Town of Amherst, NY Chapter 8 Citizens' Advisory Committees

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Amherst 3-20-1967 by L.L. No. 1-1967. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Administration of government — See Ch. 4.

§ 8-1 Authorization to appoint; powers of committees.

[Amended 4-16-1973 by L.L. No. 1-1973; 6-4-2018 by L.L. No. 15-2018]

For the purpose of promoting the safety, health and general welfare of the residents and owners of property in the Town of Amherst, the Town Board of said Town shall be authorized to appoint a Traffic Safety Board, and such other advisory committees as the Town Board shall deem appropriate to act in an advisory capacity to the Town Board and to serve without compensation. Such advisory committees shall have no powers other than advisors.

§ 8-2 Composition of Traffic Safety Board; terms of members; election of Chairman.

[Added 2-6-1978 by L.L. No. 2-1978; amended 6-4-2018 by L.L. No. 15-2018]

A. The Traffic Safety Board (ATSB) shall consist of ten (10) voting members nominated by a Town Board member and approved by a majority vote of the Town Board.

B. A Traffic Safety Coordinator shall be appointed to the ATSB by the Town Engineer. In addition, Department Liaisons from the Building Department, Planning Department, Highway Department and Police Department shall be chosen by the Heads of those Departments and will be expected to attend each meeting of the ATSB.

C. The Town Board shall have the authority to remove any member of the ATSB for just and good cause after a hearing conducted pursuant to Chapter 58 of the Code of the Town of Amherst.

D. In the event of a personal and/or family related illness, a member may request a "Leave of Absence" from the ATSB for a period of no longer than six (6) months. A member of the military may request a leave of absence for a period up to twelve (12) months if called to active duty. If either request is denied by the ATSB, their recommendation will be presented to the Town Board for a final decision.

E. Members of the ATSB shall be appointed for a term of three (3) years from and after the expiration of the terms of their predecessors in office. Terms of office shall commence upon appointment by the Town Board and shall expire on the 31st day of December in the year their term expires.

F. If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term, it shall be filled by the Town Board by appointment for the unexpired term.

G. The members of the Traffic Safety Board shall elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson annually from their members.

§ 8-3 Posting and publication.

The Town Clerk shall cause a copy of this chapter to be published in the Amherst Bee, the official newspaper of the Town of Amherst, together with a notice of public hearing thereon to be held at a meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Amherst on the 20th day of March 1967 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern standard time at the Municipal Building in the Village of Williamsville, New York, for the purpose of hearing all persons interested in said proposed chapter and shall post one copy, together with a notice of hearing, on the signboard at his office. The Town Clerk shall also make copies of such proposed chapter available at his office for inspection by any interested persons during business hours.

§ 8-4 When effective.

This chapter shall take effect within 10 days after its adoption and publication in the official newspaper of the Town of Amherst.

§ 8-3.	Establishment of Open Government Advisory Board; membership; terms; meetings. [Added 10-10-2016 by L.L. No. 12-2016]
A.	There shall be and hereby is created and established an Open Government Advisory Board of the Town of Amherst. It shall consist of ten (10) members, two appointed by the Supervisor and two by each individual member of the Town Board. Each member shall serve a three (3) year term. Terms of office shall commence upon appointment and expire on the 31st day of December in the year their term expires. The terms of the members are to be staggered to prevent the entire Board from overturning at one time. Existing membership terms are to be adjusted to have the terms of four (4) members expire on 12/31/2017, the terms of three (3) members expire on 12/31/2018 and the terms of three (3) members expire on 12/31/2019. Board members are limited to serving three (3) consecutive terms. Said members shall be concerned citizens who are representative of the Amherst community. The Open Government Advisory Board shall select its own Chair, establish its own rules of operation and procedure and meeting times, except that such Board will regularly meet in the Town of Amherst Municipal Building, and shall meet no less than once in every two (2) calendar months.
B.	Duties. The Open Government Advisory Board shall develop goals and objectives of the steps that the Town of Amherst can take to incorporate the principles of open government into its daily activities. Such goals/objectives shall be formulated with the input of senior policy, legal, and technology leadership in the Town; open government experts; and the general public. The goals and objectives of the Board should focus at a minimum on the three areas listed below:
	(1)	Transparency: Steps the Town can take to conduct its work more openly and publish its information online, including ready public access to ordinances and regulations, policies, legislative records, budget information, crime statistics, public health statistics, and other information. Each Town department and agency shall be encouraged to develop a schedule for making information available to the public and updating it on a regular basis. To the extent practicable and subject to valid restrictions, departments and agencies shall publish information on line (in addition to other planned or mandated publication methods), and in an open format. The open format will provide data in a form that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, searched and reused by commonly used web search applications and software.
	(2)	Public Participation: Enhancing and expanding opportunities for the public to participate throughout each department's decision-making process, including instructions for online access to published information and opportunities for comment; methods for identifying stakeholders and other affected parties and encouraging their participation; links to appropriate websites where the public can engage in the Town's existing participatory processes; and proposed changes to internal management and administrative policies to increase public participation.
	(3)	Collaboration: Steps the Town can take to enhance and expand cooperation among its departments and agencies, other governmental agencies, private and nonprofit entities, and the public, to fulfill Town goals and obligations; including proposals to use technology platforms and links to appropriate websites to improve, and inform the public about, existing collaboration efforts, and use of innovative methods to obtain ideas from and to increase collaboration with those in the private sector, nonprofit and academic communities.
	The Open Government Advisory Board shall annually file a report with the Amherst Town Board highlighting its accomplishments and recommendations for making Town government more transparent, participatory and collaborative.