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Council shall meet in the Council chambers at City Hall for organization at 7:30 p.m. local time on the Tuesday next following the date its members assume office. The Mayor shall be the presiding officer and shall, together with all other Council members, including the Mayor and the Village Recorder, have the right to vote in Council. In the event of the Mayor's absence, disability or disqualification to act, the Village Recorder shall preside. A majority of the total number of Council members shall constitute a quorum for any purpose not requiring more than a majority vote of Council. Council shall determine and adopt its own rules governing its officers and employees, for the organization of committees and respecting the transaction of its business; except that, whenever in the conduct of any business of Council, a vote is required of Council, all members present shall vote on the issue, question, motion, resolution or other business, and no vote of abstention, disqualification, pass or other similar such vote shall be permitted except as otherwise permitted by this Charter or general law. Council shall meet regularly on the first and third Tuesday of each month, at 7:30 p.m. local time in the Council Chambers at City Hall, excepting only when a regularly scheduled Council meeting shall occur on a legal holiday. Council shall, in that event, meet at such time as prescribed by Section 15.7 of this Charter, but not less frequently than herein prescribed. Special meetings may be called at any time, upon reasonable notice by the Mayor or the Acting Mayor, and shall be so called by the Mayor or Acting Mayor upon the request of a majority of all members of Council. The requirement of reasonable notice may be satisfied by delivering to each member of Council a written notice of the time, place and purpose of the special meeting in the method provided by law for the service of process in a civil action at least twelve hours prior to the time set for the meeting or by such other method as Council may by ordinance provide. No other meetings of Council, except as herein provided, shall qualify for any purpose under this Charter.
The Village Recorder shall keep, or cause to be kept, a journal of the proceedings of the Council, and the Recorder shall authenticate by his or her signature, in a book kept for the purpose, all ordinances and resolutions enacted or passed by the Council, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by this Charter, Council or general law.
Every act of Council which is to become law, or which is for the purpose of repealing an existing law or ordinance, shall be by ordinance only. The enactment of ordinances shall be carried out in the manner provided in Chapter 8, Article 11 of the Official Code of West Virginia.
The meetings of Council shall be open to the public; provided, however, Council may hold a closed, executive session, for the purpose of discussing any matter authorized by law to be discussed in closed or executive session; and also provided the procedure used to hold such executive session conforms to the requirements of Chapter 6, Article 9A of the Official Code of West Virginia, and any other applicable law.
Council shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its members, consistent with the provisions of this Charter and general law, and for such purpose Council shall have power to subpoena witnesses and require production of records.
Either Council or the Mayor may assign additional functions or duties to offices, departments, divisions, boards or agencies established by this Charter, but the Mayor may not discontinue such duties or functions without the approval of Council. Neither the Mayor nor Council shall discontinue or reassign to any other office, department, division, board or agency any function or duty assigned by this Charter to a particular office, department, division, board or agency.
If a Council member is elected to any public office other than Mayor, Village Recorder, or member of the Village Council, absents himself or herself from forty or more percent of the meetings scheduled in accordance with Section 3.5 herein in any twelve month period, ceases to possess any of the qualifications required by this Charter, becomes physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that he or she is unable to properly perform the functions of the office or is convicted of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude, he or she shall be disqualified from holding the office of Council member and such office shall thereby become vacant and shall be so declared by Council forthwith. Any Council member may be removed from office under the provisions of general law. If a Council member absents himself or herself from forty or more percent of Council meetings as provided herein, such absence shall, ipso facto, constitute neglect of duty. If a vacancy on Council shall occur as aforesaid or by reason of death, resignation, removal or other cause, such vacancy shall be filled as follows: The remaining members of Council shall select a citizen willing to serve, and with the requisite qualifications, by a majority vote of its remaining members at a meeting held not less than fifteen nor more than thirty days following the declaration of such vacancy. The person so appointed shall hold office for the unexpired term or until his or her successor has been duly elected and qualified. In the event Council shall fail to choose a qualified successor, as provided herein, the Mayor shall appoint a person with the requisite qualifications to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term or until his or her successor has been duly elected and qualified. Such appointment shall be made within sixty days from the date said vacancy occurs.
Each member of Council shall receive an annual salary during his or term of office. Council members may waive this compensation and serve their terms voluntarily. Council shall, by duly enacted ordinance, address itself to the issue of compensation, including setting the salary and benefits, for the Mayor, the Village Recorder, and for Council members. In no case shall any change in the salary of Council members or of the Mayor or the Village Recorder become effective during the current term of any Council member, Mayor or Village Recorder.
(Amended 6-5-03; 6-19-07; 6-4-15; 5-16-23)
Council shall, within five years of the effective date of this Charter and at least every eight years thereafter, cause to be prepared a Municipal Code with an adequate index containing all ordinances of general application which are appropriate for continuation as law. Such Code may be prepared by the Village Attorney or Council may contract for its preparation by professional persons or by organizations experienced in the revision and codification of ordinances or statutes. When the Code, or any general revision thereof, shall have been prepared, Council shall cause copies of the same to be prepared and made available for public distribution. No ordinance approving such Code or revision shall be adopted until ninety days have elapsed following the date on which Council shall have noted in its official journal the availability of copies of such proposed Code to the public nor until compliance with all applicable law. The Code and general revisions thereof need not be printed in the official journal, but Council shall cause the Code and revisions to be published and distributed to the public at such reasonable price as may be established. All ordinances of general application, adopted after the approval of the Code, shall be adopted as amendments to the Code, shall indicate the section numbers to be assigned to the text of such ordinance in the Code and shall be indexed accordingly therein. Until such Code is prepared, adopted and distributed, the Village Recorder shall make available to any person requesting it, at a cost to be fixed by Council, copies of all presently effective Village ordinances and all ordinances which may be subsequently adopted.
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