Town of Poland Maine - Board of Selectmen Rules of Procedure

The purpose of these Bylaws is to establish reasonable rules for the conduct of the Board of Selectmen and the individual members of that Board, and to establish procedures for Board Selectmen’s meetings. The intent is to assure and promote efficient conduct of the Board’s affairs and proceedings. These Bylaws shall govern the Board's practices and procedures except as otherwise provided by law and shall be liberally construed so as to accomplish their purpose.

The Town of Poland is organized in accordance with Title 30-A M.R.S.A. Section 2631. This organization is known in state law as the "Town Manager Plan". The government consists of a Town Meeting, an elected Board of Selectmen, an appointed Town Manager, and other officials that may be appointed under general law or ordinance. Figure 1 illustrates the organizational structure of the Town of Poland.

The Town Meeting is the Legislative Body for the town. As such, the Town Meeting directs the overall course of town affairs including approving the Town Budget and Town Ordinances. Town Meetings are called by the Board of Selectmen to consider issues initiated by the Board or by properly executed citizen petition. The Town Meeting must be properly scheduled with notification to the citizenry and is led by a Moderator elected by the citizenry.

The elected Board of Selectmen operates in accordance with Title 30-A M.R.S.A Section 2635. The Board receives direction from the Town Meeting and is charged with carrying out the will of the citizens as indicated by Town Meeting vote. The Board is responsible for hiring a well-qualified Town Manager, and for appointing boards, committees or commissions to assist in carrying out the business of the town. The Board, acting only by majority vote, deals with administrative services solely through the Town Manager. No individual Board member is permitted to give orders to the Town Manager or to any subordinates of the Manager either publicly or privately. No individual member of the Board shall act independently of the Board on any matters related to town government.

The Town Manager operates in accordance with Title 30-A M.R.S.A Section 2636. The Manager acts as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the town and is responsible for hiring qualified personnel to head each town department, subject to confirmation by the Board of Selectmen. The specific duties of the Town Manager are separately defined by job description.

The Board of Selectmen consists of five (5) individual citizens of Poland elected by secret ballot by the citizens of Poland. No member of the Board is authorized to act independently of the Board and all actions of the Board are by majority vote of the entire Board. Officers of the Board shall consist of a Chairman and Vice Chairman to be chosen annually by and from among Board members unless otherwise provided by law or ordinance. The position of Secretary to the Board shall be filled by the staff person serving as administrative assistant to the Town Manager or other staff person assigned by the Town Manager, unless the Board chooses to designate one of its members to serve as secretary to the Board.

The Chairman, or Vice Chairman in the absence of the Chairman, shall preside at all Board meetings, and shall have the authority to rule on questions of evidence and procedure, to maintain order and determine the course of proceedings, to sign warrants on behalf of the Board allowing wages and salaries of Town employees to be paid, and to take other actions as may be necessary and not inconsistent with these bylaws or other law or ordinance to enable the Board to perform its duties and conduct its affairs.

All Board Meetings shall be open to the public except as otherwise provided by law. An agenda for each meeting shall be prepared by the Town Manager. Any Selectman may request an item for inclusion in the agenda for a regular meeting by notifying the Town Manager by noon on the Wednesday before the scheduled meeting. A citizen wishing to have an item placed on the Board agenda may make the request to the Town Manager for consideration by noon on the Wednesday before the scheduled meeting. No business may be conducted by the Board except at a duly called and noticed meeting or without a quorum consisting of a majority of the Board being present. The order of business at regular meetings shall normally be as follows. However, the order of the agenda may be varied for purposes of operational convenience and necessity as required for the efficient and orderly conduct of business during the meeting.

The Board recognizes that the purpose of regular Board meetings is to conduct necessary town business, therefore citizens who wish to address the Board on matters that are not on the scheduled agenda may do so during Recognition of Visitors not Scheduled on the Agenda (item #4), provided they have signed in, stated the nature of their comments or questions before the meeting is called to order, and are recognized by the Board Chairman. The Chairman may also recognize citizens for discussion on specific agenda items when the citizens have pertinent information relating to the topic. The Chairman reserves the right to limit the duration of citizen comments and to permit only comments that are constructive and to the point.

Regular meetings of the Board shall be held on the first (1st) and third (3rd) Tuesday of each month or as otherwise necessary or required by law. Special meetings may be called at the discretion of the Chairman or upon the request of a majority of the Board, provided, however, that notice thereof shall be given to each member of the Board and to the local media at least 48 hours in advance and that no business may be conducted other than as specifies in said notice. Emergency meetings may be called at the discretion of the Chairman or upon request of a majority of the Board, provided, however, that notice thereof shall be given to each member of the Board and to the local media by the same fastest means possible and that no business may be conducted other than as specified in said notice.

The Board of Selectmen shall meet separately with each of its appointed boards or commissions at least once during each fiscal year and more often if necessary. The purpose of these meetings is to share progress and problems, and to allow the Board of Selectmen to provide guidance to those appointed Boards and Committees. Such meetings are subject to the same notification requirements as stated above.

Public hearings of the Board shall be called as required by law or on such other occasions, as a majority of the Board may deem appropriate. Notice of all such hearings shall be given as required by law and shall include the date, time and place of the hearing and a general description of the subject matter.

The Chairman shall convene all hearings by describing the purpose of the hearing and the general procedures to be followed. The Board may receive any oral or documentary evidence but shall exclude irrelevant immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence provided. However, formal rules of evidence shall not apply. Every party shall have the right to present its case in the order determined by the Chairman and without interruption provided, however, that the Chairman may impose such reasonable time limits as may be necessary to ensure that all parties have an adequate opportunity to be heard. In any adjudicatory proceeding, including proceedings on licenses, permits or other approvals, every party shall also have the right to submit rebuttal evidence and to conduct cross-examination of any party through the Chairman provided, however, that the Chairman may impose such other reasonable limitations as may be necessary to prevent an abuse of process.

No member may participate or vote in any matter in which the member has a conflict of interest (as specified in Title 30-A M.R.S.A. Section 2605) or other disqualification as defined by law. Any question of whether a member has such a conflict of interest or other disqualification shall be decided by a majority vote of the remaining members.

Any action of the Board shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of its membership unless otherwise provided by law. All members who are present and not disqualified as provided herein shall vote in every matter to be voted upon unless excused by the Chairman for good cause shown.

When a vote is passed, it shall be in order for any member who voted in the majority, or in the negative on a tie vote, to move a reconsideration thereof at the same, or the next regular meeting, but not afterwards; and when a motion of reconsideration is decided, that vote shall not be reconsidered. No motion to reconsider a vote passed at a previous meeting shall be in order for consideration at the next regular meeting unless an item to that effect is contained on the agenda for such next regular meeting or unless three of the members present consent to such reconsideration. A petition once presented to and acted upon by the Board of Selectmen shall not again be received by the Town Manager for presentation to the Board in the same or substantially the same form during the term of the present Board. A member of the Board of Selectmen voting with the majority on the original petition shall be privileged to reintroduce such a petition.

Although not required by law, the Board may, at its discretion, seek public input upon important issues being considered. If so decided, all members of the public present at the meeting, having additional information pertinent to and not available to the Board, and wishing to be heard, shall have the right to speak without interruption provided, however, that the Chairman may impose such reasonable time limits as may be necessary to ensure that all citizens have an adequate opportunity to be heard and consistent with the overall duty of the Board to conduct its affairs.

All decisions of the Board shall be made within the time limits, if any, established by law. All final decisions shall be in writing, shall become a part of the Board's permanent record, and shall, where required by law, include a statement of findings and conclusions and the reasons or basis therefore. All such decisions, together with any tape recording or transcript of testimony and deliberations and any documents and exhibits, shall constitute a public record.

The Board may reconsider any decision within 30 days of its original decision provided, however, that both a vote to reconsider and any action taken pursuant thereto shall occur an be completed within the said 30 days. Notice of any reconsideration shall be given to any party thereto a reasonable time in advance of the reconsideration. The Board may conduct additional hearings and receive additional evidence and testimony as provided herein.

The Town Manager has the authority and responsibility to contact the Town attorney when directed by the Board of Selectmen, or as required for the conduct of Town Business. The Town Manager may also authorize department heads to contact the Town attorney when necessary for the conduct of town business.

A member of the Board of Selectmen may contact the Town attorney for a specific inquiry when directed or authorized by the Board through a majority vote taken during a properly noticed and called Selectmen’s meeting which meets quorum requirements.