Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 801. Voters All persons qualified to vote in a Town meeting of the Town of Newbury residing within the corporate limits, hereinbefore described, shall be legal voters of the said corporation.

§ 901. Fiscal year The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of May and close on the last day of April, unless the Village, at its annual meeting shall determine otherwise. If the Village votes another fiscal year, it shall specify the procedure for transition, including th…

§ 1001. [Transitional; related to first meeting.]

§ 1002. [Transitional; related to voter approval.]

§ 101. Village boundaries and legal taxing authority The inhabitants of all that part of the Town of Newfane, in the County of Windham, known as the Village of Newfane, and enclosed in the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at a point on the highway leading from said Village…

§ 201. Elections and terms of officers The officers of said corporation shall be a Board of three trustees, a Clerk, a Treasurer, a Collector of Taxes, an Auditor, and a Fire Marshal, all of which officers shall be chosen by ballot at each annual meeting of the legal voters of th…

§ 301. Powers of the Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees shall have the general care and management of the prudential interests and affairs of said corporation, shall draw orders upon the Treasurer for and direct the expenditure of all monies belonging to said corporation, an…

§ 302. Clerk The Clerk shall keep a record of all meetings and proceedings of the corporation and of the Board of Trustees and give copies of the same when required upon payment of reasonable fees. The Clerk shall warn all meetings of the legal voters of said corporation by posti…

§ 303. Treasurer and Collector of Taxes The powers and duties of the Treasurer and Collector of Taxes shall be the same with respect to said corporation as are the powers and duties of town treasurers and town collectors of taxes with respect to towns. Each shall give a bond to t…

§ 304. Auditor The Auditor shall at least once each year, and whenever the Auditor sees fit to examine and adjust and state the accounts of all corporation officers and of the corporation and shall report all such accounts and the items thereof and the state of the treasury to th…

§ 305. Collector of Taxes to be Chief of Police The Collector of Taxes shall by virtue of holding said office be the Chief of Police of said the Village of Newfane, and as such shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of those duties and shall cause this officer’s oath of office …

§ 401. Prosecutions Prosecutions for violation of the provisions of this charter or the provisions of any bylaw of the said the Village of Newfane made in pursuance of this Charter may be commenced before any justice of the peace of the County of Windham upon complaint of any gra…

§ 501. Water and light Said corporation is empowered to contract with any water company or any electric light company for water and lights or either for extinguishing fires, for watering the streets, for public drinking places, and for lighting the streets and other public purpos…

§ 502. Sewers Said corporation is empowered to construct a system of sewers and repair the same, and for that purpose may take such lands as are necessary, and in taking lands for such purposes said corporation and its Board of Trustees shall proceed in the manner prescribed for …

§ 503. Streets and walks The Board of Trustees of said corporation shall have the power to lay out, alter, maintain, or discontinue any street or walk and lane in said Village, and appraise and settle the damage therefor, causing its proceedings to be recorded in the Town Clerk’s…

§ 504. Water pipes The trustees, or a majority of them, may lay water pipes, within the limits of said Village, and may, for that purpose enter upon the lands of any land owner in said Village, and lay and maintain water pipes through such land, and repair the same when necessary…

§ 601. Date of annual meeting The annual meeting of said corporation for the choice of officers and for the transaction of any business specified in the warning of such meeting, shall be held in the Village of Newfane on the first Wednesday in May.

§ 602. Elections at special meeting If the annual meeting of said Village fails to be held, for want of notice hereinbefore provided for, or for any other cause, the corporation shall not thereby be prejudiced and said several officers may at any time thereafter be elected at a s…

§ 603. Voting Every person who resides within the limits of said Village and is a legal voter in Town meeting of the Town of Newfane shall be entitled to vote at any Village meeting.

§ 701. Powers of the Village Said corporation shall have power to make, amend or repeal by-laws not repugnant to the Constitution or laws of this State or of the United States, for the following purposes: 1. To establish and regulate a market. 2. To suppress and restrain disorder…

§ 801. Recordation and certification The bylaws of said corporation shall be recorded in the office of the Clerk, and the Clerk’s certificate that such bylaws were adopted at annual meeting of said corporation or at a special meeting thereof, called for that purpose, shall be pri…

§ 802. Fines A fine not exceeding $20.00 with costs of prosecution may be imposed by said corporation for the breach of any of its bylaws with the alternative sentence to the house of correction in case said fine and costs are not paid as is provided by law in other criminal case…

§ 901. Competency to act as legal or public safety officer No person being a resident or taxpayer of said corporation shall thereby be deemed incompetent to act as judge, justice, juror, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or police officer in any matter, cause, or proceeding in …

§ 1001. Compensation for taking Whenever, to exercise or carry into effect any of the powers hereinbefore vested in said Village, or the trustees thereof, the public good or the necessity of said Village shall, in the judgment of the trustees, require the entering upon or the tak…

§ 1002. Petition for appeal of compensation award When any person or corporation interested in any property or rights taken under this charter shall be dissatisfied with the decision of said trustees as to the necessity for or extent of such taking, or with the award of damages, …

§ 101. Corporate existence The geographical area as described in subchapter 14 of this chapter shall hereafter be known by the name of the Village of North Bennington, and by that name may have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued, prosecute, and defend in any court, may hav…

§ 1101. Designated powers The trustees of said Village shall have the power: 1. To establish and regulate a market, and to regulate and license the selling and peddling of meat, fish, and other provisions from vehicles within the Village. 2. To regulate, license, tax, and prohibi…

§ 1201. Amendment and repeal The said trustees may make, alter, amend, or repeal any ordinance, bylaw, or regulation which it deems necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers or for the well-being of said Village, and which is not repugnant to the Const…

§ 1202. Recordation and certification The bylaws, rules, regulations, and ordinances of said Village shall be recorded in the office of the Clerk of said Village, and the Clerk’s certificate that such bylaws, rules, regulations, or ordinances have been passed or adopted shall be …

§ 1203. Fines (a) For the breach of any bylaw, rule, regulation, or ordinance, the Village may impose a fine as specified therein. The court or Judicial Bureau shall impose the costs of prosecution in addition to the fine, in case of a conviction, and when it is necessary to abat…

§ 1204. Prosecutions The trustees of the Village and any informing or prosecuting officer of the Town or County of Bennington may prosecute for violations of the charter; or the ordinances, bylaws, and regulations of said Village.

§ 1301. Amendment and repeal This charter shall be subject to future legislation to alter, amend, or repeal.

§ 1302. [Transitional provisions related to approval of the charter and effective date]

§ 1401. Boundaries (a) All that portion of the Town of Bennington in the County of Bennington that is embraced within the following described limits, viz.: It being the same territory that on the 10th day of May, 1866, the Selectboard of Bennington, pursuant to law, set out as an…

§ 201. Authorization for the assessment and collection of property taxes The Village may, at an annual or special meeting warned for that purpose as provided in section 202 of this chapter, lay a tax upon the ratable estate within the same, whether of residents or nonresidents, f…

§ 202. Warning of annual and special meetings (a)(1) The annual meeting of the legal voters of the Village shall be held therein on the third Tuesday of March of each year at seven-thirty o’clock in the afternoon at the Village hall or at such place as the Board of Trustees shall…

§ 203. Elections at annual meetings (a) The Village shall, at every annual meeting elect a Moderator, Clerk, Treasurer, three auditors, and the number of trustees as are necessary to fill vacancies where terms of office have expired or a member has resigned, died, or been removed…

§ 204. Moderator Pro Tem In case the Moderator shall be absent from any meeting, that member of the Board of Trustees present at such meeting whose name shall have precedence on the list of trustees as recorded in the minutes of election of the then existing Board of Trustees, sh…

§ 301. Terms of office The term of office for all trustees shall be three years, staggered so that at least one trustee is elected at any annual meeting. The Moderator, Clerk, Treasurer, and auditors shall all serve a one-year term. The term of office of all the Village officers …

§ 302. Compensation of officers The compensation of the Clerk and Treasurer shall be fixed by the Village; the compensation of all other officers, servants, and employees of the Village shall be fixed by the Board of Trustees, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. (Amende…

§ 303. Board of Trustees; general authority (a) The Board of Trustees shall have the general care and management of the prudential interests and affairs of the Village; shall assess all taxes and make out a rate bill accordingly; shall direct the expenditure of all monies belongi…

§ 304. Clerk It shall be the duty of the Clerk to warn Village meetings and keep a record of all the proceedings of said Village; the Clerk shall also ex-officio be Clerk of the Board of Trustees and keep a record of its proceedings so far as the same are proper matter for record…

§ 305. Treasurer The Treasurer shall perform for the Village the same duties required by law respectively of a town treasurer and collector of town taxes and shall have the same powers, proceed in the same manner, be subject to the same liabilities, and give such bonds to the Vil…

§ 306. Auditors The auditors shall, previous to each annual Village meeting, examine and audit the accounts of the Village officers, but no account shall be allowed by such auditors without the production of proper vouchers therefor, and shall report to the Village at its annual …

§ 401. Election of Chair and appointments The Board of Trustees shall annually, at its first regular meeting, elect from its number a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. It shall also appoint a Chief and two assistant engineers of the Fire Department, and may appoint a Highway Supe…

§ 402. Meetings The Board of Trustees shall hold their first regular meeting within three days after the annual Village meeting; and shall hold such other regular meetings as the bylaws may provide.