Borough of Monaca, PA Chapter 13 Council Bylaws

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Monaca 9-10-1996 by Ord. No. 822. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 13-1 Meeting day and time.

The regular meetings of the Council of the Borough of Monaca shall be held on the second Monday of each month, at 7:30 p.m., in the Council chambers of the Municipal Building.

§ 13-2 Special meetings.

Special meeting of the Council may be called and held as provided by the Borough Code[1] and any other law governing the subject.

[1] Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 46001 et seq.

§ 13-3 Election of officers; terms, vacancies.

A. At its biennial organization meeting, as provided in the Borough Code, Council shall elect one of its members as President and one as Vice President. The Mayor shall preside over the organization of the Council until the election of the President. The election of these officers shall proceed as follows: A roll call of the members present shall be made with each member, as his name is called, naming his choice for the office of President. The person named by a majority of the members present shall be declared elected as President. If no person shall receive a majority of votes, a second roll call shall be made, and if no person shall then receive a majority of votes, a third roll call shall be held, at which only the two persons receiving the highest number of votes at the second roll call would be eligible for votes. However, if at any time a tie vote for only two candidates exists, the Mayor shall cast the tie-breaking vote. As soon as the President is declared elected, the same procedure shall be followed to elect the Vice President.

B. The President and the Vice President shall each serve an indefinite term at the pleasure of the Council, and at any regular meeting of the Council or at any special meeting called for the purpose, the Council may, on motion, declare a vacancy in either or both offices.

C. In case of a vacancy, from any cause, in the office of President or Vice President of the Council, the Council shall, within 30 days after the occurrence of the vacancy, proceed to fill the vacancy by following the procedure prescribed in Subsection A of this section.

§ 13-4 President of Council.

The President of the Council, in addition to exercising his authority to preside over the meetings of the Council and to perform the other specific powers and duties vested in him by law or ordinance, shall be required to authenticate, with his signature, all actions taken by the Council.

§ 13-5 Appointment of committee members.

A. At the organization meeting of the Council or within 10 days afterward, the President of the Council shall appoint the members of all the standing committees of the Council. Each standing committee shall be composed of at least three members of the Council, and the individual first named to a committee by the President shall be the chairman of that committee. Standing committees shall serve at the pleasure of the President of the Council.

B. The President of the Council, ex officio, shall be a member of each standing committee, and the Borough Manager, ex officio, shall be a member of the committee dealing generally with matters of finance. Ex officio members shall be entitled to participate in all discussions at the meetings of the committees of which they are members, but they shall not vote as committee members.

C. The Borough Secretary shall serve as secretary of each standing committee.

§ 13-6 Parliamentary authority.

The Council hereby adopts, as its parliamentary authority, the volume entitled "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 1970 Edition," which shall govern all matters within the purview of that volume, except that conflicting provisions in the Borough Code or other applicable statutes of Pennsylvania or in these bylaws or in the Rules of Order of the Council of the Borough of Monaca shall supersede the provisions of the parliamentary authority on the same subject matter.

§ 13-7 Amendments; repeal; notice.

These bylaws, wholly or in part, may be amended or repealed by an affirmative vote of 2/3 of all the members of the Borough Council, following advance notice to each member at least 28 days before the meeting at which action on the amendment or repeal is to be taken. The notice shall state the extent and precise nature of the repeal or amendment that is proposed. If notice is given at a regular, special or adjourned meeting of the Council, held at least 28 days before the meeting at which action on the repeal or amendment is to be taken, special or individual notice shall be required to be given only to those members not in attendance at the earlier meeting and present at the time notice was given.

§ 13-8 Rules.

A. Rule 1. The parliamentary authority for the Borough Council, as adopted by the bylaws of the Council, being Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, shall govern procedure in the meetings of the Council, except where otherwise provided in the law, in the bylaws of the Council, and in these rules.

B. Rule 2. The order of business at regular meetings of the Council shall be as follows:

	Pledge of Allegiance
	Roll call
	Visitors
	Communications
	Minutes
	Fiscal and contractual
	Ordinances
	Standing committee
	New business
	Visitors
	Adjournment

C. Rule 3. The order of business at special or adjourned meetings shall follow that for regular meetings but omitting all items of business not pertinent to the special or adjourned meetings.

D. Rule 4. The President of the Council shall have complete charge over all meetings of the Council, and his rulings, in all matters of parliamentary procedure, shall be binding upon all members of the Council, unless overruled on appeal.

E. Rule 5. In the absence of the President of the Council, the Vice President of the Council shall conduct the meeting; and in the absence of both the President and the Vice President, the members in attendance at the meeting shall choose a President Pro Tempore to preside.

F. Rule 6. The President shall call the meeting to order at the time fixed for the meeting; but if no quorum is present, he shall delay the call to order until there shall be a quorum present. But if the absence of a quorum shall continue until 30 minutes after the time fixed for the meeting, the President shall declare the meeting adjourned for lack of a quorum.

G. Rule 7. In the deliberation of the Council, no member shall speak for longer than five minutes at any one time nor at any one meeting may a members speak more than twice on the same subject. No member may speak a second time on the same subject until all other members desiring to speak on the subject have had an opportunity to do so.

H. Rule 8.

(1) When a question is put to the members for vote, each member shall be required to vote, except when he shall be required to abstain because of a special personal financial interest in the matter before the Council. When a member shall abstain for cause, he shall state the reason for his abstention, and an abstention shall be considered as a "no" vote, where the nature of the question shall be such that only an "aye" or "no" note is called for.

(2) The President of the Council shall be required to vote on every question put to the members of the Council and may abstain only as provided in Subsection H(1) of this section. In a roll-call vote, the name of the President shall be called last.

(3) When a member's interest in a matter before the Council shall be an interest common to other Council members, he shall not be deemed to have a special interest such as would preclude or prohibit him from voting. In such matters he shall vote, and if he is a candidate for an office in the Council, he shall have the right to vote for himself or for another person, as he chooses.

I. Rule 9. The Borough Manager shall prepare and complete the agenda for each meeting of the Council at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting and shall have copies available in his office throughout the day of the meeting. Persons desiring to come before the Council at the point in the order of business entitled "Visitors" shall inform the Secretary of their desire to do so and of the subject matter of their visit in time for the Secretary to list them on the agenda. The Secretary shall make every effort to arrange the agenda to avoid duplication of effort in these matters by assigning one or more individuals to act as spokesmen for groups of individuals. Persons not on the agenda may address the Council with special permission of the Council.

J. Rule 10. Elected and appointed Borough officials required to be present at the Council meetings to give reports and not members of the Council shall be permitted to leave the meeting at the conclusion of their respective reports, unless the Council shall specifically request that they remain for a longer time.

K. Rule 11. Any of these rules may be suspended or waived at any specific meeting of the Council, except where such suspension or waiver would be contrary to the law or to the bylaws of the Council. Suspension or waiver shall not be permitted except upon an affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members of the Council.

L. Rule 12. These rules, wholly or in part, may be amended or repealed by majority vote in any meeting of the Council, provided that each member of the Council shall be given advance notice of the intent to amend or repeal at least 28 days prior to the meeting at which action on the amendment or repeal is to be taken. The notice shall state the extent and precise nature of the repeal or amendment that is proposed. If notice is given at a regular, special or adjourned meeting of the Council, held at least 28 days before the meeting at which action on the repeal or amendment is to be taken, special or individual notice shall be required to be given only to those members not in attendance at the earlier meeting and present at the time notice was given.

M. Rule 13. Any member of the Council attending a Council meeting in the Borough of Monaca under the influence of alcohol or unprescribed drugs will be prohibited/removed from the Council chambers.

N. Rule 14. No foul language is to be used by any member of the Council to another member or to the public. The Council shall be fair and honest and conduct itself at all times as ladies and gentlemen.

O. Rule 15. Shorts, cutoffs, blue jeans, sweatshirts and sandals are prohibited from being worn to any regular or special meeting of the Council. Proper attire must be worn as established by the Council.