[HISTORY: Adopted by the Planning Board of the Town of Alfred 2-13-1984;
amended in its entirety 12-21-2005. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.
Business of the Board shall be conducted in accord with
Maine Statutes, Town ordinances and Robert's Rules of Order as well as
the Planning Board standards for reviewing land subdivisions.
B.
The Planning Board pledges to maintain professional conduct
in the review of all proposals before it and all other business deliberations.
All proposals shall be examined equally and equitably. If for any reason an
individual Board member feels that he or she has a particular bias or a conflict
of interest either for or against a particular proposal, he or she shall abstain
from voting on that proposal.
C.
The term "conflict of interest" shall be construed to
mean direct or indirect pecuniary interest, which shall include pecuniary
benefit to any member of the person's immediate family (e.g., grandfather,
father, wife, son, grandson) or to his employer or the employer of any member
of the person's immediate family.
D.
Those in attendance at meetings of the Board shall be
expected to be knowledgeable of Board policies as set forth in these bylaws
and to abide by them.
A.
The Selectmen of the Town of Alfred shall make appointments
to the Board.
B.
Appointees to the Board shall be legal residents of the
Town of Alfred.
C.
The Board shall consist of not more than seven members.
D.
The term of each member shall be three years.
E.
When there is a permanent vacancy, the Board of Selectmen
must appoint a new member to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
A vacancy occurs upon the resignation or death of any member, when a member
ceases to be a legal resident of the Town, when a member fails to attend four
consecutive regular meetings, or fails to attend at least 75% of all meetings
during the preceding twelve-month period. When a vacancy occurs, the Chair
of the Planning Board must so advise the Board of Selectmen in writing. The
Planning Board may recommend to the Board of Selectmen that the attendance
provision be waived for cause, in which case, no vacancy will then exist until
the Board of Selectmen disapproves the recommendation. The Board of Selectmen
may remove members of the Planning Board by unanimous vote, for cause, after
notice and hearing.
F.
A vote of the Planning Board quorum may direct the attention
of the Selectmen to conditions suggesting that a Planning Board appointment
should be terminated for just cause, as defined in the Town ordinances governing
boards, commissions and committees. Absence of a member from 40% of the regular
Planning Board meetings in a twelve-month period shall constitute such just
cause.
A.
The officers of the Planning Board shall consist of the
Chairman, the Vice Chairman and a Secretary.
B.
The Chairman shall preside at all meetings and hearings
of the Planning Board. The Chairman has the authority to appoint all committees,
to call work sessions and to preside over executive sessions.
C.
The Vice Chairman shall act for the Chairman in his or
her absence.
D.
The Secretary is a voting member and shall be responsible
for the minutes and records of the Board and shall prepare the agenda of regular
meetings and special meetings with the Chairman, provide notice of the meetings
to Board members, arrange proper and legal notice of hearings and attend to
correspondence of the Board and to other duties as are normally carried out
by a Secretary. The Secretary shall keep a record of all resolutions, transactions,
correspondence, findings and determinations of the Board. All records shall
be deemed public and may be inspected at reasonable times.
A.
Nominations of officers shall be made from among full
voting members of the Board at the annual organizational meeting which shall
be held on the first regular Planning Board meeting in January, and the election
shall follow immediately thereafter.
B.
A candidate receiving a majority vote of the full voting
membership of the Planning Board shall be declared elected and shall serve
for one year or until his or her successor shall take office.
C.
Vacancies of officers shall be immediately filled by
regular election procedures.
A.
The Board may employ an administrative assistant to assist
the Secretary in his duties and to perform such other duties as may be assigned
to him by the Chairman of the Planning Board.
B.
The Board may employ such staff and/or experts as it
sees fit to aid the Board in its work. Appointments shall be made by a majority
vote of the entire membership.
A.
Meetings shall be held on the first and third Wednesdays
of the month at the Alfred Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. Meetings may be rotated
to various other locations to enable better citizen rapport. The Secretary
shall have the responsibility of notifying the members and the public if the
meeting is at other than the normal time and place. The Planning Board is
required to hold a minimum of one meeting a month.
B.
All meetings in which official action is taken shall
be open to the public.
A.
The Chairman may, with the approval of the majority of
the Board, call special work sessions for the purpose of updating Subdivision
Regulations, Zoning Ordinances,[1] Planning Board bylaws and other information work items necessary.
B.
These sessions shall be open to the public. The general
public shall be barred from addressing the Board with the following exceptions:
(1)
In the event that the topic of the work session involves
such matter in which the Board has requested that a citizens advisory group
be established to aid the Board in its findings and deliberations, said group
shall be allowed to contribute its comments during the discussion phase of
the meeting.
(2)
Any officials, citizens, etc., who have been specifically
requested by the Board to have input to that meeting may do so.
(3)
Input from other interested citizens shall be reserved
for a time designated within the regular meetings of the Planning Board or
for a specific time designated by the Planning Board.
A.
Upon a vote of at least 4/7 of the members present and
voting, the Planning Board of the Town may call for an executive session,
from which the public shall be barred. An attorney will be present.
B.
The motion to go into executive session shall indicate
the nature of the business of that session, and no other matters may be considered.
No ordinances, regulations, contracts, appointments or other official action
shall be finally approved at such executive sessions, which may be held on
the following matters only:
(1)
Certain discussions concerning employees or appointees:
discussion or consideration of the employment, appointment, assignment, duties,
promotion, demotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplining or resignation
of public officers, appointees or employees of the Planning Board, or the
investigation or hearing of charges or complaints against such persons, provided
that any person charged, investigated or otherwise under discussion shall
be permitted to be present at such executive session if he or she so desires.
(2)
Discussion or consideration of the dismissal of any employee
or member.
(3)
Certain legal considerations: consultations between the
Planning Board and its attorney concerning the legal rights and duties of
the Planning Board, pending or contemplated litigation, settlement offers
and matters where the duties of the Planning Board's Counsel to his or
her client pursuant to the code of professional responsibility clearly conflicts
with the Maine Right to Know Law or where premature general public knowledge
would clearly place the state, municipality or other public agency or person
at a substantial disadvantage.
C.
Within the executive session, it shall be the Chairman's
responsibility to ensure that only that business for which the session was
called will be discussed. The Chairman shall conduct the executive session
to ensure that compliance with the rules for executive sessions occurs.
