[Amended 7-14-1987 by Ord. No. 2103]
A. 
Regular meetings. Regular meetings of the Village Council shall be held in accord with the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq., as the same may hereafter be amended.
[Amended 10-13-1992 by Ord. No. 2375]
B. 
Special meetings. The Mayor, at any time, and upon written request of a majority of the Council members, shall call a special meeting of the Council. Special meetings shall be conducted in accord with the Open Public Meetings Act.
C. 
Adjourned meetings. A meeting adjourned to a fixed time shall be considered a continuation of the preceding meeting, and the business of the Council shall be resumed where it was left at the last adjournment.
On the first day of July following each election of Councilmen, the Council shall organize by the election of a Mayor and adoption of such resolutions as may be required.
A. 
After the general election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November at which time the election of Village Council members is held, the term of office of the newly elected Council members shall begin on January 1 next following their election. On the first day of January or a date and time set by the Village Clerk consistent with the Optional Municipal Charter Law, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 et seq., the Council shall assemble at Village Hall, organize and elect one of the Council members as Mayor. The Mayor shall be chosen by ballot by majority vote of all its members of the Council. If the Council shall be unable to elect a Mayor within five ballots to be taken within two days of the organization meeting, then the Council member with the most seniority serving as a Council member shall be the Mayor. If more than one Council member has the same length of seniority as another Council member(s), then, in the event none of those Council members withdraws from consideration for the Mayoral position, the senior member with the highest number of votes at the initial election shared by the senior Council members shall be the Mayor.
[Amended 7-19-2023 by Ord. No. 3961]
B. 
At the same time as a Mayor is elected, the Council shall elect one of its members as Deputy Mayor. The Deputy Mayor shall serve in place of the Mayor in the event of the temporary absence or disability of the Mayor. The Council shall also elect a President Pro Tempore to serve in the event of the absence or disability of both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
[Amended 7-19-2023 by Ord. No. 3961]
C. 
Vacancies in the office of Mayor or Deputy Mayor shall be filled by the Council for the remainder of the unexpired term.
D. 
The Mayor or other presiding officer shall:
(1) 
Preside at all meetings of the Council and of the Committee of the Whole, and have a voice and vote in its proceedings.
(2) 
Appoint such special committees of the Council as may be required.
(3) 
State the question and announce the result on all matters upon which the Council may vote.
(4) 
Rule on all questions of order subject to appeal to the Council.
(5) 
Sign all ordinances and resolutions adopted in his presence.
(6) 
Have such other functions, powers and duties as the Charter or the Council, subject to the Charter, may from time to time prescribe.
[Amended 7-14-1987 by Ord. No. 2103; 10-13-1992 by Ord. No. 2375]
Subject to the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq., the Council may meet at any time in informal conference for the consideration of any Village business.
A. 
Preparation of ordinances and resolutions. Ordinances and resolutions shall be prepared for the consideration of the Council by the Village Attorney upon written request of any member of the Council or of the Manager.
B. 
Prior review by administrative staff. All ordinances and Village contractual authorizations, before presentation to the Council, shall have been approved as to form and legality by the Village Attorney or his authorized representative and shall have been examined as to administrative considerations by the Manager or his authorized representative whenever administrative responsibilities may be affected thereby. The Manager shall submit to the Council a written memorandum concerning the administrative aspects of each such ordinance and contractual authorization unless he shall advise the Council that no administrative problems are involved. Each administrative memorandum may include the specific comments and recommendations of the Director concerned with the subject of the memorandum.
C. 
Introduction for passage or approval.
(1) 
Ordinances, resolutions and other matters or subjects requiring action by the Council shall be introduced and sponsored by a member of the Council, except that the Manager or Attorney may present ordinances, resolutions and other matters or subjects to the Council and any Councilman may assume sponsorship thereof by moving that such ordinances, resolutions, matters or subjects be adopted; otherwise, they shall not be considered.
(2) 
Resolutions, unless laid over by a majority vote of the Council, may be acted upon the day of introduction or presentation.
(3) 
Ordinances and resolutions shall be called up for action on motion of a member of the Council.
D. 
Ordinances and resolutions. After the first reading of an ordinance, it shall be referred to the Committee of the Whole. Resolutions, which the Village Council has determined at its premeeting conference to be routine and which do not require discussion, shall be included under a single section of the order of business known as the "consent agenda." Such resolutions may be adopted upon motion and approval thereof by vote of a majority of the Village Council. The consent agenda section of the order of business shall be preceded by an explanatory note substantially set forth as follows: "All matters listed under item consent agenda are considered routine by the Village Council and will be approved by one motion in the form listed below. There will be no separate discussion of these items. If any member of the Village Council wishes to discuss such an item, it shall be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately under the resolution section of the order of business."
[Amended 11-10-1992 by Ord. No. 2382]
E. 
Adoption of ordinances. No ordinance may be adopted without the affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the Council or such greater number of affirmative votes as the Charter may require.
F. 
Advertisement of ordinances. After introduction, all ordinances shall be advertised by the Clerk in accordance with the applicable provisions of law for public hearing at the next succeeding regular meeting of the Council unless otherwise directed by the affirmative vote of the majority of all members of the Council. After adoption, all ordinances shall be advertised by the Clerk in accordance with the applicable provisions of law therefor.
[Amended 7-14-1987 by Ord. No. 2103]
An agenda shall be prepared by the Clerk for each regular meeting of the Council. The Clerk shall furnish a copy of the agenda to each Councilman, the Manager, the Village Attorney and any citizen who may request it.
The Mayor or, in his absence, the Deputy Mayor shall call each meeting to order. In the absence of both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, the Clerk shall call the meeting to order, and those present shall select a President Pro Tempore who shall preside during the absence of the Mayor. The Mayor shall assume the Chair as soon as he is in attendance at any meeting which may have been called to order in his absence, and the Temporary Chairman shall thereupon relinquish the Chair.
A. 
At the opening of each meeting of the Council, the Clerk shall call the roll and the names of those present shall be recorded in the minutes.
B. 
A majority of all the members of the Council shall constitute a quorum. If a quorum is not present one-half (1/2) hour after the appointed time for any meeting, those present may adjourn the meeting.
[Amended 7-14-1987 by Ord. No. 2103; 11-10-1992 by Ord. No. 2382; 1-11-1994 by Ord. No. 2442]
A. 
The order of business at each regular public meeting of the Village Council shall be as follows:
[Amended 10-12-2016 by Ord. No. 3551; 9-13-2023 by Ord. No. 3966]
(1) 
Roll call.
(2) 
Flag salute.
(3) 
Acceptance of financial reports.
(4) 
Approval of minutes.
(5) 
Proclamations.
(6) 
Comments from the public for a period of time not to exceed a total of 40 minutes.
(7) 
Village Manager's report.
(8) 
Village Council reports.
(9) 
Ridgewood Water - ordinances upon first reading.
(10) 
Ridgewood Water - ordinances upon second reading.
(11) 
Ridgewood Water - resolutions.
(12) 
Ordinances upon first reading (other than Ridgewood Water).
(13) 
Ordinances upon second reading (other than Ridgewood Water).
(14) 
Resolutions (other than Ridgewood Water).
(15) 
Comments from the public.
(16) 
Closed session resolution (if needed).
(17) 
Closed session.
(18) 
Adjournment.
B. 
Workshop meetings, premeeting conferences, planning meetings and informal conference meetings shall be discussion meetings of the Village Council and shall not be guided by the order of business set forth in this section.
A. 
The vote upon every ordinance shall be taken by roll call, and the yeas and nays shall be entered on the minutes. The minutes of each meeting shall be signed by the officer presiding at such meeting and by the Clerk.
B. 
When the roll is called upon any question, each Councilman shall audibly announce his vote, and the silence of a Councilman shall constitute an affirmative vote unless he states that he abstains.
The Clerk shall, so far as practicable, prepare and distribute to the Council the minutes of each meeting promptly after the meeting. The minutes of any meeting may be approved without reading whenever they have been distributed at least 24 hours prior to the time of approval.
There shall be no standing committees of the Council other than the Committee of the Whole. The rules of the Council shall govern the meetings of the Committee of the Whole so far as applicable. Special committees for legislative purposes may be appointed by the Mayor pursuant to motion or resolution. No special committee shall proceed to the consideration of any matter referred to it unless a majority of the members of the committee shall be present. All committee meetings shall be held at Village Hall. No special committee shall report at the same meeting in which the matter is referred to it except by unanimous consent of the Council.
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. The Council will consider such nominations in the Committee of the Whole, which will report to a regular meeting of the Council. 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 shall be deemed appointed. Where there is more than one office to be filled, such as on a board, commission 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 nominations may be considered at once where there is no apparent division in the Council as to the nominees included in the group. Appointments may be made by the affirmative vote of a majority of those present and voting.
A. 
The Mayor or other Chairman may move, second and debate from the Chair and shall not be deprived of any right to vote or of any other rights, powers or duties of a Councilman by virtue of occupying the Chair.
B. 
A member of the Council shall be entitled to the floor only upon recognition by the Chair. Once a member has been recognized and taken the floor, he shall not be interrupted for any reason other than a call to order; and in such case, the Chair shall rule promptly on the point of order and the speaker shall be allowed to proceed if he is in order.
C. 
The Councilman who has made a motion shall be entitled to the privilege of closing debate.
D. 
A motion to reconsider may be made by a Councilman on the prevailing side, and such motion may be made only at the same meeting or at an adjournment thereof as which the action was taken.
E. 
A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and shall be decided without debate.
[Amended 1-11-1994 by Ord. No. 2442; 10-12-2016 by Ord. No. 3551; 9-13-2023 by Ord. No. 3966]
A. 
Persons, other than Council members, may be permitted to address the Council in the proper order of business. A person in attendance at the meeting or by remote access to the meeting may, upon recognition by the Chair, be heard either during a public hearing on ordinances upon second reading or at the time scheduled on the special public meeting, work session or regular public meeting agendas for "comments from the public" and at such other times as the Council may, by majority vote of those present, specifically permit. No person shall address any disruptive, accusatory or threatening remarks toward or about any member of the Council or any other person or pose a question to any specific Council member, nor shall any person be permitted to address the Chair while a motion is pending. A Council member may, through the Chair, respond to any communication or address received pursuant to this section.
B. 
Except upon consent of the Council, by the majority vote of those present, each person addressing the Council at a public meeting pursuant to this section shall be required to limit their remarks to three minutes during any "comments from the public" sessions, whether at a special public meeting, work session or regular public meeting, and three minutes during the second "comments from the public" session at the end of the meeting, after the Council has concluded its business on the agenda. No person shall, at any time during any of the comments from the public sessions, engage in any personally offensive, abusive or threatening remarks to Council members or any other person, whether present at the meeting or not.
C. 
At a public hearing on ordinances upon second reading, a person may address the Council during the public hearing for no longer than a five-minute period, specifically on the topic of the ordinance presented for second reading. Any person who has previously addressed the Council during this public hearing on the subject ordinance may be permitted to speak a second time for a period of no more than an additional five minutes, after all others desirous of speaking at the public hearing on the ordinance have had an opportunity to do so, provided that the comments of the second-time speaker are not repetitive. The Chair shall call any speaker to order who violates any provision of this section.
[Amended 5-11-2016 by Ord. No. 3532; 10-12-2016 by Ord. No. 3549]
A. 
Any person who shall disturb the peace of the Council, make impertinent or slanderous remarks or conduct himself in a boisterous manner while addressing the Council shall be forthwith barred by the presiding officer from further audience before the Council, except that if the speaker shall submit to proper order under these rules, permission for him to continue may be granted by a majority vote of the Council.
B. 
The Police Chief shall, upon request of the Chair, designate a member of the Department 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 such meeting.
The Committee of the Whole shall file with the Clerk all petitions, resolutions or other papers considered by it on each matter referred to the Committee. All reports to the Council and all resolutions shall be filed with the Clerk and entered in the minutes of the Council.
A. 
The Clerk shall record the minutes of every meeting of the Council, and the minutes shall contain only the formal actions of the Council by motion, resolution or ordinance except as otherwise authorized by this section.
B. 
With the consent of Council, a member may have the privilege of including in the minutes a written abstract not exceeding 100 words of any statement he may make before the Council.
C. 
In the discretion of the Clerk, other matters relating to the business or actions of the Council may be included in the minutes to the extent necessary to clarify the purpose or context of any recorded formal action.
D. 
The text of ordinances and resolutions need not be included in the minutes, but the signed official copies thereof shall be bound and preserved as public record in the office of the Clerk.