WELCOME
Welcome to a Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Madison. All
meetings of the Council are open to the public with the exception of Executive Work
Sessions, which are closed to members of the public in compliance with the Open Public
Meetings Act. Unless otherwise specified, Regular Meetings are held at 8 p.m. in the
Council Chamber of the Hartley Dodge Memorial, 2nd floor, on the second and
fourth Mondays of each month. Public Work Sessions are held at 7:00 p.m. in the Committee
Room of the Hartley Dodge Memorial, 2nd floor, on the second and fourth Mondays
of each month. The Annual Meeting Notice is
posted on the bulletin board at the main entrance to the Hartley Dodge Memorial.
Special meetings may be scheduled as needed and are advertised in the Madison Eagle and
posted on the bulletin board at the main entrance to the Hartley Dodge Memorial.
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Council will take action on those items listed on the
agenda, which has been approved
by the Mayor. The agenda is posted on the bulletin board outside the meeting room and
copies are made available to the public. Except as otherwise required by State Statutes or
specifically provided in the Borough Council Bylaws, all action of the Council shall be by
a majority vote of members present. The Mayor may vote in the case of a tie.
A quorum shall be as provided by the Revised Statutes of New Jersey: three (3) Council
members and the Mayor, and in the absence of the Mayor, four (4) Council members. If no
quorum shall be present at any meeting, those assembled shall have power and are
authorized to set a new meeting date and then adjourn.
Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the deliberations of the Council. The Mayor
presides over the deliberations of the Council, and is the Chair for the meeting. The
Council President assumes the Chair in the absence of the Mayor. The Mayor serves as the
liaison between the governing body and all boards, committees, agencies or organizations
except as assigned to a specific Council Member for liaison purposes.
Items listed on the agenda in which the public may participate are:
Public hearings
Invitation for Discussion on Resolutions
Invitation for Discussion
Manner of addressing the Council:
Upon recognition by the Chair, the person shall proceed to the lectern and give his/her
name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record. He/she shall limit his/her
statement to five (5) minutes.
Statements shall be addressed to the Council as a body
through the Chair, and not to any member thereof.
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The Borough Council conducts Public Work Sessions where no formal action may be taken.
These meetings are used to set the agenda for the Regular meeting.
The Mayor is the Chair for the Public Work Session. The Council President assumes the
Chair in the absence of the Mayor.
There is no open invitation to members of the public to speak at the Public Work
Session.
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HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNCIL
Local governments are "creatures of the State"; that is, they may be created,
altered or abolished only by State government. The Borough of Madison was incorporated in
December 1889. The Borough was created under the general Borough Act of 1878 out of the
Township of Chatham in the County of Morris. The petition to the Morris County Court of
Common Pleas was presented December 10, 1889, and on the same day, the Court issued an
order directing a special election to be held. The election was held December 24, 1889,
and resulted in incorporation of the Borough of Madison with a Mayor and Council as the
governing body effective December 27, 1889.
The Mayor is elected for a four-year term at the November general election and serves
part-time with no compensation.
The Borough Council is the legislative body. There are six Council Members elected for
staggered three-year terms. The staggered terms result in two Council terms to be filled
each November. The Council Members serve part-time with no compensation.
The Council’s powers include adopting all
ordinances and resolutions, reviewing,
revising and adopting the budget, making appropriations, levying taxes, authorizing bond
issues, providing for the internal structure of the local government, providing by
ordinance for the creation and abolition of jobs, fixing salaries, and establishing
general municipal policy, and such other powers as are granted by law.
The Council has the authority to initiate hearings for the purposes of gathering
information for ordinance making, airing public problems and supervising the spending of
its appropriations.
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ORDER OF BUSINESS
Copies of the agenda, as well as ordinances scheduled for public hearing, are available at the meeting and are posted on the bulletin board outside the Council Chamber. The agenda is
prepared, posted and made available to the public by the Borough Clerk.
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