[Amended 6-20-2016 by Ord. No. 16-095]
All meetings of the Town Council and of every committee or subcommittee
of the Town Council are subject to the so-called Open Meeting Law –
MGL c. 30A, §§ 18 through 25. All matters which come
before the Town Council will be decided by a majority vote unless
some other provision is made by general law, ordinance or the Home
Rule Charter.
A journal shall be kept in which shall be recorded, for every
meeting, the names of the Council members present, the subject acted
upon, and the votes and other official actions taken by the Town Council
at each such meeting.
Regular meetings of the Council shall be held in the Council
Chambers the first and third Monday evenings of each month, commencing
at 7:30 p.m. and shall adjourn no later than 11:00 p.m. The Clerk
of the Council shall notify the Councilors of all meetings of the
Council by notice delivered personally or by an officer or sent by
mail. Whenever the first or third Monday evening of the month is a
holiday, the regular meeting shall be held on the first or third Tuesday
evening of the month at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise provided for by
motion. During July and August, regular meetings shall be suspended
by a majority vote of the Council. The Council may, by majority vote,
dispense with any regular meeting, or change the day and hour of holding
or adjournment of any regular meeting. No Town Council meeting shall
be scheduled on the eve of a preliminary or final election in the
Town of Weymouth. These meetings will be held on the first Monday
following said election.
Executive session may be entered only after the Council has
first convened in open session for which notice has been appropriately
posted. The President shall cite the reason for going into executive
session and indicate whether the Council shall leave executive session
for the purpose of adjournment or return to open session. The President
shall ask for a roll call vote of the Council. The vote of each member
is entered into the minutes, with a majority necessary to initiate
executive session.
Every proposed ordinance, appropriation order or loan authorization [except emergency ordinances as provided in Section
2-9(a) of the Home Rule Charter] shall be published once in full in a local newspaper, and in any additional manner as may be provided by ordinance, at least 10 days before its final passage. After final passage it shall be posted on the Town bulletin board and otherwise published as may be required by ordinance; provided, however, that whenever a proposed ordinance or codification of ordinances or other measure would exceed in length more than 10 column inches of ordinary newspaper notice print, then in lieu of publication in a local newspaper, the same may be published and made available at the office of the Town Clerk in booklet or pamphlet form, and if so published and available at least 10 days before its final passage shall be deemed sufficient notice. Whenever the Town Council provides for publication in a booklet or pamphlet in lieu of the newspaper publication, it shall, at least 10 days before final passage, publish in a local newspaper a general summary of the proposed ordinance, or ordinances, and a notice stating the times and places at which copies of the booklet or pamphlet may be obtained by the public.
Every publication of a proposed ordinance, appropriation order or loan authorization shall bear this disclaimer: "This publication is subject to the disclaimer set forth at length in Section
2-305 of the Code of Ordinances."
Each time the statement "This publication is subject to the disclaimer set forth at length in Section
2-305 of the Code of Ordinances" appears in a publication, it shall be understood such reference is intended to give notice to the public that the following disclaimer is applicable:
This document is published for the benefit of the public,
solely for purposes of information and to make the public aware of
the general nature of certain subject matter the Town Council may
consider at a future meeting. This publication is not intended to
suggest that the measure will be adopted in this precise form, that
it will be adopted with amendments, or that it will be adopted at
all. Notwithstanding any amendments which may be made to this proposal
by the Town Council, it will not be published again before final enactment
unless at least three Councilors vote to require such publication
before final enactment.
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