A. Each public official who is a member of the Town Council, Planning Commission, or any other officially appointed and constituted public body of Fairfield Town shall disclose every conflict of interest of which the public official has knowledge prior to consideration of any action in any public meeting or hearing before such public body on a matter in which the official has a conflict of interest. For the purposes of this chapter, an official has a conflict of interest if the official knows or has reason to know that the official or a parent of the official or the official’s spouse, sibling, child, or other member of the same household, agent, principal, client, employer or employee:
1. Is required to disclose a conflict of interest by the requirements of the Utah Municipal Officers and Employees Ethics Act; notwithstanding the provisions of said Act, however, the following definitions of a conflict also apply:
a. Has an ownership interest in a business having matters under proper consideration before the public body;
b. Has an ownership interest in property within Fairfield Town for which zoning, conditional use or development approvals are under consideration; or
c. Represents as an agent, professional services contractor, or other advisor an individual organization with matters under consideration before the public body;
2. Has an ownership interest in a business or property that:
a. Has been issued a business license, has a place of business, or otherwise operated a business offering or providing goods, products, or services in Fairfield Town; or
b. Uses or developes property located within the Town limits of Fairfield (other than the officials’ individual personal residence or property), and which:
i. Offers the same goods, products, or services; or
ii. Would use or develop property in a similar way as a business or property which has matters under proper consideration before the public body or any Town Committee that reviews applications, issues, recommendations, or grants approvals.
3. Has an ownership interest in property other than that of a primary residence, that might enjoy:
a. Direct and immediate financial benefit or suffer direct economic harm by zoning, conditional use; or
b. Development approvals of land before the public body, but which is not owned by the official; or
4. Has an agreement with a party seeking approval that would financially benefit the public official if such approval was granted.
B. Disclosure Deadline - Conduct at Public Meetings - Influencing Other Officials. Each official with a conflict of interest as defined in subsection A of this section shall disclose such conflict in the meeting prior to consideration of the matter presenting the conflict. Officials with a conflict of interest shall not speak or vote in that portion of the public meeting considering the matter presenting the conflict, or Chair that portion of the meeting as a town official, but may speak as a member of the public on the matter under consideration. Exceptions may be made to this requirement if a majority of the remaining members of the body determine that adequate consideration of the matter requires responses from the officials or appointed staff.
C. Attendance at Meetings of Other Public Bodies. A public official with a conflict of interest as defined above may attend meetings of other public bodies of which he or she is not a member and at which the matter creating the conflict is considered. Such an official may speak on the matter under consideration only after first declaring a conflict of interest and explaining the nature of the conflict.
D. Abstention from Voting. A member of the Town Council, Planning Commission or other public body of Fairfield Town who is required by subsection A of this section to disclose a conflict of interest shall abstain from voting on the matter for which such conflict exists. If the member insists on voting, his or her vote will be recorded in the minutes as an abstention. In determining whether a vote is tied or a matter is adopted, the abstention vote shall be treated as if the member were absent from the meeting.
E. Suspension of Rules of Procedure. These rules of procedure may be suspended by the Town Council or Planning Commission only upon a vote in which at least four (4) council members or four (4) commission members assent to such suspension.
F. Violation-Penalty. Each official who shall fail to disclose a potential conflict which is known or of which the official should know as defined in subsection A of this section shall be guilty of an offense in accordance with Section 10-2-1310, Utah Code Annotated 1953. Such violations may also result in removal from office or other disciplinary action in accordance with Section 10-3-1311, Utah Code Annotated 1953, or other action as defined in Section 10-3-1312, Utah Code Annotated 1953.