[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of Holland 12-12-1973. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
Regular sessions of the Town Board shall be
held on the second Wednesday of each month unless said second Wednesday
is a legal holiday, in which event said regular session shall be held
on the third Wednesday of each month unless a majority of the Board
prior to the first day of the month in question determine a different
date for the regular session. Each regular meeting and all adjourned
meetings shall be open for the consideration of any matter which,
in accordance with these rules, may be properly brought to the attention
of the Town Board.
Special meetings shall be held at the call of
the Town Clerk upon direction of the Supervisor. The Supervisor may,
and upon request of two members of the Board shall, within 10 days,
call a special meeting of the Town Board by giving at least two days'
notice in writing to members of the Board of the time when and the
place where the meeting is to be held. Written notice to members of
the Board present at a determination for a special meeting is not
necessary, and their attendance is deemed to be notice of the special
meeting.
All meetings of the Town Board shall be held
in the Town at the Holland Town Hall located at Pearl Street. Holland,
New York, except where provision is made by law for joint meetings
of two or more Town Boards: such joint meetings may be held in any
of the towns to be represented thereat except in emergency situations.
Executive sessions of the Town Board of the
Town of Holland may be held for informal discussion only. All official
actions of the Town Board must be taken at meetings that are open
to the public and in accordance with these rules of order. The Town
Clerk shall record minutes of all executive sessions.
The Supervisor, when present, shall preside
at the meetings of the Town Board. In the absence of the Supervisor,
the other members designate one of their members to act as Temporary
Chairman.
A majority of the Board constitutes a quorum
to carry on a meeting, but a lesser number may adjourn. A majority
of all members of the Board must approve each act, motion or resolution
in order for such to be adopted. The majority of the Board which constitutes
the quorum means the majority of officers constituting the Town Board
and not the majority of residuum resulting from vacancies, disqualifications
or absences. The inclusion of every act in this rule contemplates
executive and appointing functions of the Board as well as legislative
functions. Upon the request of any Board member, all voting shall
be recorded by roll call vote in order by position by alphabetic order,
commencing first by the Supervisor, Councilmen and Town Justices.
The order of business of each session shall
be:
A. Calling the meeting to order by the Supervisor with
attendance taken by the Town Clerk.
B. Approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting.
C. Presentation of motions and resolutions.
D. Presentation by the Town Clerk of all communications.
E. Consideration of special matters or presentations
as set forth in the agenda.
G. Special orders of the meeting.
H. Report and presentation by the Highway Superintendent.
I. Announcement of the next meeting.
J. Submission of bills for auditing.
All petitions, resolutions, committee reports
and amendments thereof and all other matter to be considered by the
Town Board shall be in writing signed and submitted to the Town Clerk.
All such matters must be submitted to the Town Clerk 72 hours prior
to the meeting for presentation by the Clerk of the Board for the
next meeting, except in the case of special meetings.
The Supervisor may, from time to time, appoint
one or more committees, consisting of members of the Board, to aid
and assist the Board in the performance of its duties.
The Town Board, by majority vote, shall refer
to the proper committee at its discretion any petition, resolution
or other matter presented.
[Amended 6-9-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
Anyone wishing to make a presentation to the
Town Board must file notice of the same with the Town Clerk the Friday
before the monthly meeting. The determination to permit the presentation
is in the discretion of the Town Board. All permitted presentations
are limited to five minutes unless extended by the majority of the
Board, but in no case to be longer than 10 minutes. All presentations
shall be directed to the Town Board, and only Town officials and persons
listed on the agenda may address themselves to the particular presentation.
All communications concerning general Town Business,
regardless of which official may receive said communication, shall
be delivered to the Town Clerk to be placed on the agenda in accordance
with the provisions of these rules. Any communication not placed on
the agenda may be presented to the Board for consideration only upon
acceptance by the majority of the Board.