Roxbury and Mount Arlington Consolidation Study
Commission
By-Laws
Dated:
August 12, 2015
Mission Statement
The Roxbury Mount Arlington Consolidation Study Commission has
been established to work in partnership and provide the residents of Roxbury
and Mount Arlington, NJ information about the possibility of municipal
consolidation. We shall pursue the objective of gathering and analyzing
information for the public.
The Commission will do this in an open and inclusive manner and will thoroughly review the benefits and detriments of consolidation. The Commission may develop a public report and disseminate said report for consideration by the residents of both communities to create an informed public with an understanding of consolidation.
The Commission will do this in an open and inclusive manner and will thoroughly review the benefits and detriments of consolidation. The Commission may develop a public report and disseminate said report for consideration by the residents of both communities to create an informed public with an understanding of consolidation.
The Commission shall determine if the matter should be presented
to the voters in a referendum.
Article I –
Name
The name shall be as above but
referred to as “RMTACommission”
Article II – Purpose
The purpose of this organization
shall be to gather, analyze and disseminate information to the public, to
assist the communities of Roxbury and Mt. Arlington in the determination of benefits and detriments
of consolidation
of the two towns. If the RMTACommission
members conclude that the study indicates that both towns mutually benefit from
consolidation, they will vote to place a referendum on the ballot for a public
vote.
Article III – Commissioners
Section
1. The Roxbury Mt. Arlington
Consolidation Study Petitioners appointed four (4) Commissioners and one (1)
Alternate Commissioner representing each municipality for a total of eight (8)
Commissioners and two (2) Alternates. In
addition, each municipality appointed one (1) Commissioner and one (1) Alternate
Appointed Commissioner.
Section 2. When a Commissioner vacates:
The vacated seat will be filled
by an Alternate Commissioner from the respective municipality.
A.
The Appointed Commissioner’s vacated seat is
filled by the Appointed Alternate Commissioner from the same Municipality.
B.
The other Commissioner vacancies will be filled
by the Alternate Commissioner representing that Municipality.
C.
Depending on the Commissioner’s designation to
the RMTACommission, the RMTACommission will then solicit and select an
Alternate representing the same Municipality or request from the Municipal
Governing Body a new Appointed Alternate.
Section
3. Commissioners shall receive no
pay or in-kind compensation of any type from the RMTACommission or any other
entity or individuals for their work on the RMTACommission
Article IV – commissioner STRUCTURE and duties
The Commissioners shall elect a RMTACommission Chair and Vice-Chair,
one from each Municipality. The RMTACommission shall also elect the positions
of Secretary and Treasurer herein known as “Officers”. Duties shall consist of the following and
maybe amended as needed by the majority vote of the Commissioners in attendance
at a scheduled meeting.
Section
1. CHAIR / VICE-CHAIR: Chair
shall be empowered to call regular and special meetings, whenever he/she deems
it necessary, and the Chair will officiate at such meetings. Only the Chair shall be empowered to make
representations, transactions, commitments and negotiations on behalf of the
RMTACommission, subject to the approval of the Member Commissioners. The Chair shall authenticate with their
signature, whenever necessary, all resolutions, orders, official correspondence
and proceedings of the meetings presented by the Secretary. The Chair shall appoint, and/or remove, with
the consent of the membership majority, the Chairperson(s) of all committees,
representatives or subsidiary groups of the RMTACommission. The Chair shall set forth the agenda for each
meeting with the assistance from the other RMTACommission officers. Also, together with the Treasurer sign checks
for payments authorized by the Member Commissioners. Term length shall be three (3) years. The Vice-Chair will act and be empowered in
the absence of the Chair. In addition,
all information requests shall be handled by the Chair.
Section
2. SECRETARY: The Secretary
shall keep an accurate record of the minutes of all meetings, all
correspondence and RMTACommission work-products. He/she shall present the minutes at each
meeting and will make any corrections, remove errors and add omissions that
have been approved by the Commissioners present. He/she shall notify Commissioners of the
time and place of all meetings by e-mail or telephone, at least four (4) days,
and not more than fourteen (14) days before each meeting, as well as
notifications in one of the local newspaper(s) and to the respective governing
bodies.
Section
3. TREASURER: The Treasurer
shall obtain a State Tax ID, collect all donations, facilitate fund-raising
activities, file necessary year-end paperwork and keep funds of the
RMTACommission in a depository named by the Commissioners. Treasurer shall keep
accurate records using standard accounting methods. Treasurer shall compile a monthly
report to be submitted to the RMTACommission as well as have ledgers available
for immediate review.
Section
4. In the event that an Officer
vacates their position, a new vote shall occur at a public meeting to fill the
position.
Article V – vacancies
Section
1. VACANCY OF OFFICE: In the
event of disability, resignation, removal or demise of any Commissioner,
replacement by the respective Alternate Commissioner as defined in Article III,
section 2 will be followed.
Section
2. COMMISSIONER REMOVAL: A
Commissioner may be removed from the RMTACommission by a two-thirds vote of the
Commissioners present at any meeting provided that prior notice of the proposed
dismissal is mailed / emailed to all members at least seven (7) days and not
more than fourteen (14) days before such meeting. Cause for Removal shall be any of the
following reasons:
A.
Missing three (3) consecutive meetings only after a warning will be
sent to the Commissioner by mail after the 2nd missed meeting
B.
In violation of their sworn Oath as a Commissioner
Article VI – meetings
Section
1. The RMTACommission shall
schedule regular meetings as they determine will be productive and
informational to the public, but will hold a minimum of 4 meetings a year. The
scheduled meetings for the year will be distributed for publication to local
newspaper(s), distributed to both municipalities, and published in at least one or more of the
following; the RMTACommission Web-Site, Facebook page or online news site.
Section
2. A confirmation or cancel notice
of each scheduled meeting shall be emailed to all Commissioners, each
Municipality, and Committee personnel, and placed in a daily newspaper at least
seven (7) days before the date of such meeting, in cases where a meeting has to
be canceled, the seven (7) days notice period will not be required but preferred. The Chair may call a special meeting for a
specific purpose with like notification; during this special meeting only
issues relative to that purpose can be transacted. The Chair can cancel a scheduled meeting if a
majority consensus was acquired of the Commissioners.
Section
3. A quorum shall consist of a
majority of the Commissioners, in attendance.
If no quorum is available, a meeting may be held, special guests may
speak, old business can be discussed and new business can be proposed but not
voted on.
Article VII – Participation and voting
Section
1. For any action that a vote is to
be taken, it will require a majority vote of the Commissioners present unless
otherwise stipulated by State statue or defined in these By-Laws.
Section
2. Alternate Commissioners can
participate and cast their vote in RMTACommission committees, participate in
all RMTACommission discussions, and interviews of Professionals. In the event
of a Commissioner’s or Appointed Commissioner’s absence, the corresponding
Alternate Commissioner or Alternate Appointed Commissioner may vote on all RMTACommission activities except the vote that
would make the recommendation to put forth the question of consolidation to the
voters.
Article VIII – committees and rules
Section
1. The Chair shall appoint such
committees from the pool of Commissioners of the RMTACommission and other
volunteers as are necessary to carry out the operations of the RMTACommission. Each committee must be comprised of at least
one commissioner from each town. The Chair shall be an ex-officio member of all
committees.
Section 2. The
standing committees may be listed below or any such others as the
RMTACommission may find necessary.
Duties listed are not all encompassing.
A.
Data
Collection Committee:
this will be the only point of collection of any requests for information not
readily available by any Committee or Commissioner to prevent duplication or
mishandling of information.
B.
The
Municipal Government Committee:
to study each town’s government structure, court systems, functions,
organization and staffing.
C.
The
Education Committee: to
study the schools, school staffing, school budgets and board of education of
each town
D.
The
Finance/Administration Committee:
to study the tax structure, assessment and collection procedures, budgets,
debt, bonds, terms, payables, etc.
E.
The
DPW / Utilities Committee:
to study the budgets and maintenance of township grounds, facilities, roads and
equipment as well as utilities used by and contracted by the towns.
F.
The
Police/Fire/EMS Committee:
to study the functions, budgets, suppliers, staffing of these organizations.
G.
Personnel
Committee: to study
the contracts, benefits and compensation of town employees
H.
Shared/Social
Services Committee:
to study any shared services in addition to the health, senior, teen, cultural,
library and other services offered by towns as well as their staffing and
budgets.
The Chair can assign other
Committees and such duties to committees as he/she may find necessary
Section
3. Initially the following
Ad-hoc Committees have been formed to handle necessary RMTACommission
infrastructure tasks.
A. By-Laws Committee
B. Grant Research Committee
C. Technology Committee
D. Agenda Committee
Section
4. The Committee Chair will be
selected from the Commissioners that are appointed to the committee by the
committee members.
Section
5. The standard Committee
procedures will consist of the following and any others that it is charged with
by the Chair.
A.
Determine
what data needs to be requested
B.
Obtain
data from government website or library. In the event that data is not
available on internet or library, submit data requests to Data Collection
Committee who will act as point of contact for all research requests from
Committees and/or Commissioners
C.
Produce
preliminary (baseline) report which formats the research data to reflect
current “State of the Department” which would include budget data, staffing
numbers and logistical/physical information.
D.
Identify
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, options available for
consolidation and recommendations.
E.
Provide
projected consolidation report which would compare the baseline report to
future projections after consolidation.
Explain how strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats would be
addressed, modified or resolved.
Article
IX– finances
Section 1. All expenditures shall be voted on, and
approved by the RMTACommission.
Long-term or on-going expenditures will only require to be voted on once
as long as expenditures do not exceed approved amounts. One-time expenditures
under $100 will be considered incidental and will not need prior RMTACommission
approval.
Section
2. Payments for authorized expenditures shall be performed
by the Treasurer on a timely basis using paper check or electronic payment
methods. Payments for incidentals can
only be made by Treasurer after email approval has been obtained by the Chair
or Vice-Chair in the absence of the Chair.
Section
3. Treasurer will compile detailed
report of financial activities and transactions to present to the
RMTACommission each meeting.
Section 4. The Chair, at the February meeting
(prior to fiscal year-end (4/1 - 3/31) shall appoint an Audit Committee of
three (3) members, who do not pose a conflict of interest. This Committee audits the books of the
Treasurer and shall furnish an audit report at the April meeting.
Article X – authority and INFORMATION
DISSEMINATION
Section 1. Only
the Chair is authorized to speak for or represent the RMTACommission without
the prior approval of the RMTACommission.
Section 2. All
Committee research and work-products are deemed unapproved until the Committee accepts
them as final and submits their work-product for RMTACommission approval. No Committee or Committee members shall release
a work-product without the RMTACommission’s approval.
Section 3. The RMTACommission Records Custodian is
charged with the dissemination of all materials upon the Chair’s request.
Article XI – order of business
Section 1. The
general format of the Agenda shall be
A. Pledge of Allegiance
B. NJ Open Public Meetings Law (if
applicable)
C. Roll call
D. Introduction of elected officials
and/or recognition of their representatives.
E. Election and installation of
officers, if applicable.
F. Introduction of guest speaker or
presentation, if applicable
G. Public Comments on Agenda Items Only
– limited to 3 minutes P/P
H. Secretary’s report / correspondence
/ minutes
I.
Treasurer’s
report
J.
Chairman’s
report
K. Committee reports
L. Resolutions
M. Old/Unfinished business.
N. New business.
O. Public Comment
P. Adjournment
Section
2. All meetings and
RMTACommission business shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of
Order, latest edition unless a Robert’s Rule is inconsistent with these By-Laws
or any specific rules of order the RMTA Commission may adopt
Article XII – wrap up and dissolution of
RMTACommission
Section 1. The following
criteria would determine when the RMTACommission’s work is complete:
A.
The RMTACommission votes “no” on the
recommendation to go to referendum vote
B.
The RMTACommission votes “yes” on the
recommendation to go to referendum vote, but the referendum is not passed
C.
The RMTACommission votes “yes” on the
recommendation to go to referendum vote and the referendum is passed.
RMTACommission can remain intact to assist in the creation of the
transition/consolidation team, if deemed necessary, in which case
RMTACommission’s work would be considered complete after transition.
Section 2. Upon completion,
the RMTACommission will:
A. Hold a
final meeting to summarize work, determine use of remaining funds and next
steps, if any.
B. Rescind
the Tax ID and exempt status (if applicable) from the State of New Jersey
C. Close
bank accounts
D. Decommission Commissioners
Article XIV – amendments
Section
1. These By-Laws may be amended at
any general meeting of the RMTACommission by a two-thirds vote of the
Commissioners present, provided the Commissioners have been given written
notice of the proposed amendments not less than two weeks prior to its
presentation for adoption.
Article
XV – ADOPTION
Originally
prepared by:
By-Laws
Committee – Nancy Absalon, Laurel Whitney, Gene Paradiso,
We, the undersigned, represent
the Commissioners, and we consent to, and hereby do, adopt the foregoing
Bylaws, as the Bylaws of the Roxbury and Mount Arlington Study
Commission.
ADOPTED AND APPROVED by
the Commissioners on this ____ day of _________, 20__.
________________________________________
Craig Heard-Chair
Craig Heard-Chair
________________________________________
ATTEST: Christopher Rogers- Secretary
ATTEST: Christopher Rogers- Secretary
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