§ 754 — Public hearings on proposed joint consolidation agreement

§ 754. Public hearings on proposed joint consolidation agreement. 1.\nThe governing body or bodies of the local government entities to be\nconsolidated shall set a time and place or places for one or more public\nhearings on the proposed joint consolidation agreement. The hearing or\nhearings shall be held no less than thirty-five days and no more than\nninety days after commencement of consolidation proceedings pursuant to\nsection seven hundred fifty-two of this title. The hearing or hearings\nmay be held jointly or separately by the governing body or bodies of the\nentities. Any interested person shall be given a reasonable opportunity\nto be heard on any aspect of the proposed consolidation.\n 2. The public hearing or hearings shall be held on notice of at least\nten days, but not more than twenty days, published in a newspaper or\nnewspapers having general circulation within each local government\nentity to be consolidated and displayed on a website maintained by each\nentity or otherwise on a website maintained by the village, town and/or\ncounty in which the entities are located. The notice of the hearing or\nhearings shall provide a descriptive summary of the proposed joint\nconsolidation agreement and a reference to the public place or places\nwithin the entities where a copy of such agreement may be examined.\n 3. After completion of the final hearing, the governing body or bodies\nof the local government entities to be consolidated may amend the\nproposed joint consolidation agreement, provided that the amended\nversion complies with the provisions of subdivision two of section seven\nhundred fifty-two of this title and is publicized pursuant to\nsubdivision four of this section, and/or approve a final version of the\njoint consolidation agreement, or decline to proceed further with\nconsolidation proceedings. Any approval by the entities' governing body\nor bodies of the final version of the joint consolidation agreement must\noccur within one hundred eighty days of such final hearing.\n 4. No later than five business days after amending the proposed joint\nconsolidation agreement, the governing body or bodies of the local\ngovernment entities to be consolidated shall:\n (a) cause a copy of the amended version of the proposed joint\nconsolidation agreement, along with a descriptive summary thereof, to be\ndisplayed and readily accessible to the public for inspection in a\npublic place or places within each entity; and\n (b) cause the amended version of the proposed joint consolidation\nagreement, along with a descriptive summary thereof and a reference to\nthe public place or places within each such entity where a copy thereof\nmay be examined, to be displayed on a website maintained by each entity\nor otherwise on a website maintained by the village, town and/or county\nin which the entities are located.\n