Section 3. The council shall make and promulgate rules and regulations, take evidence in appeals, consider plans and appointments required by law, hold hearings, and discharge other duties required by law; but it shall have no administrative or executive functions. Hearings of the department may be held by the commissioner, or his designee or the hearings officer if so authorized by the commissioner, or by the hearings officer as provided in section seventy-one with respect to a refusal to renew or revocation of a license of a convalescent or nursing home, rest home or charitable home for the aged. The secretary of elder affairs or his designee may intervene on behalf of a resident or residents or the owner or administrator of a convalescent or nursing home, rest home, infirmary maintained in a town, or a charitable home for the aged in any proceedings before the council.