(a)
Purposes and Content. Council shall adopt and maintain in effect
an Administrative Code to implement the provisions of this Charter.
The Administrative Code shall provide for the following matters in
reasonable detail and in a manner consistent with the applicable provisions
of this Charter and of the Constitutions and laws of the United States
and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:
(i)
The organization and procedures of Council;
(ii)
The establishment, structures, duties, powers and procedures
of such administrative departments, commissions and authorities as
Council may authorize;
(iii)
The duties and powers of the Manager and other employees and
agents of the Town;
(iv)
The procedures for the conduct of the business and affairs of
the Town;
(v)
Such other matters, if any, as may be deemed by Council to be
appropriate. Council may, at its discretion, from time to time adopt
by ordinance additional and more detailed provisions relating to the
above-listed matters, consistent with the provisions of the Administrative
Code.
(b)
Adoption. Council shall adopt the Administrative Code, by ordinance,
within one (1) year following the first Organization Meeting of Council
(under Section 401(a)).
(c)
Amendment. The Administrative Code may be amended by an ordinance
adopted under the same procedural requirements as are specified in
Section 505 for its adoption.
Council shall adopt and maintain in effect a Personnel Code
as provided for in Section 1101. The Personnel Code shall be adopted
and may be amended by ordinance of Council, in accordance with the
applicable provisions of Section 505.
Official actions of Council may be taken by ordinance, resolution
or simple motion. All actions described in Section 504 shall be taken
by ordinance adopted under Section 505. All ordinances and resolutions
shall be presented for action by Council in writing, but simple motions
may be made orally. In all other respects, the forms of action by
Council shall be determined in accordance with Section 406 and other
applicable provisions of this Charter and of the Administrative Code.
Any and all actions of Council on the following subjects shall
be taken, if at all, in the form of an ordinance:
(a)
The adoption or amendment of an Administrative Code under Section
501;
(b)
The adoption or amendment of a Personnel Code under Sections 502
and 1101;
(c)
The creation, alteration, or abolition of any department, commission,
authority, office or agency of the Town;
(d)
The provision of any fine or other penalty, or the establishment
of any requirement or prohibition for the violation of which a fine
or other penalty may be imposed;
(e)
The levying of taxes or assessments;
(f)
The granting, renewing, amendment or extension of any franchise or
services to be provided in or for the Town or its citizens or others;
(g)
The establishment of rates charged for any utility or other services
to be supplied by the Town;
(h)
The borrowing of money;
(i)
The conveyance, leasing, exclusive licensing or other disposition
or encumbering of any land or other property of the Town (except for
the sale of land or other property by competitive bidding in a tax
sale);
(j)
The establishment or changing of a zoning map or zoning district or of regulations governing any other matter pertaining to zoning uses, subdivision requirements, site plan approvals, excavation permits and/or building restrictions (see Article IX);
(k)
The undertaking of any substantial contract or other commitment of
the Town with respect to the sharing or coordination of municipal
functions or services with other governmental entities or agencies;
(m)
The adoption of requirements or procedures for the letting of public contracts of the Town (see Article XIII);
(n)
The authorization of any contract in excess of an amount equivalent
to one-quarter of one percent (1/4%) of the previous year's budget
of the Town, except for those contracts awarded to the lowest responsible
bidder after advertisement in the official Town newspaper once a week
for two successive weeks with the first advertisement to be published
not less than ten (10) days prior to the date fixed for the opening
of bids. (Ord. 681. Approved by voters November 4, 1975.)
(o)
The adoption of any regulation or procedure pertaining to police and fire protection (see Article X);
(p)
Any increase in the compensation of members of Council;
(q)
The amendment or repeal of any ordinance previously adopted.
(a)
General Requisites. Each ordinance enacted by Council shall be numbered
and shall contain the date of its enactment. Each ordinance shall
be set forth verbatim in the minutes maintained in accordance with
Section 404(a) of the meeting at which it is finally adopted or, alternatively,
in a separate and official ordinance book maintained for that purpose.
The substance of each ordinance having continuing significance shall
be incorporated in a codification of ordinances as provided in Section
404(b). Each ordinance shall contain at the beginning a reasonably
descriptive title and summary of its subject matter.
(b)
Prior Notice and Publication. Except as is otherwise provided in
Sections 505(f) and 505(g), a notice of each proposed ordinance to
be considered and acted upon at any official meeting of Council shall
be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town at
least once, not more than ninety (90) days nor less than two (2) days
prior to its final enactment. In addition, except as is otherwise
provided in Section 505(f), such notice shall be conspicuously posted
at appropriate locations in and in front of the municipal building
throughout the period of at least seventy-two (72) hours prior to
the scheduled time for the commencement of the meeting of Council
at which the proposed ordinance is adopted. The notice required under
the preceding two sentences need not contain the full text of the
proposed ordinance, but it shall include the title and number of the
proposed ordinance and a brief but sufficient description to provide
reasonable notice of the proposed provisions and effect of that ordinance.
Such notice may be provided in the form of an official agenda for
the pertinent meeting of Council, if it contains the requisite information.
A copy of the full proposed text of each such ordinance shall be made
available for inspection and copying by any interested person during
reasonable business hours in the municipal building, throughout the
period of at least six (6) days prior to its final enactment. The
Manager also shall maintain a mailing list of interested citizens
and citizen groups to whom notices and/or copies of all proposed ordinances
(or of designated types to be specified by them) shall be sent at
reasonable times prior to their final enactment, at the request and
at the reasonable expense of such citizens or groups; provided, however,
that the validity of an ordinance shall not be affected in any way
by any nonperformance of the requirements of this sentence.
Posting in front of the municipal building shall not be required
provided a bulletin board for posting shall be maintained within the
municipal building, be available for public inspection at all times
and a notice as to the location of that bulletin board be posted at
the front entrance of the municipal building. (Ord. 681. Approved
by voters November 4, 1975.)
(c)
Public Hearing. A public hearing at which interested citizens shall
be given a reasonable opportunity to appear and to be heard with respect
to a specific proposed ordinance, shall be held not more than sixty
(60) days nor less than six (6) days prior to the enactment of any
ordinance relating to the subject matters identified as items (a),
(c), (e), (f), (g), (i), (j), (l), (n), or (p) under Section 504,
except as is otherwise provided in Sections 505(f) and 505(g), in
addition to any other instance in which a public hearing may be required
by the Administrative Code or by any other applicable provision of
law. Notice of the time and place of such public hearing shall be
included in the notice of such proposed ordinance to be published
and posted in accordance with Section 505(b); provided, however, that
any hearing on a proposed ordinance involving a change in the zoning
map or area classification of a zoning district shall be preceded
by (i) the publication and posting of notice of that proposed ordinance
and of the hearing thereon, in accordance with Section 505(b), at
least ten (10) days in advance, and (ii) the conspicuous posting of
notices thereof on the perimeter of the property to be rezoned, with
at least one such notice to be posted on each public street abutting
that property, throughout that ten (10) day period, and (iii) the
mailing of notices thereof by registered mail to each owner of any
of the property to be rezoned and of any other property abutting on
or directly across a public street from the property to be rezoned.
Any public hearing may be conducted by any two (2) or more members
of Council designated for that purpose by Council.
(d)
Notice and Publication after Enactment. Each ordinance shall be published,
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town, at least once as
soon as is practicable after its final enactment. The full text of
an ordinance need not be published if the title and a reasonably complete
and descriptive summary notice of its provisions and effective date
are published in accordance with the preceding sentence. In addition,
an appropriate notice (but not necessarily the full text) of each
enacted ordinance shall be conspicuously posted at appropriate locations
in and in front of the municipal building for a period of at least
thirty (30) days as soon as is practicable after its final enactment;
and a copy of the full text shall be made available for inspection
and copying by any interested person during reasonable business hours
in the municipal building, within two (2) business days following
its final enactment and at all times thereafter. The Manager also
shall maintain a mailing list of interested persons or groups to whom
copies of all enacted ordinances (or of designated types to be specified
by them) shall be sent at reasonable times following their enactment,
at the request and at the reasonable expense of such persons or groups;
provided, however, that the validity of an ordinance shall not be
affected in any way by any nonperformance of the requirements of this
sentence.
Posting in front of the municipal building shall not be required
provided a bulletin board for posting shall be maintained within the
municipal building, be available for public inspection at all times
and a notice as to the location of that bulletin board be posted at
the front entrance of the municipal building. (Ord. 681. Approved
by voters November 4, 1975.)
(e)
Effective Date. Except as is otherwise provided in Section 505(f),
the effective date of any ordinance shall be ten (10) days after the
notice of the enactment thereof is published in a newspaper of general
circulation in the Town under Section 505(d), unless a later effective
date is provided for in the text of that ordinance or is required
by the Administrative Code or any applicable provision of law. In
the event that the publication of any enacted ordinance is prevented
or delayed by a strike or other cause beyond the reasonable control
of Council, that ordinance shall take effect ten (10) days after its
enactment, unless a later effective date is provided for in the text
of that ordinance or is required by the Administrative Code or any
applicable provision of law.
(f)
Emergency Actions. Any other provision of this Charter or of the
Administrative Code to the contrary notwithstanding, and except as
may be otherwise expressly provided by any other applicable provision
of law, Council shall have the power in its discretion to waive all
or any part of the requirements of Sections 505(b) through 505(e)
of this Charter and any other notice or public hearing requirement
or other procedural requirement of the Administrative Code, if all
of the members of Council present and voting at any properly convened
Emergency Meeting of Council under Section 401(d), reasonably determined
such waiver to be necessary to permit Council to enact an emergency
ordinance to protect or promote the public health and/or safety. Any
emergency ordinance enacted pursuant to the waiver provisions of the
preceding sentence shall be limited in its effectiveness to a duration
of not more than ninety (90) days unless it shall have been confirmed
or amended by another ordinance duly adopted in full compliance with
the provisions of this Charter and of the Administrative Code and
all other applicable provisions of law, and without any such waiver
under this Section 505(f), within that period.
(g)
Special Voting Requirements for the Enactment of Certain Types of
Ordinances. The enactment, amendment or repeal of any ordinance of
the following types shall require an affirmative vote of at least
four (4) members of Council at an official meeting of Council, after
having been specifically scheduled for final action at that meeting
by a motion duly adopted at a previous meeting of Council:
(h)
Amendment or Repeal. Any ordinance, including but not limited to
any ordinance in effect on the effective date of this Charter, may
be amended or repealed by, and only by, the adoption of another ordinance
in accordance with the provisions of this Charter and the Administrative
Code and all other applicable provisions of law.
Each resolution adopted by Council shall be numbered and shall
contain the date of its enactment. Each such resolution shall be set
forth verbatim or briefly summarized in the minutes of the meeting
at which it is finally adopted, in accordance with Section 404(a),
but any resolution may be adopted without compliance with any of the
other notice requirements and other formalities specified for the
enactment of an ordinance under the provisions of this Charter and
of the Administrative Code. The full text of all resolutions shall
be set forth in a separate and official resolution book.
The Secretary of Council or his designated representative, or
the Town Manager, shall prepare and issue certifications of the enactment,
terms and effectiveness of any one or more of the ordinances and/or
resolutions of Council, upon the reasonable request of any interested
persons. Council may at its discretion impose by ordinance or resolution
a reasonable charge for the furnishing of such certifications.
Council shall establish and carry out appropriate procedures
for the periodic review and re-enactment, amendment or repeal of all
ordinances and resolutions of Council.
Council may provide by ordinance for the imposition of penalties
for the violation of any one or more of the duly enacted and effective
ordinances of Council. Such penalties shall not exceed five hundred
dollars ($500.00) and/or thirty (30) days imprisonment for each violation,
except to the extent to which the imposition of greater penalties
shall be authorized by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
applicable to any class of municipalities from time to time hereafter.
Any ordinance may provide, with respect to continuing violations,
that each day on which a violation exists may be regarded as a separate
offense and may be punishable as such.
