A. Town Government. The Town government is vested in a Town Council, consisting of a Mayor and four (4) Council members, to be elected at large.
B. Elected Terms. The election and term of office of the Town Council shall be as follows:
1. The terms shall all be four (4) years with the Mayor and two (2) Council members being elected in one (1) Town election year and the other two (2) council members being elected in the following Town election year;
2. The officers so elected shall enter upon their duties at twelve o’clock (12:00) noon on the first day of January next succeeding their election and shall be sworn in as soon thereafter as is convenient for the Council to convene; and
3. Mayor or Town Council vacancies shall be filled as provided in Utah Code Annotated section 20A-1-510.
C. Candidate Eligibility and Residency Requirements. A person filing a Declaration of Candidacy for a Town office shall:
1. Have been a resident of the Town for at least three hundred sixty five (365) days immediately before the date of the election;
2. Meet all other requirements of Utah Code Annotated section 20A-9-203;
3. A person living in an area annexed to the Town meets the residency requirement of this section if that person resided within the area annexed to the Town for at least three hundred sixty five (365) days immediately before the date of the election;
4. Each elected officer of the Town shall maintain residency within the boundaries of the Town during the officer’s term of office;
5. If an elected officer of the Town establishes a principal place of residence, as provided in Utah Code Annotated section 20A-2-105, outside the Town during the officer’s term of office, the office is automatically vacant;
6. Any person elected to a Town office shall be a registered voter in the Town; and
7. If an elected Town officer is absent from the Town any time during his term of office for a a continuous period of more than sixty (60) days without the consent of the Town Council, the term of office is automatically vacant
D. Administration Vested in Mayor. The administrative powers, authority and duties are vested in the mayor or a person designated by the mayor to fulfill certain duties allowed by state code.
E. Powers and Duties of the Mayor. The Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer to whom all employees of the Town shall report. The Mayor shall:
1. Keep the peace and enforce the laws of the Town;
2. Perform all duties prescribed by law, resolution or ordinance;
3. Ensure that all the laws, ordinances and resolutions are faithfully executed and observed;
4. Report to the Town Council the condition of the Town and recommend for Town Council consideration, any measures that the Mayor considers to be in the best interests of the Town;
5. When necessary, call on the residents of the Town over the age of twenty one (21) years to assist in enforcing the laws of the State and ordinances of the Town;
6. Appoint, with the advise and consent of the Town Council, persons to fill Town offices or vacancies on commissions or committees of the Town;
7. At any reasonable time, examine and inspect the official, books, papers, records or documents of the Town or of any officer, employee or agent of the Town;
8. During Town Council discussions, deliberations and proceedings, the Mayor has been delegated the primary responsibility to ensure the Town Council, staff and members of the public adhere to the Council's adopted procedures;
9. Mayor or designee shall be responsible to ensure that the code is kept up to date.
10. Give proper notice of openings on the Planning Commission and appoint Planning Commissioners with the advice and consent of the Town Council in order to have a full quorum at the first meeting of the Planning Commission in July of each year.
11. Be responsible for making sure a Hearing Officer is in place.
F. Powers and Duties of the Town Council. The principal job of a Town Council is to:
1. Set policy to preserve the health, provide for the safety and promote the welfare and prosperity, comfort and convenience of the community. To improve the morals, peace and good order, comfort and convenience of the Town and the inhabitants thereof and for the protection of property therein; and to enforce obedience to such ordinances with such fines or penalties as the Town Council may deem proper; provided, that the punishment of any offense shall comply with the authority granted by Utah Code 10-3-703;
2. Make policy. The Council is the policy-making legislative body. A policy is a course of action for a community. Policymaking often takes the form of passing ordinances or resolutions. After policy decisions are made by the legislative body, others perform the administrative task of implementing the policies. The distinction between formulation and implementation may not always be clear. It is important to recognize that it is not the role of the councilmember to administer Town affairs. The Council sets policy. Open communication between legislators and administrators is essential;
3. Act as an appeals authority. An appeals authority is a quasi-judicial body that works within the strict rules of the law as it is written. It is a very narrow area of land use law. The Appeal Authority does not have the power to rewrite or create new law. Even if it believes the law under consideration is silly, unwise, inappropriate, or unclear, the first responsibility is to determine whether the matter before it is consistent with the law. An Appeal Authority must both know the law and possess the courage to follow it. When the Town Council acts as the appeals authority it must and shall apply the law as written in the code/ordinance;
4. Look after the financial needs of the community. Setting policy through the budget is a continuous, year long process. It involves setting goals and establishing priorities. Public participation is critical to the budget process, and is required by law, because of the many policy decisions involved. The budget is one of the Town's strongest policy making tools;
5. Represent the interest of the citizens of the Town and should consider the interests of the citizens of the Town as a whole and vote accordingly; and
6. Council members should not attempt to exercise individual authority over the Town, its employees, and its enterprises.
G. Holding Office Created During Council Membership. No member of the Town Council shall hold or be appointed to any office which shall have been created or the salary which shall have been increased while he was a member, during the term for which he was elected and for one year after the expiration of such term.
H. Council Meeting Minutes. The approved minutes of Council meetings shall constitute the official record of such meetings and shall be filed in the office of the Town Recorder. All such records shall be available for public review and access in accordance with the State of Utah Government Records and Access Management Act (“GRAMA”).
I. Code of Conduct.
1. During Town Council meetings, Town Council members shall assist in preserving order and decorum and shall, neither by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings;
2. A Town Council member desiring to speak shall address the chair and, upon recognition by the chair, shall confine the discussion to the question under debate, avoid discussion of personalities and indecorous language and refrain from personal attacks and verbal abuse, sidebar discussions, or political partisan rhetoric;
3. Town Council members, once recognized, shall not be interrupted while speaking unless called to order by the chair, unless a point of order is raised by another member, or unless the speaker chooses to field questions from another member if recognized by the chair; and
4. Town Council members shall confine their questions to the particular matters before the Council and in debate, shall confine their remarks to the issues before the Town Council.
J. Compensation. The compensation to be paid to each official of the Town shall be established by the Town Council by ordinance. (FF ORDINANCE NO. 082217)
K. Removal of the Mayor. The powers and duties of the Mayor are not inviolate or fixed. The Town Council, by ordinance, can take away or limit the duties of the Mayor and they can be given to either Council Members or hired professionals such as a town manager or administrator. Councils may not remove from the Mayor or delegate to another authority any of the Mayor's legislative or judicial powers or ceremonial functions, the Mayor's position as chair of the Council or any ex-officio position that the Mayor holds. Any ordinance that removes from or reinstates to the Mayor a power, duty, or function requires the affirmative vote of the Mayor and a majority of all other Council Members or all Council Members except the Mayor. Utah State Code 10-3b-303(1)(c);(2) and 403(1)(c);(2).
L. Town Council Land Use Authority. See Title 10.5.20.