Allows the municipal volunteer fire department of the village of Fishkill to hold its annual meeting and election of company and chief officers in December of each year.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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5366--B
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 20, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LALOR -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Local Governments -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again
reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the village law, in relation to allowing the municipal
volunteer fire department of the village of Fishkill to hold its annu-
al meeting and election of company and chief officers in December of
each year
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 10-1010 of the village law, as amended by chapter
2 719 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 10-1010 Election of company officers and delegates. Each of the
4 several companies whose members constitute the fire department of the
5 village shall hold an annual meeting on the first Tuesday in April in
6 each year, except those fire companies constituting the fire department
7 of the village of Fishkill, Dutchess county, which shall hold such annu-
8 al meetings on the first Tuesday in December of each year. At such meet-
9 ing the members of each company shall elect by ballot from their own
10 number a captain and a lieutenant, and such further officers if any as
11 may be provided for in the by-laws of the company, who must be approved
12 by the board of fire commissioners, one warden and one delegate to the
13 general convention of the fire department. The terms of office of the
14 captain and lieutenant and such further officers if any, as are elected
15 as herein provided, shall be one year, the wardens two years, and the
16 delegates three years, respectively, and any vacancies occurring in any
17 such offices shall be filled by election in like manner. At the first
18 annual meeting after this act takes effect two wardens and three deleg-
19 ates shall be elected, the wardens to serve for one and two years,
20 respectively, and the delegates for one, two and three years, respec-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00778-06-5
A. 5366--B 2
1 tively. Any person who has been convicted of arson in any degree shall
2 not be eligible for election to the office of captain, lieutenant, ward-
3 en, delegate and any other offices provided for in the by-laws of the
4 company. Any captain, lieutenant, warden, delegate or other officer of
5 the company who is convicted of arson in any degree during his term of
6 office shall be disqualified from completing such term of office.
7 § 2. Section 10-1012 of the village law, as amended by chapter 88 of
8 the laws of 1980, the opening paragraph as amended by chapter 719 of the
9 laws of 1985, and the second undesignated paragraph as amended by chap-
10 ter 433 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
11 § 10-1012 Chief and assistant chiefs. 1. The chief and the first and
12 second assistant chiefs and such additional assistant chiefs, if any, as
13 may be provided for in the by-laws of the fire department shall each be
14 a member thereof and a resident of the state of New York. In addition,
15 the board of trustees, or the board of fire commissioners subject to the
16 approval of the board of trustees, may, by resolution, require that any
17 or all of such fire department officers shall be residents of the
18 village. The delegates elected to the general convention of the fire
19 department shall meet at the council room thereof on the Thursday
20 following the first Tuesday in April, except the elected delegates of
21 the fire department of the village of Fishkill, Dutchess county, which
22 shall meet on the first Tuesday in December, and nominate a person for
23 each of such offices; but the fire commissioners of any village may
24 adopt a rule requiring all such nominations to be made on [that day] the
25 day of the meeting by a vote of the duly qualified members of the
26 department, in which case the meeting of the delegates in general
27 convention, as provided for in this section, shall be dispensed with.
28 The person acting as secretary of such convention shall forthwith file
29 in the office of the village clerk a certificate of such nominations.
30 The board of fire commissioners at its next meeting shall consider the
31 nominations and appoint such persons to the offices to which they are
32 respectively nominated or, if a nomination is not approved the board
33 shall reconvene the general convention, which shall submit a new nomi-
34 nation to take the place of any nomination not approved, which procedure
35 shall continue until a full set of officers is approved. A person who
36 has been convicted of arson in any degree shall not be eligible for
37 nomination, election or appointment to the office of chief or assistant
38 chief. Any fire chief or assistant chief who is convicted of arson in
39 any degree during his term of office shall be disqualified from complet-
40 ing such term of office.
41 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law
42 inconsistent herewith any such chief or assistant chief of a village
43 fire department need not be a resident of the village in order to serve
44 as a member of the council of the fire department of the village pursu-
45 ant to section 10-1014 of this article unless the board of trustees, or
46 the board of fire commissioners subject to the approval of the board of
47 trustees, has, by resolution, as provided in this section, required that
48 any or all of such fire department officers shall be residents of the
49 village. Except as otherwise provided pursuant to this [paragraph]
50 subdivision, a person shall not hold the office of village mayor or
51 village trustee and the office of chief or assistant chief of a village
52 fire department at the same time. A village trustee who does not, either
53 as an individual or as a member of a board, appoint or approve the
54 appointment of the chief or assistant chief of a village fire depart-
55 ment, may hold the office of chief or assistant chief at the same time.
56 Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, a person who is the
A. 5366--B 3
1 chief or an assistant chief of a village fire department, if he is
2 otherwise qualified, may be elected to the office of village mayor or
3 village trustee or may be appointed to the office of village mayor or
4 village trustee to fill a vacancy and, if he is so elected or appointed,
5 his office as chief or assistant chief, as the case may be, shall become
6 vacant upon his taking his oath of office as village mayor or village
7 trustee.
8 § 3. Section 10-1014 of the village law, as amended by chapter 894 of
9 the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:
10 § 10-1014 Council of fire department. In a village in which separate
11 fire commissioners are not appointed, the chief, the assistant, and the
12 wardens of the several companies constitute the council of the fire
13 department. The council shall meet on the third Tuesday in April in each
14 year, except for the council of the fire department of the village of
15 Fishkill, Dutchess county, which shall meet on the first Tuesday of
16 December, and choose from its own number a secretary, a treasurer and a
17 collector of the fire department, who shall hold their respective
18 offices for one year unless sooner removed by the council. A vacancy in
19 the office of secretary, treasurer or collector shall be filled by the
20 council at its next meeting for the balance of the unexpired term. Such
21 council shall have all the powers and be subject to all the liabilities
22 and perform all the duties of a separate board of fire commissioners, as
23 prescribed in section 10-1000 of this article, except subdivisions two,
24 three, four and eight and the fixing of compensation under subdivisions
25 five and seven of such section, and as to the provisions of such subdi-
26 visions such council shall only recommend to the board of trustees of
27 the village. A majority of the members of such council constitute a
28 quorum, and may make and prescribe by-laws for the proper management of
29 the affairs and the disposition of the funds of the fire department, may
30 call meetings of the members, and designate one or more days in each
31 year for public exercise, inspection and review.
32 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
