ST. GEORGE — The municipal officers for the Town of St. George will hold a public hearing to consider placing the following amendments to the Town Charter on a referendum ballot for the May 9 municipal election. 

The hearing will be held Monday, March 14 at 7 pm at the Town Office on School Street. 

The five proposed amendments are as follows: 

An amendment concerning the Appointment of Town Officials

Section 203.3 Powers and Duties of the Town Manager

The Town Manager shall:
 
4. Appoint, subject to confirmation by the Select Board, supervise and control the heads of departments under the control of the Select Board; and, unless otherwise provided by a Town of St. George ordinance, appoint, supervise and control all other Town of St. George administration officials, except that he/she may delegate this authority to a department head for officials in that department. The Town Manager shall report all appointments to the Select Board.

An amendment relating to Vacancies on the School Board

Article 204 Administrative Organization

Section 204.3 School Administration

1. The St. George Municipal School Unit shall be constituted, governed and perform such duties as required by law, this charter and the School Administrative Ordinance of the Town of St. George.

2. In case of vacancy on the School Committee caused by forfeiture of office, death, resignation, removal from the Town, removal from office or for any other reason, the Select Board shall call a special election to fill the vacancy in accordance with the provisions of Article 302 of this Charter and Title 30-A, Section 2528 of the Maine Revised Statutes.

3. A member of the School Committee may be recalled using the procedures set forth in Section 201.5.2 of this Charter.

An amendment concerning Quorum and Voting by the Select Board

ARTICLE 201 Select Board

Section 201.6 Procedures

3. Voting: Actions of the Select Board shall be binding and valid when adopted by a majority vote when a quorum is present. A quorum is a simple majority of the full Board. If the Board has in effect a policy for remote participation in public proceedings, any member who participates by remote means in compliance with the policy shall be deemed to be present for purposes of determining a quorum. The Board Chairperson may choose to vote, not vote or abstain in Board affairs except that in the event of a tie he/she shall vote to break the tie. This provision shall apply to all Board matters including emergency ordinances under Section 303.6.

An amendment concerning Quorum and Voting on Boards and Committees

Article 202 Town Boards and Committees

Section 202.1 General Procedures

4. Meetings:

a. A meeting of a Board or Committee may be convened only if a quorum is present. A quorum shall be a majority of the total membership, including alternates if any. If a Board or Committee has in effect a policy for remote participation in public proceedings, any member who participates by remote means in compliance with the policy shall be deemed to be present for purposes of determining a quorum.

b. All motions shall require for passage a majority of the votes cast at a meeting at which a quorum is present. A tie vote will constitute a failure of the motion.

An Amendment concerning Conflict of Interest on Boards and Committees

Article 202 Town Boards and Committees

Section 202.1 General Procedures

c. A member shall abstain from voting on any particular matter where there is a conflict of interest or a possible appearance thereof. Any question of whether a member shall be disqualified from voting on a particular matter shall be decided by a majority of the votes cast by members present and voting. The member who is being challenged shall not participate in the vote.