Whenever a question is before Council or under debate, the following motions shall be ranked in the following order:
(a) To Adjourn. The motion to adjourn shall always be in order, except when Council is engaged in voting. It shall be decided by a majority vote without debate.
(b) To Recess. A recess may be called at any time by the Presiding Officer, by general consent, or by motion by any member of Council. This motion is not debatable and can have no other motion applied to it except to amend as to the length of the recess. This motion shall require a majority vote of Council.
(c) To Lay on the Table. A motion to lay on the table is not debatable or amendable and requires a majority vote to adopt. This motion shall only be used to lay a question aside temporarily at the same meeting.
(d) To Close Debate. A motion to close debate is also known as a motion to move the previous question. When any member moves to close debate and the motion is carried by a two-thirds vote, there shall be no further amendment or debate. Pending amendments shall be voted in reverse order before voting on the main question. If less than two-thirds vote to close debate, the main question and any amendments are open for further discussion.
(e) To Limit or Extend Debate.
(1) Council debate time is limited by Section 220.12(b). To extend such time requires a motion and a two-thirds vote.
(2) To limit the total debate time on a question requires a motion and a two-thirds vote.
(3) Both procedures are amendable with limited debate.
(f) To Postpone to a Certain Time or Meeting. This motion shall be used to postpone legislative action until the next or a subsequent meeting, or until after a certain report or event (which items may be amended). The postponement shall require a majority vote.
(g) To Refer to a Committee.
(1) The object of this motion is to refer a matter to either a standing committee or a special committee of Council to enable the question to be more carefully studied and investigated and thereby rendered more clarified for Council to consider.
(2) This motion is debatable and amendable. It requires a majority vote to adopt. It may be reconsidered unless the committee has begun consideration of the question referred to it.
(3) A motion to refer may be made by any member of Council, or the Presiding Officer may, by general consent, refer any question to committee.
(h) To Amend.
(1) It shall be in order to amend an ordinance at any time, but if substantially amended upon the third reading, the reading shall be postponed to the next meeting or referred to a committee for further study and Council's final action.
(2) An amendment to any question may be in any of the following forms:
A. To insert or add at the end;
B. To strike out; or
C. To substitute.
(Ord. 61-02. Passed 3-11-02.)