The following terms, as used in this Charter, are defined as follows:
1. 
The words "absolute majority" mean a majority of all Councilmen in office.
2. 
The words "Councilmen," "he," and other similar terms are used generically and, when so used, are intended to include the feminine and masculine.
3. 
The words "employee" and "Borough employee" mean a person hired by the Borough to work for wages or salary. No officer of the Borough shall be classified as a Borough employee.
4. 
The words "officer of the Borough" mean any person elected to public office within the Borough and/or any person or agency appointed or retained by the Council to perform specific services of a technical or professional nature for the Borough. Officers of the Borough shall include, but shall not be limited to, Councilmen, the Mayor, the Solicitor, the Tax Collector, the Treasurer, the Auditors and the Engineer, the Building Inspector and the Plumbing Inspector, if such officer be appointed by the Council.
This Charter shall become effective on the first Monday of January 1976, except in the following particulars:
1. 
Councilmen shall be elected in 1975 under the provisions of this Charter, and for that purpose all sections of this Charter relating to the election of Councilmen shall become effective immediately upon the adoption of this Charter by the qualified voters of the Borough.
2. 
Appropriations shall be made in the budget and salary ordinances for the year 1976 so as to implement fully the provisions of this Charter.
The Council shall as promptly as possible adopt any legislation necessary to implement the provisions of this Charter.
Councilmen in office at the time this Charter becomes effective shall be entitled to remain in office for the full terms for which they were elected. However, they shall have responsibilities, duties and authority only as set forth pursuant to this Charter. All other officers of the Borough in office at the time this Charter becomes effective shall be entitled to remain in office for the full term for which they were elected or under the terms and conditions by which they were appointed, as the case may be, and they shall continue to receive the same compensation which they received prior to the effective date of this Charter unless and until said compensation is increased or decreased pursuant to the terms of this Charter.
Members of authorities, boards and commissions in office at the time when this Charter takes effect shall remain in office under the terms of this Charter for as long as their respective terms of appointment shall continue, unless and until an authority, board or commission shall be abolished, combined with another agency, or reconstituted, in which case the members thereof shall vacate their respective offices upon notice from the Council to do so.
Nothing in this Charter shall affect or impair any right or privilege possessed by or vested in any person who shall be a Borough employee at the time of the adoption of this Charter, and the adoption of this Charter shall in no way diminish or remove any of such rights and privileges.
All ordinances, regulations and resolutions in force at the time when this Charter takes effect which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter shall remain in full force and effect until altered, modified or repealed by or under authority of this Charter or by ordinance or expired by their own terms. All ordinances and resolutions in continued effect as of the effective date of this Charter shall be construed as if enacted under this Charter but as of the date of their original enactment.
The Borough shall continue to own, possess and control all rights and property, of every kind and nature, owned, possessed or controlled by it when this Charter shall take effect and shall be subject to all its debts, obligations, liabilities and duties.
All officers of the Borough and all members of Borough authorities, boards and commissions, prior to assuming office, shall take and shall sign an oath of office or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to perform the duties of their respective offices with fidelity, and/or such other oath or affirmation as may from time to time be prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Such oath may be taken and signed before any Judge or District Magistrate 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.
Within one year after the effective date of this Charter, the Council shall adopt by ordinance, and thereafter from time to time may amend by ordinance, an Administrative Code establishing and defining as a minimum the responsibilities of all Borough departments and agencies as well as such procedures as it shall deem to be of basic importance in the operation of the Borough government.
Elected officers of the Borough shall hold their offices on the condition that they behave themselves well while in office and shall be removed upon the commission of misbehavior in office or of any infamous crime. The term "misbehavior in office" shall include, but shall not be limited to, the doing of any act prohibited by this Charter or the failure to perform duties required by this Charter. The Council, after due notice and hearing, may remove any elected officer of the Borough found subject to removal or proceedings for removal may be commenced in the court having jurisdiction thereof.
It is the intention of the electors of the Borough that if this Charter cannot take effect in its entirety because of the judgment of any court of competent jurisdiction holding invalid any part or parts hereof, the remaining provisions of this Charter shall be given full force and effect as completely as if the part or parts held invalid has not been included herein.