TOWN OF PORT DEPOSIT RESOLUTION 04-2017 A Resolution of the Mayor and Council of the Town of Port Deposit, Cecil County, Maryland titled: CHARTER AMENDMENT REVISIONS TO ARTICLE V, SECTION 503, ENFORCEMENT OF ORDINANCES WHEREAS, the Mayor and Town Council seek to amend the Charter of the Town of Port Deposit in order to promote more efficient and effective governance within the Town s incorporated boundaries NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Council of the Town of Port Deposit as permitted under Article XI-E of the Constitution of Maryland and Article 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended form time to time, that the provisions of the Charter of the Town of Port Deposit, Article V, Section 503, Enforcement of Ordinances as they now exist are amended as follows, with eliminated content in [brackets] and added content in bold UPPECASE. Section 503. Enforcement of Ordinances. a. Misdemeanors To ensure the observance of the Ordinances of the Town, the Council shall have the power to provide that a violation thereof shall be a misdemeanor, unless otherwise specified as an infraction and shall have the power to affix thereto penalties of a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months, or both such fine or imprisonment. Any Page 1 of 5
person subject to any fine, forfeiture, or penalty by virtue of any ordinance passed under the authority of this Charter shall have the right to appeal within thirty (30) days to the Circuit Court for Cecil County in which the fine, forfeiture, or penalty was imposed. The Council may provide that, where the violation is of a continuing nature and is persisted in, a conviction for one violation shall not be [barred] A BAR to a conviction for a continuation of the offense subsequent to the first or any succeeding conviction. b. Municipal Infractions To ensure the observance of the Ordinances of the Town, the Council shall have the power to provide that violations of any Municipal Ordinance shall be a municipal infraction unless the violation is declared to be a felony or misdemeanor by Law or Ordinance. In addition, the Council may classify as a municipal infraction: (a) a violation of any zoning or land use ordinance or regulation authorized to be adopted or enacted by that municipality, and (b) littering within the municipality, as provided under [Article 27, Section 468] THE CRIMINAL LAW ARTICLE 10-110 of the Code. Any violation deemed a municipal infraction shall be a civil offense. (1) Fines For each Ordinance, the violation of which the Council declares to be a municipal infraction, a specific fine shall be set. This fine shall never exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for any single violation. The fine shall be expressed at a specific amount rather than being expressed in terms of a maximum or minimum amount. The authority to declare infractions and set fines shall not be delegated by the Council to any other administrative or legislative body. Page 2 of 5
(2) Issuance of Citation Those officials authorized by the Council may deliver a citation to any person whom they adjudge to be committing a municipal infraction. A copy of the citation shall be retained by the issuing authority and bear his certification attesting to the truth of the matter therein set forth. The citation shall also contain (I) name and address of the person charged, (II) the nature of the infraction, (III) the location and time that the infraction occurred, (IV) the amount of the infraction fine assessed, (V) the manner, location, and time at which the fine may be paid to the municipality, (VI) the person's right to elect to stand trial for the infraction, AND NOTICE OF THE EFFECT OF FAILING TO PAY THE FINE OR DEMAND A TRIAL WITHIN THE REQUIRED TIME. RES. NO. 4-2017 That the aforestated Section, as revised and attached hereto and incorporated by reference is hereby adopted as the new Section 503 to Article V. BE IT HEREBY FURTHER RESOLVED, that the effective date of the adoption of this resolution is February 7, 2017; and the amendment of the Charter of the Town of Port Deposit hereby enacted shall become effective on March 29, 2017, unless a proper petition for referendum hereon shall be filed as permitted by Article 23A, Section 13 of the Annotated Code of Maryland,, provided a complete and exact copy of this Resolution shall be continuously posted on the bulletin Board in the Town Office until March 19, 2017 and provided a copy of the title of this Resolution and a fair summary of the Charter Amendment shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipal corporation once a week for four weeks on February 23, 2017, March 2, 2017, March 9, 2017 and March 16, 2017. Page 3 of 5
BE IT HEREBY FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Administrator is hereby specifically instructed to carry out the provisions of this resolution; and as evidence of such compliance, the Town Administrator shall cause to be maintained appropriate certificates of publication of the newspaper in which the title of the Resolution and the fair summary of the Charter Amendment shall have been published. If a favorable referendum is held on the Charter Amendment, the Mayor and Council shall proclaim the Charter Amendment hereby enacted to be approved by the voters; and the Charter Amendment shall become effective on the date provided by law. BE IT HEREBY FURTHER RESOLVED, that within ten (10) days of this Charter Amendment becoming effective, either as provided herein or following a referendum, the Town Administrator shall send by registered mail to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services a certified copy of this Resolution showing the number of Councilmembers voting for and against it and a report on the votes cast for and against the Amendment hereby enacted at any referendum thereon and the date of such referendum vote. The above Charter Amendment was enacted by the foregoing Resolution which was passed at a regular meeting of the Mayor and Council of the Town of Port Deposit on February 7, 2017, members of the Town Council voting in affirmation, members of the Town Council voting in the negative, members of the Town Council abstaining, and members of the Town Council absent; and the said Resolution becomes effective in accordance with the law on the 29 th day of March, 2017. ADOPTED this day of, 2017 SIGNATURES ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE Page 4 of 5
MAYOR AND COUNCIL of the TOWN of PORT DEPOSIT, MARYLAND Wayne L. Tome, Sr., Mayor Kevin Brown, Council John Leeds, Deputy Mayor John Haines, Council Thomas Knight, Council ATTEST: Charles Herring, Esquire Robert A. Kuhs, Council Kate Rodgers, Council Page 5 of 5