Under this Home Rule Charter the citizens of Conway shall forever
retain sovereign control, and a responsibility subject only to the
preemption of the Constitutions and Laws of the United States and
New Hampshire over all areas of commerce and necessities of an ever
modernizing society which without limitation of the foregoing includes
the following:
A. Public
safety including police, fire, rescue, civil defense, and the local
militia.
B. Public
transportation including roads, bridges, tunnels, buses, railroads,
taxis, animal drawn carriages, navigable waterways, dockings, moorings
and airports.
C. Public
lands including parks and recreation areas, cemeteries and monuments,
Town forests, marshes, beaches, rivers and streams, lakes and ponds,
and any and all public land and buildings under Town deed or control.
D. Education
and cultural institutions including schools, libraries, and historical
preservation.
E. Public
health including rubbish, sewerage, hazardous waste and materials,
radioactive waste and materials, disease control and litter control.
G. Social
evils including gambling, liquor, drugs and prostitution.
Authority for this Home Rule Charter is granted under Part I,
Article 39 of the New Hampshire Constitution and the New Hampshire
Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 49-B. The powers of the Town under
this Charter shall be interpreted liberally in favor of the town and
specific mention of particular powers and rights in the Charter shall
not be interpreted as limiting in any way the general power stated
in this Charter. SUBJECT only to such limitations as may be imposed
by State Constitution and General Laws, the Town of Conway shall have
all powers possible for a Town to have as fully and completely as
though they were specifically stated in this Charter.
Nothing in this Charter shall be so interpreted in any way to
limit rights, powers, and functions conferred upon the citizens. The
Town of Conway and the Selectmen of said Town, by general or special
enactments, and the rights, powers and functions conferred by this
Charter shall be cumulative and in addition to the provisions of such
general or special enactments.
If any provisions of the Charter are held invalid, the other
provisions of the Charter shall not be affected thereby. If the application
of the Charter or any of its provisions to any person or circumstances
is held invalid, the application of this Charter and its provisions
to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Where questions arise concerning the power of the Town Meeting
versus the powers of other bodies of Conway Town Government, the intent
of this Charter is that a liberal interpretation shall be given to
the powers of the Town Meeting.