Town of Rockport, MA: Additional powers and duties.

There shall be a Moderator elected for a three-year term.

The Moderator shall preside and regulate the proceedings at all sessions of the Town Meeting, decide all questions of order and make public declarations of all votes. The Moderator shall have all of the powers and duties given to moderators under the Constitution and General Laws of the commonwealth and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the Charter, by by-law or by other Town Meeting vote.

§ 89-3 Composition; term of office.

There shall be a Town Clerk elected for a three-year term.

§ 89-4 Powers and duties.

The Town Clerk shall have all of the powers and duties given to town clerks under the Constitution and General Laws of the commonwealth, and such additional powers and duties as may be authorized by the Charter, by by-law or by other Town Meeting vote. The Town Clerk shall have custody of the Town Seal and shall record and file all agreements and all other papers and documents affecting the interests of the Town.

§ 89-5 Additional powers and duties.

[Amended 9-12-2022 STM]

The Town Clerk shall have the following additional powers and duties:

Unless otherwise specified by these by-laws, the Charter, a rule or regulation of a Town agency or other law, the Town Clerk's office shall be the official place for the filing of any document that may or should be filed with the Town;

The Town Clerk shall have available a supply of current paper copies of the "Rockport Code of By-laws," "Zoning By-law, Town of Rockport," and all other by-laws, rules and regulations for which a minimum fee shall be charged. Electronic copies of these documents will be available on the Town website at no charge;

The Town Clerk shall, as soon as practicable after any Town Meeting, transmit to the Select Board, Town Treasurer, Town Accountant, and to the Board of Assessors certified copies of all warrant articles passed by the Town Meeting appropriating money or otherwise affecting the finances of the Town, and within the same time period, the Town Clerk shall transmit to all Town agencies a certified copy of any warrant article passed by Town Meeting affecting their respective powers and duties;

The Town Clerk shall notify the Select Board or other appointing authority of any vacant committee, board or department appointments;

The Town Clerk shall record, file for publication and maintain a current list of all Acts of the Legislature accepted by the Town;

The Town Clerk shall, as soon as practicable after any Town Meeting, record, file for publications and make all revisions necessitated by any changes in, or additions to, the by-laws voted in any Town Meeting or otherwise affecting them;

The Town Clerk shall, as soon as practicable after any election has been held by the Town, in addition to the notices they are now required to give officers who are required to take an oath of office, also issue a written or printed notice to all persons who have been elected to any other office or chosen to serve on any other committee, stating the office to which such person has been elected or the duties which such committee was chosen to perform;

The Town Clerk shall keep and cause to be permanently bound one or more files of the Town reports;

The Town Clerk shall keep a record of all highways and Town ways within the Town with an index thereto;

The Town Clerk shall see that every conveyance to the Town or any interest in land is properly recorded in the Registry of Deeds and shall keep a true copy of all deeds, conveyances, or other instruments affecting any interest in land executed by the Select Board, and shall keep on file all deeds delivered to the Town. The Town Clerk shall keep on record the reports of all committees made to the Town;

The Town Clerk has authority to update Town documents, including by-laws and regulations, by updating citations to statutes and uniform resource locators "URLs" as they change without going to Town Meeting for permission. The Town Clerk will notify the Select Board, via the Town Administrator, when such changes are made. The Town Clerk will further have authority to update names of federal and state agencies as they are changed; and

With the concurrence of the Government and By-law Committee, the Town Clerk shall be authorized to make nonsubstantive alphanumeric changes to the component provisions of the by-laws; provided, however, that each such change shall be identified by footnote or other convention.