All powers of the municipality and the determination of all
matters of policy shall be vested in the Township Council, except
as otherwise provided by the Charter, general law or the Administrative
Code.
Compensation of each member of the Township Council and compensation
for the Mayor shall be determined by the Salary Ordinance.
The Mayor shall be elected by a majority vote of all members
of the Township Council. The selection of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor
shall be made at the annual reorganization meeting of the Township
Council.
The Mayor shall have only such powers and duties as Mayor as
are expressly vested in the Mayor by this chapter and by general law.
The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the Township Council and
shall have a voice and vote in its proceedings. In the absence of
the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor shall preside. Upon the arrival of the
Mayor, the Deputy Mayor shall immediately relinquish the chair upon
the conclusion of the business immediately before the Council. The
Mayor shall fill vacancies occurring in the Board of Trustees of the
Public Library for such terms of office as are provided by law. All
bonds, notes, deeds, contracts and written obligations of the Township
shall be executed on its behalf by the Mayor or, in the event of the
Mayor's inability to act, by the Deputy Mayor.
The Council may convene at any time in informal conference for
the study of municipal business or to plan for the agendas of its
future meetings. Members of the public shall be permitted to attend
these conferences, except where the Council shall determine, in accordance
with the Open Public Meetings Act, that the meeting shall be closed
to the public for discussion of certain specific matters which, by
their nature, are permitted to be discussed in private.
A majority of all the members elected to the Council shall constitute
a quorum at any regular or special meeting of the Council, but a lesser
number than a quorum may adjourn any meeting. If no member of the
Council is present 1/2 hour after the appointed time for any meeting,
the Clerk shall adjourn the meeting.
The order of business, agenda, conduct of meetings, procedure,
decorum, and any and all matters pertaining to the functions of the
Council and the carrying out of Township business at regular and special
meetings may be determined and prescribed by resolution of the Council
annually at its organization meeting.
Except as may be provided in the Charter and the Administrative
Code, questions of order, methods of organization and the conduct
of business of the Council shall be governed by the latest revised
edition of Robert's Rules of Order.
The agenda for each regular and special meeting of the Council
shall be prepared by the Clerk. Except for emergency matters which
may be added to the agenda at any time with the approval of the Manager,
the agenda for each regular meeting of the Council shall include only
such matters of Council business as have been presented or delivered
to the Clerk by the Manager or a Council member not later than 24
hours preceding the meeting. As soon as the agenda for each meeting
has been prepared, the Clerk shall deliver a copy to each Council
member, the Manager, and each department head. The Clerk shall also
promptly distribute copies to the press and to interested citizens
upon request.
[Added 3-21-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-5]
All regular and special meetings of the Council shall be limited
to and shall not exceed three hours in total time from start to finish,
unless said time limit is extended upon motion and an affirmative
vote of the majority of a quorum of Council members present at a given
meeting. A Council member's initial comments on a given topic shall
be limited to not exceed five minutes for rebuttal. Further, public
comment on agenda items shall be limited to not exceed two minutes
per individual and general public comment shall be limited to not
exceed four minutes per individual at a given public meeting.