[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Willistown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-23-1993 by Res. No. 26-1993]
All regular and special meetings of the Township of Willistown shall
be conducted according to the following order of business:
Public comment at regular or special meetings shall be governed by the
following rules and regulations:
A.
A period of public comment for residents and/or taxpayers
of the township to comment on matters of concern, official action or deliberations
which are or may be before the Board shall be held at each meeting.
B.
The Chairman of the Board of Supervisors shall preside
over the public comment period and may, within his discretion:
(1)
Recognize individuals wishing to offer comment.
(2)
Require identification of each person.
(3)
Allocate available time among individuals wishing to
comment.
(4)
Rule out of order scandalous, impertinent and redundant
comment or any comment the discernible purpose of which is to disrupt or prevent
the conduct of the business of the meeting.
C.
The time allocated for the public comment period at each
meeting shall be 10 minutes.
D.
In the event that there is insufficient time for public
comment at a meeting, the Board of Supervisors, at its discretion, may defer
the public comment period to a meeting held in advance of the next regular
or special meeting or until the next regular or special meeting.
The following rules are applicable to recording by persons other than
members of the Board of Supervisors and its employees. Audio and audio/video
recording equipment may be used by persons entitled to make public comment,
subject to full and complete compliance with the following:
A.
Written notice of an intent to employ such equipment
and a description of the equipment to be used must be received by the Board
of Supervisors not less than one week prior to the meeting at which the equipment
is to be used.
B.
Only portable, self-contained equipment (i.e., not requiring
interconnection with building's power supply) may be used.
C.
No lights may be employed and no participant at the meeting
may be required to accommodate the equipment as, for example, being required
to operate or direct comments to a particular microphone employed by the operator.
D.
The equipment must be operated at all times so as to
cause no interference with the proceedings or with the audience and its observance
of or participation in the proceedings.
E.
The operator must make a general announcement at the
point when recording starts and at any point when recording ceases for any
reason and is recommenced for any reason.
F.
On request, the operator shall, at the election of the
Board of Supervisors, furnish a copy of the recorded audio or audio/video
tape at a cost no greater than the retail price of such tape when blank, or
the original of such tape for copying by the Board of Supervisors and return
to the operator. When requested to supply a recorded tape or a copy thereof,
the operator shall accompany the same with an affidavit that it constitutes
the full record of the proceeding.
G.
Any violation of these rules shall be grounds for expulsion
from the meeting, confiscation of any recorded tape made in the context of
such violation and denial, for a period of one year, of any further request
under this policy.
[Adopted 8-8-1995 by Res. No. 16-1995]
