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2026-52026-5 Resolution Adopting The Rules Of The Town Board At a Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, held at Town Hall, 20 Middlebush Road, Wappingers Falls, New York, on January 12, 2026. The meeting was called to order by Joseph D. Cavaccini, Town Supervisor, and upon roll being called, the following was recorded: ✓ Vote Record - Resolution RES -2026-5 Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent Q Adopted ❑ Adopted as Amended Joseph D. Cavaccini Voter Q ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Defeated William H. Beale Seconder Q El El ElElTabled Heather O'Dell Voter Q ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Withdrawn Christopher Phillips Voter Q ❑ ❑ ❑ Al Casella Mover Q ❑ ❑ ❑ The following Resolution was introduced by Casella and seconded by Councilman Beale. WHEREAS, the Town Board previously adopted a set of rules to ensure the orderly conduct of Town Board business, which rules were entitled "Rules of the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger"; and WHEREAS, the Rules of the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger were modified on January 8, 2024; now, therefore BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger hereby confirms and adopts the "Rules of the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger", a copy of which is attached hereto. The foregoing was put to a vote which resulted as follows: RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Al Casella, Councilman SECONDER: William H. Beale, Councilman AYES: Cavaccini, Beale, O'Dell, Phillips, Casella Dated: Wappingers Falls, New York 1/12/2026 The Resolution is hereby duly declared Adopted. Rules of the Town Board Town of Wappinger Dutchess County, New York Revised: January 8, 2024 Section 1. Regular Meetings of the Town Board 1.1 Regular Meetings of the Town Board shall be held on the second and fourth Monday of each month, unless changed by the Town Board at any Regular or Special Town Board Meeting. 1.1.1 The Annual Reorganization Meeting shall be scheduled by Resolution of the Town Board during the prior December. 1.1.2 Meetings scheduled for the second and fourth Monday of each month shall be held without prior written notice to the Board Members. 1.1.3 Meetings shall be posted by the Town Clerk on the Town Clerk's sign board and on the Town's website. 1.2 In the event that a Regular Meeting date falls on a legal holiday, as recognized by the State of New York, the Town Board shall reschedule the date of such Meeting either at the Town Board Reorganization Meeting or at any Regular or Special Meeting of the Town Board. 1.3 The time and place of a Regular Meeting date may be changed, or may be cancelled, by the affirmative vote of three (3) members of the Town Board. Cancellation of any Regular Meeting must occur at a duly constituted Board Meeting. Except for cause, there shall be at least one regular Town Board Meeting conducted each calendar month. The Supervisor may cancel any Regular or Special Meeting because of inclement weather conditions or other emergency. 1.4 A quorum of a Town Board shall consist of three (3) Board Members present. Section 2. Special Meetings 2.1 Special Meetings of the Town Board may be called by the Supervisor at any time upon two (2) days written notice by fax, email, or personal delivery, or, in case of emergency, by telephone. 2.2 The Supervisor may, and upon the written request of two (2) Members of the Town Board, the Supervisor must call a Special Meeting of the Town Board, F:\Policies\Rules\Rules 01-08-24 - Clean Version.doc within ten (10) days of receipt of such request, and upon at least two (2) days notice in writing to the Members of the Town Board specifying the date, time when and the place where the Meeting is to be held. 2.3 The Notice of Special Meeting shall specify the date, time and place for the Special Meeting as well as a list of the items to be discussed at such Special Meeting no later than forty-eight (48) hours prior to such meeting by fax, email or personal delivery. The Affidavit of service or delivery shall be made by the person so delivering the notice or making the telephone call. 2.4 Except in the case of an emergency, notice of a Special Meeting shall be made by regular mail, email, fax or personal delivery to each of the Board Members addressed or delivered to the Board Member's regular place of residence. In the case of an emergency, the notice may be made by telephone call. An Affidavit of mailing, delivery or call by the Town Clerk or his/her duly constituted Deputy shall be presumptive evidence that such notice was duly served upon the Board Members. 2.4.1 An Affidavit of personal service of the notice shall be filed with the Town Clerk at least four (4) hours prior to the Special Meeting and will be deemed duly sufficient proof of service. The Affidavit of personal service shall be made by the person so delivering the notice or making the telephone call. 2.5 Any Town Board Member may name one or more designees to receive notice of a Special Meeting, either by fax, email, personal service or regular mail or telephone call. The name(s) and address(es) of such designee(s) must be submitted in writing to the Town Clerk. If no designee has been named, then notices of a Special Meeting must be served only upon the Town Board Member, as herein provided. 2.6 A Special Meeting cannot be held until each Town Board Member has been duly served with a notice of such Special Meeting as provided in these rules or the Town Board Member(s) has executed a Waiver of Notice for such Special Meeting. Section 3. SUnervisor: Powers and Duties 3.1 The Supervisor shall be the Presiding Officer at each Meeting of the Town Board. In the event the Supervisor shall fail to appear at the time fixed for such Town Board Meeting, the Deputy Supervisor, or in his/her absence, the Town Clerk, shall call the Meeting to order. In the absence of both the Supervisor and the Deputy Supervisor, the Town Board Members shall then select a Member of the Town Board to act as Presiding Officer for said Meeting by a vote of at least three (3) Members of the Board. If the Supervisor or Deputy Supervisor shall arrive after such Meeting has been 2 F:\Policies\Rules\Rules 01-08-24 - Clean Version.doc commenced, he/ she shall immediately assume the duties of Presiding Officer of the Meeting. 3.2 The Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor or Town Clerk shall determine the presence or absence of a quorum of the Town Board. In the event that a quorum is lacking, the person presiding over said Meeting shall adjourn the Meeting until the next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting or duly called Special Meeting. Section 4. Public Comment 4.1 The members of the public may make statements and/ or comments concerning any item contained on the printed agenda for any Regular or Special Town Board Meeting. Such comments shall be limited to two (2) minutes per member of the public. The Town Board, by motion, may defer any agenda item to the end of the Meeting for further discussion and public comment 4.2 Other than items for which a Public Hearing was conducted, upon the affirmative vote of three (3) members of the Town Board, the Rules may be suspended to permit further comment by the public prior to vote by the Town Board. Section 5. Meeting Agenda 5.1 While an agenda is not a New York State requirement, the Agenda shall be prepared jointly by the Supervisor and the Town Clerk. The Town Clerk will be solely responsible for assembling the agenda in the existing software available to the Town Clerks office. Only Town Board members can place items on the agenda and agree to have their name indicated as a Town Board member sponsor. Any Town Board Member, Town Justices, the Town Highway Superintendent, Engineer to the Town or the Attorney to the Town may request an item to be placed on the Agenda via request to a Town Board member. The Town Clerk shall place the following items on the Agenda, by notification to the Supervisor: all legal process, legal notices, Notices of Claim and all litigation served upon the Town, and all communications to the Town Board via the correspondence log. 5.2 Except in the case of an emergency, the Agenda of a Regular Town Board Meeting shall be closed at 4:00 p.m. five (5) calendar days prior to the date of such Regular Meeting. The Supervisor, at his or her discretion, may extend the close of the Agenda to be the following day. PDF files will be emailed at the close of the following day. For example, for a Monday evening meeting the agenda will close at 4PM on the preceding Wednesday with PDF files emailed at 4PM on Thursday. F:\Policies\Rules\Rules 01-08-24 - Clean Version.doc 5.3 Except in the case of an emergency, items may be added to the Agenda of any Regular Meeting after the close of the Agenda provided such items are listed as "Items Proposed For Special Consideration". Such items shall require the affirmative for three (3) Members of the Town Board to open the item for discussion and the affirmative vote of three (3 Members to take possible action, otherwise such items will be placed on the Agenda for the next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting. 5.4 Except in the case of an emergency, the Agenda for a Special Board Meeting shall be closed at 1:00 p.m. two (2) days prior to the date of such Special Board Meeting. 5.5 Except in the case of an emergency, items may be added to the Agenda of any Board Meeting after the close of the Agenda provided that such Agenda items are listed as "Items for Discussion". Such items shall require the affirmative for three (5) Members of the Town Board to open the item for discussion and the affirmative vote of three (3 Members to take possible action, otherwise such items will be placed on the Agenda for the next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting. Any Item can be removed from the agenda by a simple majority of 3 votes. 5.6 No items shall be placed on the Agenda or considered by the Town Board unless documentation relating to the Agenda item has been delivered to the Town Clerk no later than 4:00 p.m. on the date that the Agenda closed. 5.7 Notwithstanding the foregoing, Notice of Claims or any legal process served on the Town or any of the Town's employees may be added to the Agenda of any Meeting at any time up to the commencement of the scheduled Meeting. Section 6. Administrative Assistance 6.1 Should any Town Board Member so request, administrative assistance shall be made available to him or her through the Office of the Supervisor. Such administrative assistance shall only be for official Town Business. Section 7. Order of Business 7.1 The Regular Order of Business for all Regular or Special Town Board Meetings shall be as follows: • Call to order • Roll Call • Salute to the Flag • Receipt and approval of Minutes • Public Hearings 11 F:\Policies\Rules\Rules 01-08-24 - Clean Version.doc • Public comment on Agenda items with a two (2) minute time limit per person • Agenda Items: o Schedule of Performance and Maintenance Bonds o Committee or Department Head Reports (if any) o Items for Discussion o Adoption of Resolutions • New Business • Executive Session, if needed • Adj ournment 7.2 No later than 4:00 p.m. four (4) days prior to the scheduled Regular or Special Town Board Meeting, the Town Clerk shall email, or forward via fax, copies of the Agenda, together with documentation for all submitted agenda items. In the event the Supervisor extends the close of the Agenda as per paragraph 5.2, the Town Clerk shall email or fax any supporting documentation before the close of the business day. 7.2.1 In the case of an emergency Special Town Board Meeting conducted on less than seven (7) day's notice, the Town Clerk shall provide copies of the Agenda together with supporting documentation as soon as possible but at least twenty-four (24) hours before such Special Board Meeting by fax, email or personal delivery. 7.3 The Supervisor, or in her/ his absence, the Deputy Supervisor, or, in their absence, the Town Clerk, may with the consent of the majority of the Board Members present change the order of the Agenda during any Meeting of the Board. 7.4 Upon the affirmative vote of three (3) members of the Town Board, new items may be added to the Agenda during any Regular or Special Town Board Meeting for discussion only. No action may be taken on such items without the affirmative vote of three (34 Town Board Members. After the Agenda has been prepared, new items may be added during any Regular or Special Town Board Meeting; such new items shall be designated as "Items for Discussion". No action may be taken without the affirmative vote of three (34 Town Board Members, otherwise the item will be placed on the next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting. 7.5 No Board vote shall be required to place items on the Agenda for Notices of Claims or for legal process which have been served upon the Town or its employees and received after the Agenda has been printed. The Town Clerk shall notify the Board during the Board Meeting of the receipt of such claims or legal process which shall then be forwarded to the Attorney to the Town for appropriate action. F:\Policies\Rules\Rules 01-08-24 - Clean Version.doc Section 8. Rules of Order 1 All Regular and Special Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Town Law, and, except where inconsistent with Town Law, shall be governed by the latest edition of the Roberts Rules of Order. 8.2 The affirmative vote of three (3) members of the constituted Town Board voting at any Meeting shall be required to adopt any action, motion or resolution, except in those instances where New York State Law or these rules of procedure require a greater affirmative vote. 8.3 These rules may be amended or rescinded by the affirmative vote of three (3) Members of the Town Board, on two (2) weeks notice to the Board Members. 8.4 These rules shall remain in effect until new rules are adopted by the new Town Board. 8.5 Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the rules of debate on any topic and shall be strictly followed. 8.6 A motion to adjourn may be made by any Member who shall have been recognized by the Supervisor or, in his/ her absence, the Deputy Supervisor or, in their absence, the Town Clerk. Such a motion shall not be recognized during a roll call or while the board is engaging in voting. A motion to adjourn shall be decided without debate. Unless excused, Members shall not leave a Meeting until the Supervisor or, in his/ her absence, the Deputy Supervisor or, in their absence, the Town Clerk shall announce that the Meeting is adjourned. 8.7 The vote upon every question shall be taken by ayes and nays, and the names of the Board Members present and their votes shall be entered in the Minutes. The Board Members shall vote first, in the order of wards, and the Supervisor shall vote last. Abstention from voting may only be invoked for conflicts of interest with reasons for the abstention placed on the record. An abstention is equivalent to a no vote. Section 9. Deputy Supervisor 9.1 Upon request of the Supervisor, or in the absence or incapacity of the Supervisor, or whenever a vacancy exists in the Office of the Supervisor, the Deputy Supervisor shall have all the powers set forth in Town Law and the Deputy Supervisor shall act in the place and stead of the Supervisor. I F:\Policies\Rules\Rules 01-08-24 - Clean Version.doc F:\Policies\Rules\Rules 01-08-24 - Clean Version.doc