[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca 3-13-2006 by L.L. No. 6-2006. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is adopted pursuant to § 10, Subdivision 1(ii)d(3), of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York.
This chapter supercedes § 63 of the Town Law of the State of New York to the extent the provisions of § 63 regarding committees are inconsistent with this chapter.
The Town Board may, from time to time, create and appoint one or more citizen advisory committees to aid and assist the Town.
[Amended 2-11-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
The citizen advisory committees so created and appointed shall consist of persons who are not members of the Town Board, or persons not members of the Town Board together with Town Board members, provided that the persons who are not members of the Town Board shall be residents of the Town, unless otherwise specifically authorized by the Town Board in the resolution creating the committee. Without limiting the foregoing, the Town Board may appoint persons who are serving as Town staff, regardless of residency, to be members of any such citizen advisory committee.
Citizen advisory committee members shall serve at the pleasure of the Town Board and may be removed by the Town Board at any time, with or without cause.
The duties of all citizen advisory committees shall be as stated from time to time by the Town Board. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all citizen advisory committees shall be advisory in nature, and while they may make recommendations on various matters, no such recommendation shall be binding on the Town Board, Town Board committees, or other boards of the Town.
Citizen advisory committee members shall serve without compensation, except the Town Board may authorize committee members to be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by members in the course of performing their duties, provided such reimbursement is consistent with policies for reimbursement of expenses applicable generally to employees of the Town and appropriation for such expenses are made by the Town Board.
The Town Board may from time to time create staff advisory committees, consisting primarily of Town staff members, to assist the Town. Town Board members may serve on staff advisory committees. The Town Supervisor shall appoint the members of the staff advisory committees, and they shall serve at the pleasure of the Town Supervisor and may be removed by the Town Supervisor at any time, with or without cause. The provisions of §§ 18-6 and 18-7 above regarding authority and compensation, respectively, shall apply to staff advisory committees.
The foregoing provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the following:
A. 
Town Board committees, consisting of Town Board members, which the Town Supervisor has sole discretion to create and appoint to aid and assist the Town Board in the performance of its duties.
B. 
Boards and committees established by other local laws or ordinances, including but not limited to the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Board, Ethics Board, and Records Management Advisory Board.
C. 
Appointments of representatives of the Town to joint boards or joint committees that have been created by agreement with other municipalities or other governmental agencies. Appointments of Town representatives to such joint boards or joint committees shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the respective agreements creating such joint boards or committees and, in the absence of any specific provision governing appointment, shall be made by the Town Board. Such appointments include, but are not limited to, appointments of the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission, and the City of Ithaca-Town of Ithaca-Town of Dryden Special Joint Committee related to the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility.