The governing body of the Town shall be the Town Council which
shall exercise and perform all the rights, powers, duties and obligations
of the Town except as the same may be assigned by this Charter to
some other officer, board or agency, which powers shall include in
addition to all other powers all the powers and duties now or hereafter
conferred or imposed upon town meetings, excepting for budget purposes
or as otherwise provided in this Charter, boards of finance, boards
of police commissioners, building commissioners, boards of fire commissioners,
boards of sewer commissioners, and boards of selectmen, except for
the making of voters and related matters, in towns by the General
Statutes and in the Town of Plainville in particular by special acts.
The Town Council may provide by ordinance for the exercise of any
of the administrative powers of the former Board of Selectmen not
otherwise assigned by this Charter by the Manager or some other officer,
board or agency. The Town Council shall prepare the annual budget
of the Town pursuant to the provisions of this Charter and shall set
the tax rate. It shall have power, subject to the provisions of this
Charter, by ordinance to create or abolish departments and offices,
and the charges, if any, to be made for services rendered by the Town.
It shall determine who else, if anyone, besides the Town Treasurer
and the Director of Finance shall countersign all municipal checks
and drafts. It shall further have power to make, alter and repeal
ordinances or resolutions not inconsistent with this Charter and the
general laws of the state for the execution of the powers vested in
the Town as provided in Chapter I of this Charter, for the government
of the Town and the management of its business, and for the preservation
of the good order, peace, health and safety of the Town and its inhabitants.
The Town Council shall consist of seven members who shall be
chosen from the Town at large at each Town election for terms of two
years from the second Monday in November, in each odd-numbered year.
The members of the Town Council shall serve without compensation.
Each newly elected Town Council shall meet for organization
in the Town Hall at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday in November in
each odd-numbered year. The meeting shall be called to order by the
Town Clerk who shall administer the oath of office to all members,
provided that in the absence of the Town Clerk the meeting may be
called to order and the oath administered by any citizen of Plainville
authorized by law to administer oaths. The Town Council shall elect
annually thereafter a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for the terms
of one year.
The Town Council shall fix the time and place of its regular
meetings and provide by ordinance a method for the calling of special
meetings, but no business shall be considered at any special meeting
notice of which has not been included in the call for such meeting.
The Town Council shall determine its own rules of procedure not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Charter. The presence of five members
shall constitute a quorum, but no ordinance, resolution or vote, except
a vote to adjourn or to fix the time and place of its next meeting,
shall be adopted by fewer than five affirmative votes, and the ayes
and noes on each vote shall be recorded in the journal; provided,
however, that the appointment of the Town Attorney, Town Council Chairperson,
Vice Chairperson, Town Treasurer and any vacancy on the Town Council
shall be by at least four affirmative votes. No ordinance or resolution
shall be adopted or appointment or removal made except in a meeting
of the Town Council open to the public.
During the term for which such Councilperson is elected, no
member of the Town Council shall hold any other municipal office,
elective or appointive, or employment in or under the Town government.
The introduction of ordinances and resolutions shall be governed
by the rules prescribed by the Town Council in its rules of internal
procedure.
At least one public hearing, notice of which shall be given
not more than 10 nor less than three days prior to the date of said
hearing by publication in a newspaper having a circulation in the
Town and by posting on the Town bulletin board, shall be held by the
Town Council before any ordinance shall be passed. A copy of said
proposed ordinance shall be on file three days prior to the date of
said public hearing in the office of the Town Clerk and in the Plainville
Public Library. Except for an emergency ordinance, notice of the passage
of an ordinance shall be published not later than 30 days after its
adoption by the Town Council in one or more newspapers having a circulation
in the Town. Such notice shall be in the form of a summary, and shall
also be available in its entirety electronically and at the Town Clerk's
office and the Plainville Public Library and shall not become effective
until 30 days after such notice is published. The foregoing provisions
of this section shall not apply to ordinances or resolutions relating
to the appointment or designation of officers of the Town Council
or its internal procedure or to those ordinances or resolutions applying
to appointments. All ordinances and resolutions when passed shall
be filed with the Town Clerk and recorded by the Town Clerk in a book
kept for that purpose. Anything in this Charter to the contrary notwithstanding,
before an ordinance for a non-budgeted appropriation becomes effective,
it shall be determined by the Director of Finance that sufficient
funds are or will be available during the current fiscal year for
such appropriation.
If during the ten-day period following the adoption of any ordinance
or resolution, except the annual budget, a resolution fixing the tax
rate, a resolution making an appointment or removal, an ordinance
making a special appropriation of less than $25,000, or an emergency
ordinance as defined in this chapter, there be filed with the Town
Clerk in respect of such ordinance or resolution a petition signed
by qualified electors of the Town in number equal to not less than
5% of the total number of electors in the Town as determined by the
latest official list of the Registrars of Voters, requesting the reference
of such ordinance or resolution to the voters, and upon certification
by the Town Clerk that a sufficient number of valid signatures are
attached to the petition, the ordinance or resolution shall not take
effect until the same has been submitted at a special election which
the Town Council must call, to be held in accordance with those sections
of the General Statutes which govern the conduct of referenda. Following
such election the ordinance shall take effect unless a majority of
those voting thereon, such majority consisting of not less than 10%
of the qualified electors in the Town as determined by the latest
official list of the Registrars of Voters, shall vote in the negative.
The submission to the electors provided in this section may be at
a Town election or a general election if the petition is validated
not more than 30 days prior to the time for approval and submission
of local questions at elections, as provided by the General Statutes.
An emergency ordinance shall be only for the immediate preservation
of the public peace, health and safety, shall contain an explicit
statement of the nature of the emergency, and shall be adopted by
not fewer than five affirmative votes in the Town Council, and in
no event shall the annual budget or any appropriation, except as hereinafter
provided, constitute an emergency ordinance. For the purpose of meeting
an emergency as herein defined, or to prevent the breakdown of any
essential service rendered by a department, board, commission or agency
of the Town, the Town Council by an affirmative vote of not fewer
than five of its members may appropriate, notwithstanding any other
provision of this Charter, a sum not to exceed $50,000 per each declared
emergency occurrence.
No ordinance or resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds
in excess of 1% of the annual budget or making a special appropriation
in excess of 1% of the annual budget shall become effective until
the same has been approved by a majority of the qualified electors
voting thereon at a Town election, general election, or special election
called by the Town Council for the purpose.
The electors of the Town may in the manner hereinafter provided
propose and adopt ordinances except an ordinance fixing the tax rate.
No ordinance so proposed involving any increase in the expenditures
of the Town beyond those budgeted for the current fiscal year shall
take effect until after the adoption of the next annual budget, unless
the Town Council, subject to the limitation hereinbefore set forth,
shall make a special appropriation for the purpose. The ordinance
shall be proposed by a petition to the Town Council requesting its
adoption, setting forth the ordinance in full, and shall be signed
by qualified electors of the Town in number equal to not less than
5% of the total number of electors in the Town as determined by the
latest official list of the Registrars of Voters. The petition shall
be filed with the Town Clerk who shall within 10 days examine the
signatures to the same and determine their sufficiency. If the Clerk
finds that the petition has been signed by the required number of
electors the Clerk shall so certify to the Town Council at its next
regular meeting. The Town Council shall within 60 days after such
certification either adopt the proposed ordinance after hearing as
provided in this chapter or submit the same to the electors at a special
election which the Town Council must call to be held in accordance
with those sections of the General Statutes which govern the conduct
of referenda. If a majority of those voting on the proposed ordinance,
such majority consisting of at least 15% of the total number of electors
as determined by the latest official list of the Registrars of Voters,
shall vote in the affirmative the ordinance shall be adopted.
The Town Council for cause may remove any appointee or employee
appointed by it provided that such appointee or employee be first
served with a statement of the grounds for that person's removal
and given an opportunity to be heard by the Town Council thereon.
Said appointee or employee may be represented by counsel at that person's
own expense. Such hearing shall be public if the appointee or employee
desires and shall be held not less than five nor more than 10 days
after service of the grounds for removal. The decision of the Town
Council shall be final. From the service of the statement of the grounds
for removal until final action by the Town Council the appointee or
employee shall be ineligible to perform the duties of that person's
office or employment but that person shall continue to receive his/her
salary or wages pending such final action.
The Town Council shall have power to investigate any and all
departments, offices, boards, commissions and agencies of the Town,
including the Board of Education. For purposes of such investigation,
the Town Attorney shall have the power to issue subpoenas, and the
Town Attorney may request any judge to issue a capias ad testificandum
for the appearance of witnesses and the production of documents.
Any Town Council member shall have the power to make inquiries
into any and all departments, offices, boards, commissions and agencies
of the Town, including the Board of Education, and shall have the
right to request, inspect and review any such documents. Inquiries
made to the Board of Education shall be limited to financial documents,
and shall be provided at no cost.
For the purposes of this section, the term "documents" shall
also include but without limitation electronic data, electronic files,
and e-mails.
