[Adopted 2-8-2011 by Ord. No. 02-2011]
Any appointed member of any board of the Borough who shall, during a calendar year, be absent for three or more regularly scheduled meetings of the board to which he or she has been appointed shall be subject to removal by the governing body in accordance with the provisions of this section.
The Chairman or the Secretary of every board, committee or commission shall be required to report to the Mayor and Council three or more absences in a year of any members of any board, committee or commission. When requested to do so by the Mayor and Council, the member of the board, committee or commission who missed three or more regularly scheduled meetings during a calendar year shall submit a written explanation for each of his or her absences.
A. 
In the event that the Mayor and Council determine preliminarily that there have been three or more absences from regularly scheduled meetings by an appointed member, and that the three absences are not justified by exigent circumstances, the Mayor and Council shall have a right to adopt a resolution to institute removal proceedings.
B. 
Where the Mayor and Council have instituted removal proceedings, the proceedings shall be as follows:
(1) 
A written notice of intention to remove shall be mailed to the board member at his or her home address. The notice shall advise the board member as to a right to a hearing before the Mayor and Council; as to the right to be represented by counsel; and as to the right to cross-examine witnesses and present witnesses on his or her behalf. The notice shall set forth a date for a proposed hearing and shall notify the board member that if he or she wishes to contest the removal, a written notice of intention to contest must be submitted to the Municipal Clerk at least 10 days prior to the scheduled hearing. The notice to the board member shall list the dates of the regularly scheduled meetings from which the board or committee member is alleged to have been absent.
(2) 
The hearings shall be conducted by the Mayor and Council in the Council Chambers in the municipal building. The board member shall have a right to participate in the proceedings, either personally or by counsel, and shall have a right to examine witnesses and present evidence. Upon conclusion of all of the evidence, the Mayor and Council shall make findings of fact and conclusions as to whether the board member should be removed.
(3) 
No member of the board, commission or committee shall be removed based upon his or her absence at a regular scheduled meeting where there was a reasonable justification for the absence. Reasonable justification for absence shall include, but is not limited to, illness of the member or member of the family; exigent business or personal responsibilities which render it inconvenient for the board member to be in attendance; vacation schedule of the board member; such other circumstances which the Mayor and Council, in the exercise of its discretion, deem to be a reasonable excuse for nonattendance at a regularly scheduled meeting.
(4) 
No board member shall be removed under the terms of this section unless the evidence establishes that there were three or more absences from regularly scheduled meetings in a calendar year by a board member, which absences are inexcusable and unjustified under the criteria provided in this section.
Any board member removed from membership of a board, commission or committee under the provisions of this section shall have a right to appeal the removal to the Superior Court within 45 days as provided by the rules of Court.