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:
(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.
