The legislative power of the municipality shall be exercised by the Council.
[Amended 3-1-76 by Ord. No. 279; 12-27-17 by Ord. No. O-12-2017-036; 2-4-2019 by Ord. No. O-1-2019-001]
A.
The reorganization meeting of the Township Council is held annually at the beginning of the governing body's operational year on January 1, at 12:00 noon, or at some other hour on any day during the first week in January. The purpose of the reorganization meeting is to adopt the annual meeting calendar, establish depositories for municipal funds, designate the official newspapers and any other business which may come before Council for the startup of the new operational year. Following each municipal election, newly elected officials are also appointed and officially sworn in.
B.
The annual meeting schedule of the Monroe Township Council shall be set by resolution and adopted at the annual reorganization meeting setting forth the type of meeting and date and time of each meeting for the current year.
C.
Agenda meetings: held monthly for the purpose of reviewing the agenda.
D.
Regular meetings: held monthly for Council action on Township resolutions and ordinances and any other business which may come before Council.
E.
Combined agenda/regular meetings: When a combined meeting is held as set forth on the annual meeting schedule, the meeting shall begin with the agenda meeting and the regular meeting shall immediately follow.
[Amended 2-4-2019 by Ord. No. O-1-2019-001]
A.
Should the need arise for a special meeting to be held that does not appear on the annual meeting schedule, the Mayor or the President of the Council may, and upon written request of any two of the members of the Council, call a special meeting of the Council. The request and call for such special meeting shall specify the purpose, date, time and location of the meeting.
B.
The call for a special meeting shall be filed with the Township Clerk and transmitted to two newspapers 48 hours prior to the meeting. The Clerk shall give notice of special meeting to each Councilperson by telephone, email or personal notice to their residence. All special meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
[Amended 2-4-2019 by Ord. No. O-1-2019-001]
All public meetings of the Township Council shall be held at the Monroe Township Municipal Building, One Municipal Plaza, Monroe Township, New Jersey, unless otherwise stated on the annual meeting notice. In the event of an emergency and the meeting cannot be held at the specified location, the Council may meet in or adjourn the meeting to any other public building. Any meeting of the Council may be adjourned to a time and place designated by the Council. The public shall be given such reasonable notice as the circumstances may permit.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 3-7, Public meetings; agenda conferences, as amended, was repealed 2-4-2019 by Ord. No. O-1-2019-001.
A.
The Council, at its first meeting after each election for Councilmen, shall elect a President of the Council from among its members, to serve for a term of two years or until the election and qualification of his successor. At the same time the Council may elect a Vice-President of the Council to serve for a period of two years or until the election and qualification of his successor, who shall have all the functions, powers and duties of the President of the Council whenever the President may be absent.
B.
In the absence of both the President and Vice-President of the Council, the Council shall elect a temporary Presiding Officer, who shall have all the functions, powers and duties of the President during his absence. Upon the arrival of the President or the Vice-President, as the case may be, the Presiding Officer shall relinquish the chair immediately upon the conclusion of the particular item of business before the Council.
C.
The President of the Council shall preside at its meetings. He shall preserve order and decorum at all meetings of the Council. He shall state every question coming before the Council, announce the decisions of the Council and decide all questions of order, subject to appeal to the Council. He shall appoint all special committees of the Council. The Presiding Officer shall sign all ordinances and resolutions adopted by the Council.
Any matter shall be included on the agenda of a regular meeting at the request of a Councilman. The agenda of any regular meeting may be amended at any time during the meeting, to add a matter thereto, by motion, duly seconded and passed.
[Added 6-9-82 by Ord. No. 16-82]
Those items on the council agenda which are considered routine by the Township Council shall be marked with an asterisk (*). Prior to voting upon any item on the consent agenda, the Council President shall open the meeting to the public and the Mayor and Council to entertain requests for removal from the consent agenda. There shall be no separate discussion of items on the consent agenda unless a Council member, the Mayor or citizen so request, in which event the item shall be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. Items to be included in the consent agenda may include, but are not limited to, approval of minutes, reports, solicitation of bingos and raffles, conveyances, easements, payment of bills, award of bids, leases and agreements previously approved in principle. Those items which appear on the consent agenda are not required to be read at the public meeting in their entirety but may be read by description only. Once a matter is placed on a consent agenda, there shall be no separate discussion on that item. Those items so approved under the consent agenda shall appear in the council minutes in their complete and proper form.
As soon as a meeting is called to order, the Clerk or his Deputy shall alphabetically call the roll of the members, and the names of those present shall be entered in the minutes.
A majority of all the members elected to the Council shall constitute a quorum at any regular or special meeting of the Council, but a lesser number may adjourn any meeting from time to time.
[Amended 6-9-82 by Ord. No. 16-82]
The business of the Council at each regular meeting shall be taken up for consideration and disposition in the following order:
Unless a reading of the minutes of the previous meeting is requested by a member of the Council, such minutes may be approved without a reading if the Clerk has previously furnished each member with a copy thereof.
A.
Presiding Officer may debate and vote. The President or such other member of the Council as may be presiding may move, second and debate from the chair, subject only to such limitations of debate as are by these rules imposed on all members, and shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges of a Councilman by reason of his acting as the Presiding Officer.
B.
Obtaining the floor. Every member desiring to speak shall address the chair and, upon recognition by the Presiding Officer, shall confine himself to the question under debate, avoiding all personalities and indecorous language.
C.
Interruptions. A member, once recognized, shall not be interrupted when speaking unless it be to call him to order or as herein otherwise provided. If a member, while speaking, is called to order, he shall cease speaking until the question of order is determined, and if in order, he shall be permitted to proceed.
D.
Motion to reconsider. A motion to reconsider any action taken by the Council may be made on the day such action was taken. It may be made either immediately during the same session or at a recessed or adjourned session and may be seconded by any member. It may be made at any time and shall have precedence over all other motions and shall be debatable. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent any member of the Council from making or remaking the same or any other motion at a subsequent meeting of the Council.
E.
Synopsis of debate to be entered in minutes. The Clerk shall enter in the minutes a synopsis of the discussion on any question coming before the Council.
F.
Remarks of Councilmen to be entered in minutes. A Councilman may request, through the Presiding Officer, the privilege of having an abstract of his statement on any subject under consideration by the Council entered in the minutes.
G.
Motion to adjourn. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and shall be decided without debate.
H.
Other matters. Any matter not covered by these rules shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, as revised from time to time.
A.
Whenever a roll call vote is necessary, the Council shall vote alphabetically, with the Presiding Officer voting last.
B.
Voting silence or an abstention shall be construed as a negative vote. A member may also be permitted to disqualify himself. A majority of the entire Council shall be required to pass any motion or adopt any resolution or ordinance, except that procedural motions, such as motions to adjourn, motions to limit debate and motions to table, may be passed by a majority of those present and voting.
There shall be no standing committees of the Council other than the committee of the whole. The President of the Council shall be the Presiding Officer of the committee of the whole, and the rules of procedure of the Council shall be observed in the committee of the whole as far as the same may be applicable.
Upon recognition by the chair, the person desiring to address the Council shall proceed to the floor and give his name and address in an audible tone of voice for the records. Statements shall be addressed to the Presiding Officer of the Council and not to any member thereof. He shall limit his statement to five minutes unless further time is granted by the Council. A Councilman shall not direct any question to a speaker addressing the Council, except through the Presiding Officer.
The President of the Council may request the Department of Police to designate a police officer to serve as sergeant at arms at Council meetings. He shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the Presiding Officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at Council meetings, and it shall be his duty to place under arrest any person who violates the order and decorum of a meeting and to cause him to be prosecuted.
A.
All ordinances shall be prepared by the Township Attorney upon direction of the Council or the Mayor.
B.
An ordinance or resolution may be introduced by any member of the Council. Each ordinance or resolution shall be limited to a single subject, which shall be expressed in its title.
C.
All ordinances shall be introduced, read, heard and enacted in the manner provided by general law. Each ordinance passed by the Council shall be promptly delivered by the Clerk to the Mayor, and he shall, within 10 days after receiving any ordinance, either approve the ordinance by affixing his signature thereto or return it to the Council by delivering it to the Clerk, together with a statement setting forth his objections thereto or to any item or part thereof. No ordinance or any item or part thereof shall take effect without the Mayor's approval, unless the Mayor fails to return an ordinance to the Council within 10 days after it has been presented to him, or unless the Council, upon reconsideration thereof on or after the third day following its return by the Mayor, shall, by a vote of 2/3 of the members, resolve to override the Mayor's veto.
Whenever an ordinance has been reconsidered by the Council following a veto by the Mayor, the Clerk shall append to such ordinance a certification of the action of the Council upon such reconsideration in substantially the following form:
I hereby certify that the above ordinance adopted by the Council on the ________ day of ______20___ was delivered to the Mayor on the ________day of ______20___ and was returned to me on the ________day of ______20___, together with the Mayor's statement of the reasons for which he was constrained to withhold his approval of such ordinance, item or part thereof. On reconsideration thereof on the ________day of ______20___, (the Council duly resolved by the affirmative vote of 2/3 of its members to enact such ordinance, item or part thereof notwithstanding the Mayor's veto.) or (the Mayor's veto was sustained.). |
Dated: |
______________ |
Clerk |
Whenever an ordinance shall take effect without the Mayor's signature by reason of his failure to return it to the Council by filing it with the Clerk within 10 days after it has been presented to him, the Clerk shall append to such ordinance a certificate in substantially the following form:
I hereby certify that the above ordinance was adopted by the Council on the ________ day of ______20___ and was presented to the Mayor, duly certified, on the ________ day of ______20___ and upon his failure to sign it or return and file it with the Clerk within 10 days thereafter, the said ordinance took effect in like manner as if the Mayor had signed it. |
Dated: |
______________ |
Clerk |
The Council shall file with the Clerk all petitions, resolutions and other papers considered by it on each matter. All reports to the Council and all resolutions shall be filed with the Clerk.
With respect to appointments to be made by the Council, any member of the Council may nominate as many candidates as there are offices to be filled. Where there is a single office to be filled, the sense of the Council on the appointment shall be taken as to each nominee and the nominee receiving a majority of the Council's votes shall be deemed appointed. Where there is more than one office to be filled, such as on a board or authority, the same procedure shall be followed with respect to each office separately until the total number of appointments to be made has been completed. In the discretion of the chair, a group of appointments may be considered at once where there is no apparent division in the Council as to the nominees included in the group. The same general procedures shall be followed when the Council is required to approve an appointment by the Mayor.
A.
The Council may, for cause, remove any municipal officer or board member other than the Mayor or a member of Council.
B.
The Council shall consider a motion to remove for cause only after removal has been duly proposed and considered at an agenda conference.
C.
A motion for removal shall set forth the alleged cause for removal, making specific charges, and provide for notice and an opportunity to be heard to the affected officer. The Clerk shall forthwith cause a copy of the motion for removal, together with a statement of the causes and charges involved and notice of the time and place affixed for hearing, to be served personally or by certified mail upon the officer affected. The hearing shall be held not less than 10 days nor more than 15 days after the date of such service and may be adjourned from time to time. Such hearings shall take place in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act. The officer charged shall be entitled to be represented by counsel. Following the conclusion of the hearing, the presiding officer shall call for a vote on the motion, which shall be determined by a majority of the Council.
[Amended 3-1-76 by Ord. No. 279]
The Council may, in its discretion, require any municipal officer to prepare and submit sworn statements regarding his official duties and the performance thereof, and the Council may otherwise investigate the conduct of any department, officer or agency of the municipal government.
[Amended 3-1-82 by Ord. No. 7-82]
The Council shall cause to be made an annual audit of the municipality's accounts and financial transactions as required by law. Such annual audit shall be made by a registered municipal accountant of the State of New Jersey selected by the Council.
[Added 2-4-74 by Ord. No. 248[1]]
Notwithstanding the provisions of Article XI of this chapter, the Township Council by resolution may from time to time appoint or retain an attorney other than the Township Attorney when in its opinion there arises a conflict of interest between the Township Attorney and the Township Council or when the Township Council is a party to a lawsuit wherein its interest conflicts with that of the Administrative Division of the government of the Township of Monroe.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was not signed or returned by the Mayor within the required ten-day period and thus took effect as if it had been signed.