[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]
(1) 
Select Board's office.
(2) 
Town Clerk's office.
(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.
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.
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.