a resolution duly made and seconded at a public meeting. Passage of a Resolution of Forfeiture shall authorize the President of Council to dispatch written notice of such resolution to the member at his Borough residence address. The member may request a public hearing by advising the President of Council in writing within ten (10) days after receipt of written notice. A hearing shall be held at the next regularly scheduled meeting and another vote taken on the Resolution of Forfeiture immediately after the hearing at the same meeting. After the hearing or upon failure of the member to respond within twenty (20) days from dispatch of written notice, the office shall be declared vacant.
A. 
If a vacancy shall occur in the office of a member of Council for any reason as set forth in this Charter, the Council shall fill said vacancy for the balance of the unexpired term by observing the following procedure:
(1) 
Notice of the vacancy shall be read aloud at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Council following the occasion of the vacancy and within ten (10) days of this meeting shall be:
(a) 
Posted in conspicuous places in the Borough offices;
(b) 
Published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough.
(2) 
Said notice shall contain a schedule of the times and place Council will conduct public interviews of all qualified candidates and shall include an invitation to any qualified Borough resident who desires consideration to schedule a public interview with Council by informing the Borough Secretary, or his representative, within ten (10) days of publication of said notice. The Borough Secretary shall inform the President of Council, or the acting President of Council, of all candidates to be interviewed.
(3) 
At a regularly scheduled meeting, held within sixty (60) days after publication of said notice, Council shall fill the vacancy by appointing from the candidates interviewed that candidate who receives the majority of votes of the Council members present and voting. In the event of a hopeless deadlock, the matter shall be presented to the Court of Common Pleas within thirty (30) days after this meeting and the Court shall fill the vacancy by appointing a qualified resident of the Borough.
A member of Council, prior to assuming office, shall take and shall sign an oath of office as shall from time to time be prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Such oath may be taken and signed before any judge, district magistrate or notary public of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and no person shall be permitted to assume such office until the oath, in written form, is filed with the Borough.
A. 
The Council shall organize at 8:00 p.m. on the first Monday of January of each even-numbered year. If the first Monday is a legal holiday, the meeting and organization shall take place the first day following.
B. 
At this organizational meeting the Council shall elect one of its members President and one of its members Vice President, who shall hold such offices at the pleasure of Council. If either office is vacated for any reason at any time, the vacancy shall be filled at the next monthly meeting. If the Vice President of Council is elected to fill a vacancy in the office of President of Council, the vacancy created in the office of Vice President may be filled at the same meeting.
C. 
Also at this organizational meeting the Council shall set the time and place of its regular monthly meetings and designate a newspaper of general circulation as the official newspaper of the Borough.
D. 
The Council may transact any further business it deems necessary or appropriate at this organizational meeting.
All Councilmanic authority shall be asserted by the Councilmanic body only. No individual member of Council shall have any authority whatsoever under this Charter unless such authority is specifically delegated by the Charter or by the Council acting as a body.
[Amended by Special Election Referendum of 11-5-1991]
A. 
Each member of Council may receive a salary at the rate of fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500.00) per annum or such other sum as the Council shall establish by ordinance no more frequently than once every four (4) years. No ordinance increasing or decreasing salary shall become effective unless placed on the ballot and voted upon in a municipal election. The increase or decrease in salary will not become effective before the commencement of terms of the members of Council elected.
B. 
Members of Council shall receive no other compensation, direct or indirect, for the performance of their duties; they shall receive no pensions, insurance or other forms of fringe benefits. However, they shall be entitled to their actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties and shall be entitled to indemnification as provided in Section 1202 of Article XII of this Charter.