Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:69A-36, the legislative
power of the Township shall be exercised by the Township Council,
except as may be otherwise provided by general law, subject to the
procedures set forth in this plan of government.[1] Legislative powers shall be exercised by ordinance, except
for the exercise of those powers that, under this plan of government
or general law, do not require action by the Mayor as a condition
of approval for the exercise thereof, and may, therefore, be exercised
by resolution, including but not limited to:
A.
The override of a veto by the Mayor.
B.
The exercise of advice and consent to actions of the
Mayor.
C.
The conduct of a legislative inquiry or investigation.
D.
The expression of disapproval of the removal by the
Mayor of officers or employees.
E.
The removal of any municipal officer for cause.
F.
The adoption of rules for the Council.
G.
The establishment of times and places for Council
meetings.
H.
The establishment of the Council as a committee of
the whole and the delegation of any number of its members as an ad
hoc committee.
I.
The declaration of emergencies respecting the passage
of ordinances.
J.
The election, appointment, setting of salaries and
removal of officers and employees of Council, subject to any pertinent
civil service requirements and any pertinent contractual obligations
and within the general limits of the municipal budget.
K.
The designation of official newspapers.
L.
The approval of contracts presented by the Mayor.
M.
The actions specified as resolutions in the Local
Budget Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:4-1 et seq.) and the Local Fiscal Affairs
Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:5-1 et seq.).
N.
The expression of Council policies or opinions which
require no formal action by the Mayor.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Township adopted the Mayor-Council
Plan of Government pursuant to the Optional Municipal Charter Law,
N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 et seq.
The Council has the additional powers and duties
to:
A.
Adopt the annual budget of the Township and salary
ordinances establishing salary ranges for all department directors
and Township employees and elected officials as required.
B.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:69A-37.1, deal with employees
of the Department of Administration and other administrative departments
solely through the Mayor or designee. All contact with the employees
and all actions and communications concerning the administration of
the government and the provision of municipal services shall be through
the Mayor or designee, except as otherwise provided by law. Nothing
in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Council's inquiry
into any act or problem of the administration of the Township. Any
Council member may, at any time, require a report on any aspect of
the government of the Township by making a written request to the
Mayor.
C.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:69A-37(b), remove, by at least
two-thirds vote of the whole number of the Council, any Township officer
other than the Mayor or a member of the Council, for cause, upon notice
and an opportunity to be heard, unless otherwise provided by state
statutes.
D.
Require any municipal officer, in its discretion,
to prepare and submit sworn statements regarding said officer's official
duties and the performance thereof and otherwise to investigate the
conduct of any department, office or agency of the Township government.
The Council may, by a majority vote of the whole number of its members,
require the Mayor or designee to appear before Council, sitting as
a committee of the whole, and to bring before the Council those records
and reports and officials and employees of the Township as the Council
may determine necessary to ensure clarification of the matter under
study.
E.
By a majority vote of the whole number of its members,
designate any number of its members as an ad hoc committee to consult
with the Mayor or designee to study any matter and report to the Council
thereon.
G.
Adopt rules and regulations for conduct of Council
business. At its annual organization meeting, the Council shall approve
its rules of procedure and set forth the format of its formal agenda.
H.
Establish, alter or abolish such committees, commissions
or agencies of the Township as permitted by law.
I.
Separate and apart from the Township's mandated committees,
commissions or agencies, create advisory committees to assist it in
its legislative function.
The Township Council shall consist of five members,
elected at-large by the voters of the Township at the regular municipal
election in a partisan election. The terms of the members of the Council
shall be four years, except that, of those first elected, two shall
serve for four-year terms and three for two-year terms. The length
of the terms of the respective members of the first Council shall
be determined by lot after the organization of the Council immediately
following the election.
A.
Regular meetings.
(1)
The Township Council shall hold its annual organizational
meeting on the first day of January or on any day during the first
seven days of January. The Township Council shall meet regularly thereafter
on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m. on the
second Tuesday and at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday, except that
the Council may, by resolution, add, dispense with or change the dates
of regular or special meetings.
(2)
When the time for any regular meeting of the Council
falls on a legal holiday or Election Day as prescribed by law, such
meetings shall be held at the same hour on some other day, at the
convenience of the Council.
C.
President and Vice President. The Council, at its
annual organizational meeting, shall elect a President and Vice President
to serve for one-year terms and until the election and qualification
of their successors. In the absence of both President and Vice President
of the Council, the Council shall elect a temporary presiding officer,
who shall have the functions, powers and duties of the President during
the President's absence. Upon arrival of the President or the Vice
President, as the case may be, the officer presiding shall relinquish
the chair immediately upon the conclusion of the particular item of
business before Council.
Legislative powers shall be exercised by ordinance
except for those powers that may be exercised by resolution or do
not require action of the Mayor as a condition of approval. The following
procedures shall be followed:
A.
All ordinances and/or resolutions shall be prepared
by the Clerk, by the appropriate department director or by the Township
Attorney or reviewed by the Township Attorney upon direction of the
Council or Mayor. Each proposed ordinance or resolution requiring
or permitting administrative action may be submitted to the Business
Administrator and the director concerned, who shall, if required,
provide the basis for such ordinance or resolution to the Council.
B.
An ordinance or resolution may be introduced by any
member of the Council. Each ordinance and each resolution shall be
limited to a single subject, which shall be expressed in its title.
C.
All ordinances shall be introduced, read, heard and
enacted in the manner provided by general law. Each ordinance passed
by the Council shall, within three calendar days, be delivered by
the Municipal Clerk to the Mayor for approval or veto, and the Mayor
shall, within 10 calendar days after receiving any ordinance, either
approve the ordinance by signing it or return it to the Council by
delivering it to the Municipal Clerk, together with a statement setting
forth the Mayor's objections thereto or to any part thereof. Pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:69A-41, no ordinance or any item or part thereof shall
take effect without the Mayor's approval, unless the Mayor fails to
return an ordinance to the Council within 10 days after it has been
presented to the Mayor or unless the Council, upon reconsideration
thereof on or after the third day following its return by the Mayor,
shall, by a vote of 2/3 of the entire membership of the Council, resolve
to override the Mayor's veto.
D.
No ordinance other than the budget ordinance shall
take effect less than 20 days after its final passage by Council and
approval by the Mayor, where such approval is required, unless the
Council shall adopt a resolution declaring an emergency and at least
2/3 of all the members of the Council vote in favor of such resolution.
E.
Passage over veto. Whenever an ordinance has been
reconsidered by the Council following a veto by the Mayor, the Municipal
Clerk shall append to such ordinance a certification of the action
of the Council upon such reconsideration in substantially the following
form:
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I HEREBY CERTIFY that the above ordinance, adopted
by the Council on the __________ day of __________, _____, was delivered
to the Mayor on the __________ day of __________, _____ and was returned
to me on the __________ day of __________, _____, together with the
Mayor's statement of the reasons for which the Mayor was constrained
to withhold approval of such ordinance, item or part thereof. On reconsideration
thereof on the __________ day of __________, _____, (the Council duly
resolved by the affirmative vote of 2/3 of its members to enact such
ordinance, item or part thereof notwithstanding the Mayor's veto)
or (the Mayor's veto was sustained).
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Municipal Clerk
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F.
Ordinances not returned by Mayor. Whenever an ordinance
shall take effect without the Mayor's signature by reason of the Mayor's
failure to return it to the Council by filing it with the Municipal
Clerk within 10 days after it has been presented to the Mayor, the
Municipal Clerk shall append to such ordinance a certificate in substantially
the following form:
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I HEREBY CERTIFY that the above ordinance, adopted
by the Council on the __________ day of __________, _____, and presented
to the Mayor duly certified on the __________ day of __________, _____,
and upon the Mayor's failure to sign it or return and file it with
the Municipal Clerk within 10 days thereafter, said ordinance took
effect in like manner as if the Mayor had signed it.
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Municipal Clerk
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Dated: _______________
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G.
Filing of reports and resolutions. The Council shall
file with the Municipal Clerk all petitions, resolutions or other
papers considered by it on each matter. All reports to the Council
and all resolutions shall be filed with the Clerk.
A.
Regular meetings. Council shall hold its regular meetings
and work sessions in accordance with a resolution to be adopted at
each yearly organizational meeting, but there shall be not less than
one Council meeting per month. The resolution may be amended or modified
by subsequent resolutions duly adopted.
B.
Notice.
(1)
In conformity with the Open Public Meetings Act (N.J.S.A.
10:4-6 et seq.), written notice of all meetings of the Council and
every other public body as defined in the Act shall be provided at
least 48 hours in advance, giving time, date, location and, to the
extent known, the agenda of any regular, special or rescheduled meeting.
Such notice shall state whether formal action may or may not be taken
and shall be prominently posted on at least one place reserved for
such or similar announcements on a bulletin board in the lobby of
the Municipal Building and be mailed, telephoned, telegraphed, telefaxed
or hand-delivered to at least two newspapers previously designated
by the Township Council. Designated newspapers must be published often
enough to allow for the forty-eight-hour notice to be given to members
of the public. Copies of the notice shall be filed with the Municipal
Clerk.
(2)
Where the Council announces annual notice of its regular
meetings, no further notice shall be required concerning such meetings.
Such notice shall be in accordance with the schedule of the regular
meetings of the Council to be held during the ensuing year, which
the Municipal Clerk shall prepare, post and submit within seven days
following the annual organization or reorganization meeting of the
Council, or, if there be no such organization or reorganization meeting
in the year, then not later than January 7 of such year. The Municipal
Clerk shall, whenever a special meeting of the Council is called in
accordance with the law, issue and cause notices thereof to be served
upon the members of the Council and other persons whose presence may
be required pursuant to law.
C.
Emergencies. Upon the affirmative vote of 3/4 of the
members present, the Council may hold a meeting, notwithstanding the
failure to provide adequate notice, if:
(1)
Such meeting is required in order to deal with matters
of such urgency and importance that a delay for the purpose of providing
adequate notice would be likely to result in substantial harm to the
public interest.
(2)
The meeting is limited to discussion of and acting
with respect to such matters of urgency and importance.
(3)
Notice of such meeting is provided as soon as possible
following the calling of such meeting by posting written notice and
notifying the two newspapers by telephone, telegraph, telefax or personal
delivery.
(4)
Either the Council could not reasonably have foreseen
the need for such meeting at a time when adequate notice could have
been provided; or although the public body could reasonably have foreseen
the need for such meeting at a time when adequate notice could have
been provided, it nevertheless failed to do so.
D.
Minutes. At the commencement of every meeting, the
person presiding shall announce publicly and shall cause to be entered
into the minutes an accurate statement to the effect that adequate
notice for the meeting has been provided or that notice was not provided,
in which case the reasons shall be stated. The Council, through the
office of the Clerk, shall keep reasonably comprehensible minutes
of its meetings, showing time and place, the members present, subjects
considered, actions taken and the votes of each member.
E.
Quorum. A majority of the whole number of members
of the Council shall constitute a quorum, but no ordinance shall be
adopted by Council without the affirmative vote of a majority of all
members of the Council. If a quorum is not present 1/2 hour after
the appointed time for any meeting, the presiding officer or the Municipal
Clerk may declare the meeting canceled.
F.
Roll call votes; minutes. The vote upon every motion,
resolution or ordinance shall be taken by roll call, and the yeas
and nays shall be entered on the minutes. The minutes of each meeting
shall be signed by the Municipal Clerk and by the Council member who
presided at the meeting.
G.
Public participation. Public participation in the
meetings of the Council shall be in accordance with the Open Public
Meetings Act and any rules adopted by the Council.
