Township of Haddon, NJ Article IV Conduct of Meetings; Rules and Regulations of Advisory Board

§ 90-12 Conduct of meetings.

A. The Advisory Board shall hold regular meetings not less than six times per year. The Chairperson has authority to cancel and/or reschedule any meeting or change the location thereof, provided that the Secretary shall have sufficient time to publish notice of cancellation in the time required by law. The Chairperson also may call a special meeting of the Advisory Board upon adequate public notice as specified in the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.

B. All meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, including the notice provisions thereof. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to give appropriate notice of the time, place and purpose of all regularly-scheduled and special meetings. Such notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the Township of Haddon and shall be posted in the Haddon Township Municipal Building in accordance with law. If possible, the notice required herein also may be posted on the official website of the Township of Haddon.

C. Quorum. A majority of the members of the Advisory Board shall constitute a quorum. A quorum shall be required to conduct any business of the Advisory Board. If a quorum is not present at any meeting of the Advisory Board, the members present shall cancel the meeting without any notice other than an announcement to all those present. In the event a meeting is canceled for lack of a quorum, the agenda shall be added to the agenda for the next meeting of the Advisory Board and all action to be taken thereon shall be taken at the next meeting of the Advisory Board where a quorum is present.

D. Voting. All action of the Advisory Board shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of those present (so long as same constitutes a quorum), it being the intent that a "majority" shall mean at least one member in excess of 50% of the members present. Voting by proxy and/or voting by mail or email are not valid methods of voting and any votes attempted to be cast by such methods shall not be counted. A vote by a member who is participating by telephone conference call pursuant to § 90-13F shall be valid and shall be counted.

§ 90-13 Advisory Board rules and regulations.

The conduct of the Advisory Board and all members thereof shall be subject to and in conformance with the following:

A. All expenditures of the Advisory Board for any and all products or services must be authorized in advance and in writing by the governing body.

B. No part of the BIDs' financial resources shall inure to the personal benefit, either directly or indirectly, of any member of the Advisory Board, or any relative thereof, or any business or business entity owned, either in whole or in part, by any member of the Board, nor for the benefit of any other private individual.

C. Neither the Advisory Board nor any member thereof shall, in any manner or to any extent, participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office of the Township of Haddon, including the publication and/or distribution of any statement, advertisement and/or propaganda regarding same.

D. All Advisory Board members are expected to attend every scheduled meeting of the Board or, if a member is unable to attend, such member shall be responsible for notifying the Chairperson or Secretary of his or her anticipated absence, such notice being provided in advance of the meeting at which he or she is unable to attend.

E. All Advisory Board members are expected to serve on any committee to which they are appointed and to attend said committee's regularly scheduled meetings. Nothing hereinabove shall be construed to prohibit any Board member from attending a meeting of a committee to which he or she was not appointed; provided, however, that the attendance of such member shall not be permitted if such attendance would create a quorum of the Board; and provided further that such member, if properly permitted to attend, shall not have a vote in any action taken by the committee.

F. A Board member may participate in a meeting of the Board or any committee thereof by means of a telephone conference call; provided, however, that the Board member must first notify the Chairperson and Secretary of his or her intent to do so and shall make all necessary arrangements to ensure that the telephonic conference call will operate as intended and will not cause a nuisance, distraction or otherwise impede the progress of the meeting.

G. Committees. Standing committees and special committees may be established or dissolved by the Chairperson of the Advisory Board as needed, provided that any member of the Board may suggest the formation of a new committee. Committees shall consist of as many Board members as do not constitute a quorum of the full Advisory Board. Committees also may consist of owners or occupants of properties within the BIDs who are not members of the Advisory Board and/or such other persons who are not members of the Advisory Board but who have an interest or stake in the success of the BIDs, including but not limited to appropriate employees of the Township of Haddon and residents of the Township and/or volunteers, so long as such persons are not related to or have an ownership interest in any business or property the owner of which is a member of the Advisory Board. The Chairperson shall, with their consent, appoint members to committees and may appoint such other persons who meet the requirements of this subsection and agree to serve as a member thereof. Actions taken by any committee shall be reported to the Advisory Board at the next meeting following the committee meeting at which such action was taken.

H. The Township of Haddon shall, to the extent legally permissible, indemnify each person who may serve or who has served at any time as an officer of the Advisory Board against all expenses and liabilities, including, without limitation, reasonable counsel fees, judgments, fines, penalties and settlement payments reasonably incurred by or imposed upon such person in connection with any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding in which he or she may become involved by reason of his or her service in such capacity; provided that no indemnification shall be provided for any such person with respect to any matter as to which he or she shall have been found in any proceeding not to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that such action was in the best interests of the BIDs. The indemnification provided hereunder shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of persons entitled to indemnification hereunder.