Council shall hold its organization meeting on the first Monday of January of each year. At the organization meeting, it shall elect one of its members as President of Council and one of its members as Vice President of Council, who shall hold such office at the pleasure of Council. The Council shall transact any other business that it may deem necessary or appropriate at the organization meeting. In any year when the first Monday of January shall be a legal holiday, the organization meeting of Council shall be held on the following day.
[Amended 5-20-1997]
1. 
Council shall hold regular and agenda meetings at least once a month, on such day and at such time as Council shall from time to time determine and schedule.
2. 
Council may adjourn to a stated time for general business or for special business without further advertisement.
3. 
A majority of the members of Council in office shall constitute a quorum. If no quorum is present at a meeting, a majority of the members of Council who are present may agree upon another date and hour for a meeting, and members so present may continue so to agree until a meeting can be held with a quorum in attendance. Council may not act on any matter without a quorum being present.
4. 
Special meetings may be called by the President of Council on his own initiative or shall be called by him upon written request of at least two of the members of Council. Members shall have at least 72 hours' notice of special meetings. The notice shall state the nature of the business to be considered. Presence at a meeting constitutes waiver of notice.
1. 
Meetings of Council shall be open to the public and shall be conducted according to rules of procedure adopted by Council. Such rules shall be designed to assure full and equal participation in the deliberations of Council by all of its members.
2. 
Council shall provide reasonable opportunity for interested citizens and taxpayers to address Council on matters affecting the municipality.
Council shall cause minutes of all of its meetings to be made and preserved. The minutes shall be open to public inspection in the office of the Municipal Secretary during regular business hours.
In the conduct of inquiries and investigations, Council shall have authority to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers or other evidence at any meeting of Council or of any committee thereof, and for that purpose may issue subpoenas, signed by the President or Vice President of Council or the chairman of the committee, as the case may be, and may cause the same to be served in any part of Pennsylvania. The President or Vice President of Council or committee chairman, as the case may be, shall have the power to administer oaths to witnesses.
1. 
Action on any ordinance shall be at a lawful meeting of Council and shall be by majority vote of the members present. If such ordinance receives such affirmative majority vote, it shall then be signed by the President or Vice President of Council, or in their absence any other member of Council and attested by the Municipal Secretary, who shall affix the Municipal Seal and insert the date of the Council vote.
2. 
The enactment of an ordinance shall be the date of passage by Council.
3. 
Ordinances shall be numbered consecutively and shall contain a clear statement that the document is an ordinance.
In addition to any other actions required by law or by this Charter to be taken by ordinance, those actions of the Council that shall be by ordinance are those that:
1. 
Adopt or amend an Administrative Code or establish, alter or abolish any department, office or agency of the municipality.
2. 
Adopt or amend an ordinance establishing a Personnel Code for the municipality.
3. 
Establish a rule or regulation or define a summary offense for violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed.
4. 
Levy taxes.
5. 
Grant, renew or extend a franchise.
6. 
Establish, alter or abolish rates charged for any utility or other service supplied by the municipality.
7. 
Convey or lease or authorize the conveyance or lease of any lands of the municipality.
8. 
Amend or repeal any ordinance previously adopted.
9. 
Establish wages, hours or fringe benefits of any job classification of the municipality.
No final action shall be taken on the following types of ordinances and amendments thereto without public hearing thereon, of which there has been at least 10 days' prior public notice, except as otherwise required by law, ordinance or this Charter, published in a newspaper circulating generally in the municipality:
1. 
Zoning ordinance and amendments thereto.
2. 
Subdivision regulations and amendments thereto.
3. 
Land development and land use regulations and amendments thereto.
4. 
Imposition of taxes.
5. 
Adoption or amendment of a budget.
6. 
Adoption or amendment of an Administrative Code.
1. 
Notices of ordinances adopted by Council shall be published once in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the municipality. Such publication shall state where the full text of the ordinance may be examined and copies obtained. If an ordinance imposes or establishes penalties (except for ordinances adopting codes complete in themselves, as referred to in § C-510 of this Charter), the full text of the ordinance shall be published and the publication in the newspaper shall state where copies of the ordinance may be obtained.
2. 
Ordinances not published within 30 days of their enactment shall be invalid.
Within seven days after the enactment of an ordinance, the Municipal Secretary shall cause to be recorded in the Municipal Ordinance Book a verbatim copy of such ordinance, which shall contain a notation of the date of enactment and the date of publication and the name of the newspaper in which publication was made. It shall not be necessary to record in the Ordinance Book the full text of any ordinance where there is a specific provision in the laws of Pennsylvania permitting adoption and recording by reference, or in the case of any ordinance adopting, with or without amendment or modification, any building code, plumbing code or other code complete in itself, for the regulation of any trade, occupation or line of activity or undertaking, but in the latter cases, it shall be necessary only to record the ordinance adopting the same by reference and indicating the Municipal office where the complete code or ordinance shall be available. Whenever an ordinance shall be specifically amended or repealed, the Municipal Secretary shall cause a notation to that effect to be made in the Ordinance Book at the location where the recording of such ordinance shall commence. Whenever any ordinance shall prescribe a condition to its becoming effective, in the nature of an acceptance by a party thereto, the meeting of such condition or the failure to meet the same shall likewise be noted at the appropriate place in the Ordinance Book.
The Ordinance Book shall be open and available for public inspection and perusal in the Municipal Building during office hours, and the municipality shall make available, at cost of reproduction, copies of any ordinances, upon request.
Within three years after the effective date of this Charter, and at least every five years thereafter, Council shall provide for the preparation of a general codification of all ordinances and resolutions of the municipality having the force and effect of law. The general codification shall be adopted by the Council by ordinance and shall be published promptly in bound or loose-leaf form, together with this Charter and any amendments thereto, and such other laws, codes or technical regulations or other rules and regulations as the Council may specify. This compilation shall be known and cited officially as the Township of Hampton Code. Copies of the Code shall be furnished to officers of the municipality, placed in libraries and public offices for free public reference and made available for purchase by the public at a reasonable price fixed by the Council.
Violation of an ordinance shall constitute a summary offense, and prosecution of every such offense shall be according to the practice in the case of summary convictions, except where the laws of Pennsylvania shall specifically provide otherwise. Any ordinance may prescribe a penalty for the violation thereof, which may not exceed the maximum penalty that may be imposed by any non-charter Second Class Township in the commonwealth for violation of an ordinance. All fines, penalties and costs collected shall be paid into the municipal treasury for use of the municipality. Any ordinance may provide that for continuing violations; each day that a violation exists may be regarded as a separate violation.