Article 178
CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEES*

Sections:

178.01  Citizens advisory committee.

178.02  Beautification committee.

178.03  Special study committees.

178.04  Memorial tree fund.

178.05  Repealer.

*The city council of the City of Meadville shall be served and assisted in its policy-making role by the citizen committees of this article.

178.01 Citizens advisory committee.

(A) Composition. The citizens advisory committee shall be a standing committee consisting of nine members appointed by city council. Members shall serve terms of three years. Terms shall be staggered so that three members are appointed February 15th each year. All members shall be residents of the City of Meadville. The committee shall elect a chairman and a recording secretary and may divide itself into such subcommittees as it deems necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs.

(B) Purpose. The purpose of the citizens advisory committee is to provide citizen participation in general or specific matters concerning city government including those specifically herein stated and others which may be from time to time specially assigned for committee study and report by action of the city council.

(C) Areas of Continuing Responsibility. The citizens advisory committee shall be specifically charged with the continuing duty to study and report upon:

(1) Grants. Any and all applications or proposals for the use of state or federal funds for community development purposes; and

(2) Human Relations. The status and development of human relations matters within the city including but not limited to fair and adequate housing practices, impartial enforcement of city ordinances and regulations, and equal employment opportunities for all citizens.

(D) Council Assignments. In addition to the areas of continuing responsibility set forth above, the city council may by motion from time to time assign specific projects to the citizens advisory committee.

(E) Committee Initiative. If the committee at any time desires to study and to report upon any matter not specifically charged to as by the terms of this section, it may specifically request the assignment of such project by the city council. Council’s decision upon such requests shall be determinative of the committee’s authority to pursue the subject matter.

(F) Reports. The committee shall make the following written reports of its activities to the city council. Reports shall be presented at public council meetings by a member of the committee.

(1) An annual report outlining all work of the committee during the previous year.

(2) Special reports detailing the results of the committee’s study of each project undertaken.

(G) Staff. The citizens advisory committee shall be assisted in its work by the city administration to the extent that the city manager determines such assistance to be available under staffing conditions from time to time existing.

178.02 Beautification committee.

(A) Composition. The beautification committee shall be a standing committee consisting of up to 15 members appointed by the city council in March of each year. Members serving on the committee on the date of the adoption of the ordinance codified in this section shall serve until the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section. Appointments shall be made after consideration of a slate of proposed candidates submitted during February of each year by those members of the beautification committee in office on February 1st of each year beginning in 2006. Appointments shall not be limited by any slate proposed by the committee. The city council may also add members to the committee up to the maximum compliment established in this section from time to time throughout the year. All members shall serve until new members are appointed in March of the year following the year in which they are appointed. All members shall be residents of the City of Meadville. The committee shall elect a chairman and a recording secretary and may divide itself into such subcommittees as it deems necessary for the conduct of its affairs.

(B) Purpose. The beautification committee shall assist the council in the advancement of aesthetic concerns within the city.

(C) Council Assignments. The city council may by motion from time to time assign specific projects to the beautification committee.

(D) Committee Initiative. If the committee at any time desires to study and to report upon any matter not specifically charged by the terms of this section, it may specifically request the assignment of such project by the city council. Council’s decision upon such requests shall be determinative of the committee’s authority to pursue the subject matter.

(E) Auxiliary Members. The committee may be assisted in its work by any interested resident of the City of Meadville. Such persons shall be nonvoting auxiliary members of the committee. A listing of all persons serving in such capacity shall be given to the city council as part of the beautification committee’s annual report.

(F) Reports. The committee shall make written special reports detailing the results of the committee’s study of each project undertaken. Reports shall be presented at public council meetings by a member of the committee.

(G) Staff. The beautification committee shall be assisted in its work by the city administration to the extent that the city manager determines such assistance to be available under staffing conditions from time to time existing. (Ord. 3634 § 1, 2006; Ord. 3402 §§ 1, 2, 1995)

178.03 Special study committees.

(A) Authority. The city council may from time to time appoint special citizen study committees to consider and report upon specific matters requiring specialized expertise and analysis.

(B) Procedure. Such committees shall be created by resolution of city council. All such resolutions shall specify:

(1) The project to be studied;

(2) The membership of the committee;

(3) The nature of the report desired.

(C) Termination. Each special study committee shall terminate and be discharged upon the filing of the committee’s final report under the terms of the resolution which created the committee. (Ord. 2975, 1979)

178.04 Memorial tree fund.

(A) There is hereby created among the accounts of the City of Meadville, a special trust fund account to be known and denominated as the City of Meadville memorial tree fund.

(B) It shall be the purpose of the City of Meadville memorial tree fund to accept contributions from the public at large and to employ the sums so accumulated therein, together with any income earned thereupon, for the placement and maintenance of flowering trees in and along the public ways of the City of Meadville.

(C) The City of Meadville memorial tree fund shall be administered by a board of four trustees, one of whom shall be the finance director of the City of Meadville, one of whom shall be the superintendent of the parks department of the City of Meadville, one of whom shall be the chairman of the shade tree commission, and one of whom shall be the chairman of the beautification subcommittee of the citizens advisory council. All actions of the trustees shall be by unanimous vote. No tree shall be placed by the trustees without the prior approval, by simple majority vote, of the shade tree commission of the City of Meadville. It is the intent of the city council of the City of Meadville that the trustees give preference to the use of flowering trees wherever such use is, in the opinion of the trustees, feasible.

(D) A memorial book shall be purchased from the fund in which the names of persons in whose memory contributions to the fund are made shall be inscribed. The memorial book shall be held for public display at the Meadville Municipal Building at a place to be designated by the city manager of the City of Meadville.

(E) If, at any time, continued maintenance of the fund hereby created becomes, in the opinion of the city council of the City of Meadville, impractical, the city council by resolution may dissolve the fund and direct that the proceeds therefrom be paid directly to the shade tree commission of the City of Meadville for the general purposes of said commission. (Ord. 2919, 1977)

178.05 Repealer.

All resolutions or motions of the city council of the City of Meadville creating citizen advisory committees or organizations of any nature are hereby repealed. Nothing in this section or in this article shall affect the continuation of any operating commission, committee, board or authority created by ordinance of the city council pursuant to specific authority granted by the Pennsylvania Third Class City Code. (Ord. 2975, 1979)