[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Fairhaven
as indicated in Part histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 2-17-1934 ATM
by Art. 37 as Ch. II of the 1934 Bylaws]
[Amended 9-14-1972 STM by Art. 3; 5-6-1980 ATM by Art. 22]
The warrant for any Town Meeting shall be served
by posting a printed copy thereof at or near the front entrance of
the Town Hall and at or near the public entrances of all the polling
places in the Town at least seven days before the date of said meeting.
[Amended 6-14-2021 ATM by Art. 46]
All articles, other than those specified by
law for insertion in the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting, must
be presented in writing to the Select Board eight weeks before the
holding of said meeting and should have the signatures of not less
than 10 voters of the Town. For Special Town Meetings all articles
must be presented to the Select Board in writing as above specified
at least 30 days before the date of said meeting.
[Amended 3-11-1950 ATM by Art. 73; 3-17-1951 ATM by Art. 66; 4-11-1974 STM by Art.
1; 5-12-1976 ATM by Art. 14; 1-22-1977 STM by Art. 3]
The Annual Town Meeting shall be held on the
first Monday in April at which time the election of all Town officials
and Town Meeting members shall take place, and thereafter said meeting
will be adjourned to another day for the consideration of all other
articles in the warrant.
The procedure and conduct of the business meetings
of the Town not herein provided for shall be governed by Robert's
Rules of Parliamentary Practice so far as they are applicable and
are not inconsistent with the bylaws of the Town.
On any appropriation of money, a vote by ballot
as hereinafter specified shall be taken, provided that it is so moved
previously to taking the vote and is supported by at least 25 Town
Meeting members.
[Added 3-10-1945 ATM by Art. 38]
A vote of the members present shall be required
for the passage of a motion to amend, reconsider or rescind any previous
vote of any Annual Town Meeting, adjournment thereof or of a Special
Town Meeting.
[Added 5-6-1998 ATM by Art. 8]
If a 2/3 vote of Town Meeting is required by
statute, the Moderator may decide the vote upon a show of hands, but
shall not take a count or record the vote, except that if that or
any other vote declared by the Moderator is immediately questioned
by seven or more voters, the Moderator shall verify the vote by dividing
the Town Meeting and the vote shall be counted by tellers.
[Added 5-3-2008 ATM by Art. 21]
Any Annual or Special Town Meeting may appropriate
funds from an enterprise account into a reserve fund, from which reserve
fund, transfers may be made for extraordinary or unforeseen expenditures
related to the purpose of that enterprise. No such transfer of funds
may be made from such a reserve fund except with the prior approval
of the Finance Committee.
[Added 5-5-2012 ATM by Art. 9]
A. The provisions of this section shall apply to any collective bargaining
agreement executed after the effective date of this section.
B. Copies of all agreements, in their entirety, entered into with employees
of the Town pursuant to collective bargaining, including the current
pay schedule and the proposed pay schedule which shall include step
increases and longevity, shall be made available for inspection by
the public at the locations specified in this section no later than
12:00 noon on the 10th day before the Town Meeting is to vote on the
question of appropriating funds to implement any such agreement.
C. Accompanying all such agreements shall be a document highlighting
the changes from the previous agreement and the estimated total cost
of each change over the life of the agreement. Such changes shall
include but not be limited to any actual payment or potential payment
for any stipend, bonus, additional sick days, early termination notice,
uniform allowance, personal days, or any matter which will require
monetary payment or compensatory time to be made or given to an employee.
D. On or before the time called for above, one copy of any such agreement
shall be provided to the Town Accountant, the Finance Committee and
the Select Board; and an additional two copies of all agreements and
accompanying documents shall be placed on file in the following locations
no later than the time called for above before such agreements are
to come before the Town Meeting for any action:
[Amended 6-14-2021 ATM by Art. 46]
(3) For such agreements involving employees of the various divisions
under the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Works, in addition to
the offices of the Select Board and Town Clerk, the same shall also
be placed on file at the Board of Public Work's Administration Building.
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Once filed, said agreements and accompanying documents shall
be made available for inspection to the public during normal business
hours for each such location. A copy of the same shall be provided
to any person requesting a copy; provided, however, that said copies
shall be made only upon prior payment of the cost of making said copies.
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E. It shall be the responsibility of each entity or person entering
into such an agreement on behalf of the Town to provide and file the
required number of copies of said documents to the entities and persons
and in the locations specified above. An additional copy shall also
be provided to the person charged with maintaining the Town's Internet
website for the purpose of posting the same thereon; provided, however,
the failure for the same to be so posted shall not be deemed a violation
of the provisions of this section.
F. If a motion to appropriate any funds for any such agreement is made
without said agreements and documents having been provided or filed
as called for above, the question shall be postponed until the next
session of the Town Meeting held after such period has elapsed; provided,
upon a majority vote of Town Meeting for each such agreement the provisions
of this subsection may be waived, and a vote taken on said agreement.
G. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, such agreements
and the powers and duties to negotiate the same shall remain under
the exclusive jurisdiction of the appropriate authorities as granted
by statute or such other applicable law, it being the specific purpose
of this section to require adequate notice of the provisions of any
such agreement be provided to Town Meeting prior to voting on any
requested appropriation for the same.
[Adopted 5-4-2019 STM
by Art. 8]
[Amended 6-14-2021 ATM by Art. 56]
All meetings of Town boards, commissions and committees shall
be broadcast live and/or recorded for future broadcast over the local
cable television network and online viewing as well as allow virtual
remote participation via a live online platform such as Zoom or similar
service unless emergency, operational or technical conditions suspend
the requirements hereof, as determined by the Town Administrator,
for broadcasts over the public access and government channels or the
School Superintendent for broadcasts over the education channel. Members
of the public may participate with comments if allowed by the chair
of the committee.
Notice of all such meetings shall be posted in accordance with
the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, MGL c. 30A, and shall contain
the date, time and place of such meeting and a listing of topics that
the Chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting.
If there is a scheduling conflict with the use of a meeting
room, the Town Administrator for municipal property or the School
Superintendent for school property or their designees shall have the
discretion to determine which board shall have use of the room.
Nothing contained in this bylaw shall be so construed as to
conflict with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, MGL c. 30A.
A violation of this bylaw or a failure to comply with this bylaw
shall not be grounds for challenging or invalidating any actions taken
at any meeting of a Town board, committee or commission.