A.
Authority. The Board shall have and exercise all the
powers and duties now or hereafter conferred or imposed upon it by
the Charter, this code or other applicable law. The authority of the
Board shall be limited to that which it exercises as a body and its
members shall not seek individually to influence the official acts
of any Township officer or employee, nor shall any individual member
direct the appointment of any person to or his removal from office.
B.
Meetings.
(1)
Regular meetings of the Board of the Township of Tredyffrin
shall be held at the Tredyffrin Township Municipal Building, except
as noted below. At the Board's organization meeting, the Board shall
adopt by resolution the calendar of its regular meetings for the remainder
of the year. The meeting calendar and the location of the meeting
place may be changed by resolution from time to time as deemed necessary
by the Board.
(2)
Special meetings of the Board shall be called and announced as specified in § C-15A of the Charter.
(3)
The Board may adjourn a regular or special meeting
to a later specified time.
(4)
If no quorum is present at a special or regular or
adjoined meeting, a majority of those who do meet may agree upon another
date for a meeting and may continue to so agree until the meeting
is held.
C.
Organization. As specified in the Charter, the Board
shall meet on the first Monday of January of each year to organize
and elect one of the members as Chairman and one of the members as
Vice Chairman. The Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be chosen by a
majority vote of all members of the Board, such vote being recorded
in the minutes. If within five ballots to be taken within two days
of said organization meeting, the members shall be unable to select
a Chairman or Vice Chairman, then the member who in the most recent
election for members of the Board received the greatest number of
votes shall be Chairman, and the person receiving the next greatest
number of votes shall be the Vice Chairman. In the event of illness
or other incapacitation of the Chairman which necessitates absence
for two or more consecutive meetings, the Board may, by majority vote,
elect to declare the position open and the Vice Chairman shall be
declared Chairman and a new Vice Chairman shall be elected as specified.
D.
Duties of Chairman. The Chairman of the Board shall
have the power and the duty to:
E.
Committees. The Board may from time to time establish,
by resolution, permanent standing committees or ad hoc committees
to investigate, study or recommend actions to the Board. The resolution
shall state the name of the committee, its purpose and a schedule
for reporting the results of the committee deliberations to the Board.
The resolution may also include further direction for the committee
in such matters as to expenses, the recording of minutes, form of
report and the scope of the investigation, study or recommendations.
F.
Duties of the Board. In addition to the general duties
and responsibilities granted in the Charter, the Board of Supervisors
shall have the power and the duty to:
(1)
Make appropriations, incur indebtedness and adopt
the budget.
(2)
Levy taxes.
(3)
Fix the amount of bond of officers and employees if
paid from municipal funds.
(4)
Make and cause to be made such studies or post audits
and investigations it deems to be in the best interests of the Township.
(5)
Make investigations into any affairs of the Township.
G.
Records and agenda.
(1)
The minutes of regular and special meetings of the
Board shall contain, at the minimum, the date, time and place of convening,
a listing of Board members present and absent, an identification of
all matters brought before the Board for discussion or action, the
resulting vote of all members present on all motions, resolution or
ordinances and a roll call record of votes cast "aye" or "nay" on
all ordinances upon which action was taken.
(2)
By motion of the Board, tape recordings or other verbatim
transcription of the proceedings of any meeting may be taken and be
available and preserved in the same manner as prescribed for minutes.
(3)
Copies of the minutes of each meeting shall be provided
to each Board member or read aloud at the next regular or special
meeting and, following any corrections by the Board, action toward
approval shall be considered.
(4)
Copies of all past minutes of Board meetings shall
be open to public inspection throughout normal working hours. Individuals
may make arrangements to obtain copies of pages of the minutes and
the Township shall charge an appropriate fee to be established by
the Township Manager.
(5)
Minutes and other written records of proceedings of
the Board shall be preserved by the Township Manager in a designated
Minute Book which he shall keep securely in the Township Building.
Removal of the Minute Book from the Township Building shall be only
as a result of Board action or court order. Tape recordings, transcriptions,
exhibits or other attachments or material otherwise related to a regular
or special meeting shall be suitably identified by the Manager and
stored in the same manner as the Minute Book.
H.
Ordinances and resolutions.
(1)
Those actions specified in § C-36 of the Charter and all other actions of a legislative character shall be taken by ordinance. All other actions by the Board shall be by resolution or motion, unless otherwise required by state law, the Charter, this code or in the ordinances establishing the rules of Board procedure. However, no such administrative action shall be void or otherwise adversely affected if it shall have been taken by ordinance. All final action in adopting ordinances or resolutions shall be by roll call vote, and the vote of each member shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting.
(2)
Every ordinance shall contain the date of its enactment,
and its enactment shall be verified by the signature of the presiding
officer of the meeting where official action thereon was taken. The
official seal of the Township shall be affixed to the original copy
of each ordinance. However, failure on the part of the Chairman to
sign an ordinance or affix the official seal shall not in any way
invalidate an otherwise valid ordinance.
I.
Expenses of Supervisors.
(1)
By motion, the Board may authorize any of its members
to attend meetings of municipal organizations and associations or
study or training sessions related to the responsibilities of the
office of Supervisor or to attend other meetings outside of the Township
boundaries on official business. All or any specified portion of the
necessary expenses incidental to the attendance of such meetings or
sessions may be paid.
(2)
Every member of the Board attending any convention,
meeting or study or training sessions referred to in this section
shall submit to the Board an itemized account of the expenses which
were incurred. Except as provided for above, no other expenses shall
be authorized.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 202B, Elected
Tax Collector, which immediately followed this subsection, was deleted
10-19-1998 by Ord. No. HR-278.
The elected Auditor shall have general responsibility to assure that the financial records of the Township and its officers, boards or commissions are properly audited and that the independent audit required by § C-59 of the Charter is effectively carried out. In fulfillment of this responsibility, the powers and duties of the elected Auditor shall be to:
A.
Meet during January of each year with the certified
public accountant or accounting firm appointed as independent auditor
to jointly plan and establish the nature and scope of the audit, the
data requirements and the coordination required with the Township
officers, boards or commissions which will be subject to audit.
B.
Arrange for and/or obtain the information and data required by the independent auditor and to otherwise assist in the preparation of the independent certified standard municipal audit required by § C-59 of the Charter.
C.
Discuss and review the audit with the independent
auditor and identify discrepancies which may require further investigation.
D.
Submit the independent audit report to the Board,
the Manager and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic
Development as required and to provide a summary of the independent
audit report to the Manager for publication within 60 days after the
close of the fiscal year.
E.
Require the attendance of witnesses in the making
of audit and settlement and production of books and documents; and
conduct investigations, serve subpoenas and administer oaths.
F.
Enter as a surcharge any balance due to the Township
as a result of neglect or a wrongful act of a Township officer in
accordance with the procedures of Sections 551t I through 563 of the
Second Class Township Code, Act 567 of July 10, 1947 (P.L. 1481),
as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 65101
et seq.
G.
Employ an attorney in the case of a disagreement with
any official of the Board whose accounts are subject to audit. Such
attorney shall not be employed until a reasonable effort to reach
an agreement has been made and only after the intention to do so has
been given in writing to the Board. The elected Auditor shall recommend
compensation of the attorney to the Board, and in the event of a disagreement,
the elected Auditor shall take an appeal to the court, in which case
the court shall fix the compensation of the attorney. The compensation
shall be paid from Township funds.
