Rules of Procedure of the City Commission are hereby established as follows:
I.
Regular meetings of the City Commission shall be held at the City Commission Chambers, City Hall, at 7:00 p.m., on the first and third Tuesday of each month. However, the Commission may, by resolution, establish such other days and times for regular meetings of the Commission; reschedule any regular meeting; or amend its schedule of meetings. Should a regular meeting fall on a legal holiday, such meeting shall be held at a date and time as may be determined by the Commission. All meetings, except as provided for in Rule XVI, shall be open to the public and shall be held at a place available to the general public.
The Mayor or any three Commissioners in the absence of the Mayor, after consultation with the City Manager, may cancel a meeting due to a demonstrable emergency, which shall be defined as an unforeseen combination of circumstances that calls for immediate action. The notice of cancellation of the meeting shall include the date and time for the rescheduled meeting unless not reasonably practical to do at that time, in which case the date of the rescheduled meeting must be issued within three days after the cancellation.
II.
A. Special meetings of the Commission may be called by the Mayor, Manager or any three Commissioners in accordance with the procedure set forth herein. The person or persons calling such special meeting shall execute and file with the City Clerk a written request for such special meeting, setting forth the date and time and the business to be brought before such special meeting. Upon receipt of such request, the City Clerk or Deputy Clerk shall prepare and sign a written notice of special meeting, setting forth the time and date of such meeting and the business to be considered at such meeting. The Clerk shall cause a copy of such notice to be delivered personally to each member of the City Commission, left at their place of residence, or delivered by electronic mail at least eighteen hours before the time of such meeting. The Clerk shall execute or cause to be executed and shall file an affidavit setting forth the time and place that notice was given to each member of the Commission, and a copy of the notice that was given shall be attached to the affidavit, which affidavit shall be a part of the proceedings of all special meetings. Any special meeting of the Commission shall be a legal meeting regardless of the requirements set forth herein as to notice, when all members of the Commission are present, and any business may be transacted at such special meeting where all members are present. Members of the Commission may waive the notice of special meeting required herein by signing and filing with the Clerk such waiver, which may be in the form of a telegram, at any time within five days, either before or after the date of such special meeting, and such waivers shall be a part of the proceedings of any special meeting. Unless waivers of a special meeting are filed in accordance with this rule or all members of the Commission are present at such special meeting, no business shall be transacted at any special meeting of the Commission unless the nature of the same has been specifically stated in the notice of special meeting and notice of such meeting has been given as herein required.
B. City Commission “workshops” or “work sessions” are intended to provide opportunities for commissioners and staff to study difficult issues, gather and analyze information, and clarify problems. Workshops focus on a single topic while work sessions cover more than one topic. Although no votes for official actions take place at workshops or work sessions, and they are not a "public meeting" subject to the Open Meetings Act (OMA), public notice of the meetings must be made in accordance with the OMA and an opportunity for public comment must be afforded, consistent with the OMA. Because they are not a "public meeting," they may be held virtually so long as they are also live streamed on one of the City’s social media websites. Except for the biennial ethics workshop provided for in below Section 212.05(b)(16)(A), workshops and work sessions may only be set by the Mayor or the City Manager and may only be cancelled by the person setting the particular workshop or work session. A workshop or work session shall not be considered a “special meeting” as is used in the City Charter or ordinances.
III.
A. Every Commissioner present, including the Mayor, when a question is stated or vote is called for on any resolution, motion, question or ordinance shall vote "Yes" or "No" thereon, unless excused by the unanimous consent of the remaining Commissioners, or unless the member is pecuniarily interested, in which latter case the member shall not vote. The vote on all matters shall be taken and entered upon the record of the proceedings of the Commission. A roll call vote shall be taken on any resolution, ordinance or amendment thereto before the City Commission on a rotating basis.
B. Roll call votes shall be conducted by the Clerk in such sequence so as to rotate the requirement of voting first to each Commissioner, including the Mayor, alphabetically around the Commission table.
C. As an alternative to paragraph B. hereof, roll call votes may be conducted by the Clerk using a machine system of voting which permits each Commissioner to vote "Yes" or "No" and not have their vote displayed to other Commissioners or the public until all votes by Commissioners have been cast, at which time the Clerk shall publicly reveal the vote.
D. The following definition and procedures shall apply to accommodate the absence from a public meeting, workshop and/or work session (hereafter “meeting”) of a member of the public body due to military duty:
(1) "Military Duty" means (a) training and service performed by an inductee, enlistee or reservist or any entrant into a temporary component of the armed forces of the United States, and (b) time spent in reporting for and returning from such training and service, or if rejection occurs, from the place of reporting, pursuant to a lawful order.
(2) The member of the public body who will be absent from a meeting due to military duty shall notify the City Manager of the intended absence and affected dates sufficiently in advance of the public meeting to allow the public to provide input on any business that will come before the public body, along with an email address and telephone number where that member can be reached during the absence from the meeting for military duty.
(3) Upon notification by the City Manager to the City Clerk of the absence under this subsection, the City Clerk shall post a notice of the affected public meeting, which shall include a notification to the public of the name of the member who will be absent due to military duty and a notification that the member may be contacted through the City of Battle Creek website portal or with a written message submitted to the City Manager's office.
(4) The member of the public body who will be absent from a public meeting due to military duty shall be permitted to participate in, and vote on, business before the public body in a manner determined by the City I.T. Director, or their designee, to ensure two-way communication wherever feasible, ideally utilizing a form of teleconferencing whenever possible.
(5) The member of the public body who will be absent from a meeting due to military duty shall be considered to be present at the public meeting for purposes of this chapter when that member has participated in that meeting pursuant to subsection (4).
IV.
The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the Commission and maintain order. In the Mayor’s absence, the Vice-Mayor shall preside. The Mayor may speak on all points and shall decide questions of order, subject to an appeal. The Mayor shall vote on all questions, subject to Rule III. The Mayor shall put all questions for a vote of the Commission. If both the Mayor and the Vice-Mayor are absent, then the remaining Commissioners may, by majority vote, elect one of their members to preside at any meeting where both the Mayor and Vice-Mayor are absent.
V.
The City Clerk, or someone designated by the City Manager, shall attend all meetings of the Commission, record attendance and cause to be kept correct minutes of the proceedings. The Clerk shall cause such minutes to be printed, with copies thereof to be placed in the files of the Mayor and the Commissioners, and upon approval of the minutes by the Commission, one copy, certified by the Mayor and the Clerk, shall be kept by the Clerk as and for the official record of the proceedings of the Commission.
VI.
It shall be the duty of the Clerk to publish and/or post all ordinances or notices in accordance with the requirements of the statutes of the State and the Charter of the City and as directed by the Commission. The City Clerk is hereby designated as a person to post notices of all meetings of the City Commission.
VII.
It shall be the duty of the City Manager to prepare an agenda for each Commissioner, setting forth the order of business for the meeting and the matters to come before the meeting, together with a copy of each
resolution, ordinance and communication to be considered by the Commission at that meeting. This agenda shall be available and delivered to each Commissioner not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday prior to the regular meeting.
VIII.
All ordinances shall be in writing and shall be introduced in the following manner:
Any member of the Commission may, at the time provided for the introduction of ordinances in the regular order of business, or at any time agreed to by the rest of the Commission, request the Clerk to read the title of the proposed ordinance. After the Clerk has read the title of the proposed ordinance, any member may move that the ordinance be introduced. If this motion is seconded, a vote shall be taken on the question of whether the ordinance may be introduced. If a majority of the members elect of the Commission approve the introduction of the ordinance, it shall thereafter be regarded as having been introduced. Ordinances may be referred to by reference to the entire title of the ordinance or by a short title.
No ordinance shall be adopted unless it has been introduced within sixty days of the date it is to be adopted. Unless otherwise provided by law, an ordinance shall be adopted when approved by a majority vote of the elected members of the City Commission after it has been moved and seconded that the ordinance, in its entirety and as amended, be adopted, and it can be referred to in such motion by its short title.
All resolutions considered by the City Commission shall be in writing with a summary included and the resolution or the summary thereof shall be read by the Clerk before a vote is taken. Resolutions shall be moved and seconded by Commissioners selected by the Mayor, on a rotating basis, at each meeting, for that purpose. Resolutions, motions and questions shall require a second before a vote is taken and shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the members elect office Commission for adoption or passage, unless otherwise provided by law.
IX.
The Mayor or any Commissioner may request that an ordinance or resolution be prepared by either the City Manager or the City Attorney and that it be placed on the agenda for consideration by the Commission in accordance with these Rules; provided, however, that any such request must be in writing, in a format prescribed by the City Attorney, and be co-sponsored in writing by two additional members of the City Commission, including basic detail of the proposed resolution or ordinance and demonstrating the informed support thereof of the two additional members, to best ensure the judicious use of staff time and efforts. Upon receipt of such a request, it shall be the duty of the City Manager or the City Attorney to prepare such ordinance or resolution and file it with the City Clerk to be placed on the agenda for the meeting at which it is to be considered in accordance with such request.
X.
The order of business at meetings of the Commission shall be as follows, except when otherwise agreed to by the Commissioners:
(1) Invocation;
(2) Pledge of Allegiance;
(3) Proclamations and awards;
(4) Chair notes any added or deleted resolutions;
(5) Public comment regarding any specific agenda item;
(6) Public hearings;
(7) Introduction of ordinances;
(8) Adoption of ordinances;
(9) Public comment regarding consent agenda and resolutions not on consent agenda;
(10) Commission comment regarding meeting business;
(11) Consent agenda;
(12) Resolutions not included in the consent agenda.
(13) General public comment;
(14) Commission comments;
(15) Recess;
(16) Governance agenda;
(17) Closed session (when needed); and
(18) Adjournment.
XI.
When any question is under debate, no motion shall be entertained except the following, and they shall have precedence in the order in which they are set forth herein:
(1) To adjourn;
(2) To lay on the table;
(3) For the previous question;
(4) To postpone to a certain day;
(5) To commit;
(6) To amend;
(7) To postpone indefinitely.
XII.
Insofar as Robert's Rules of Order are not inconsistent with the statutes of the State, the Charter of the City or these Rules of Procedure, such Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the proceedings of the Commission when applicable.
XIII.
These Rules may be amended from time to time by a majority vote of the Commission.
XIV.
These Rules or any of them may be temporarily suspended only after an affirmative vote by a majority of the elected members of the Commission.
XV.
At the first meeting of each new City Commission referred to in Section 2.9 of the City Charter, the City Clerk shall call the meeting to order and immediately proceed to administer the oath of office to the newly elected Mayor and Commissioners, who shall thereupon assume their duties and places as Mayor and Commissioners.
The Commission shall then proceed to the election of the Vice-Mayor. The Vice-Mayor shall be elected by a majority vote of the elected qualified members of the City Commission, including the Mayor, at the foregoing meeting in such manner as the City Commission may in its discretion determine. After the election, the Vice-Mayor shall immediately assume the duties of that office.
XVI.
Closed meetings of the City Commission shall only be held for the purposes and in accordance with the provisions of Act 267 of the Public Acts of the State for 1976, the same being the so-called "Open Meetings Act."
XVII.
It is the desire of the City Commission to encourage public expression in the course of its meetings. Such expression can be integral to the decision-making process of the City Commission. It is the intention of the City Commission to respect the rights of persons addressing the Commission. Public comment periods are a time for citizens to make comments; they are not intended as a forum for debate or to engage in question-answer dialogues with the Commission or staff. Commissioners are encouraged not to directly respond to speakers during public comment periods. At the conclusion of the speaker’s remarks, the Mayor or individual Commissioners may refer a question to City staff, if appropriate. Also, individual Commissioners may choose to respond to speakers during the “Commission Comment” period. It is with these aims in mind, so as to promote decorum and civility and an orderly process for conducting its public business meetings, that the following rules concerning public comments, consistent with applicable law, are adopted by the City Commission.
(1) Persons attending a regular or special Commission Meeting shall be permitted to address the City Commission in conformity with this rule. The opportunity to address the Commission shall be limited to the following:
(a) Persons desiring to address the City Commission are encouraged, but shall not be required, to fill out and turn in to either the City Clerk, Mayor, or presiding Commissioner, prior to the meeting, a comment card disclosing the following information: The person's name, address, and telephone number; the specific issue, topic or resolution the individual wishes to address.
(b) During public hearings when scheduled, but only when the law requires a separate period of public comment, speakers may present facts and opinions on the specific matter being heard by the Commission. A three-minute time limit is imposed per speaker. In the discretion of the Mayor or presiding officer, the time limit for individual speakers may be lengthened or shortened when appropriate.
(c) During the public comment period on any specific agenda item, whether it be a public hearing, an ordinance introduction or adoption, a consent agenda item, or a resolution not on the consent agenda, each speaker may address the Commission once, regarding anything on the meeting agenda, for a total not to exceed four minutes regardless of how many agenda items the speaker is addressing, which time period may be lengthened or shortened by the Mayor or presiding officer when appropriate.
(d) During the General Public Comment portion of the meeting, speakers may address the City Commission on any matter within the control and jurisdiction of the City of Battle Creek. A speaker shall be permitted to address the City Commission once, for up to three minutes, during this portion of the meeting.
(e) Applicants or Appellants, as defined below, or an attorney retained to represent them, are not bound by the specific time limitations set out above but may have the amount of time deemed reasonably necessary by the Mayor or presiding official to present their case to the City Commission without violating the rules set out below in subsection 4(a) through (g), with which they are obligated to comply.
(i) Applicant is defined an individual or business entity seeking a City Commission final decision on a matter for which the individual has made application to the City based upon a specific provision in a City Ordinance or state statute for permission to take a specific action;
(ii) Appellant is an individual appealing a decision of a City official or an inferior body based upon a specific provision in City ordinances entitling the individual to appeal the decision to the City Commission.
(2) An individual wishing to address the City Commission shall wait to be recognized by the Mayor or presiding Commissioner before speaking. An individual who has not filled out a card requesting to address the City Commission shall raise their hand and wait to be recognized by the Mayor or presiding Commissioner before speaking and shall identify themselves by name and address and, if appropriate, group affiliation for the record.
(3) Speakers shall address all remarks to the Mayor, or the presiding Commissioner or official, and not to individual Commissioners or staff members. Speakers shall not address their remarks to members of the public in attendance at the meeting.
(4) A speaker will be ruled out-of-order by the Mayor or presiding Commissioner and the Commission will continue with its business, and the speaker may be required to leave the meeting after having been ruled out-of-order for a breach of the peace committed at the meeting as permitted by the OMA, when the speaker violates above sub-section 3 or the following:
(a) Becomes repetitive or speaks longer than the allotted time;
(b) Attempts to yield any unused portion of time to other speakers;
(c) Engages in a personal attack upon a city employee, administrator or Commissioner only if the personal attack is totally unrelated to the manner in which the employee, administrator or Commissioner carries out their public duties or office;
(d) Uses obscene or profane language;
(e) Engages in slanderous or defamatory speech;
(f) Uses derogatory racial, sexual or ethnic slurs or epithets relating to any individual or category of persons; or
(g) Engages in conduct that interrupts or disrupts the meeting.
(5) Individuals attending City Commission meetings or workshops, excluding City staff, shall not pass the commission chambers bar upon which the podium is affixed (and which divides the audience section from the well of the chambers) without having been invited to do so by the Mayor or official presiding over the meeting, or after requesting and explicitly being granted permission to do so. Any individual violating this subsection will be ruled out-of-order by the Mayor or presiding official and the individual may be required to leave the meeting for a breach of the peace committed at the meeting as permitted by the OMA.
XVIII.
Whenever any board, committee, authority, council, agency or organization requests or recommends that the Commission take action with respect to any matter, whether it be by motion, resolution or ordinance, such request shall include satisfactory evidence showing that such request or recommendation has been approved by such board, committee, authority or the governing board of such agency or organization.
XIX.
The Mayor and City Commissioners shall be entitled to reimbursement for travel and other expenses while on City business subject to the same terms and conditions as are in effect for City employees.
XX.
The Mayor may appoint committees of Commissioners or Commissioners and others to study and make recommendations to the Commission. At no time shall any single committee have a majority of the City Commission as members.
XXI.
In the preparation of the agenda, the City Manager may, when having determined that receipt of a report, petition or communication, or the approval of a request from a group or individual, or a resolution of the City Commission, is of a routine nature, place those reports, petitions, communications, requests or resolutions on a consent agenda as set forth in Rule X of these Rules for the consideration of the Commission at one time.
The numbering of ordinances placed on the agenda shall be consecutive and based upon the calendar year in which an ordinance or amendment is first introduced, regardless of the year in which it was adopted. At the first meeting of the City Commission each year, ordinance numbering shall begin at the number one, followed by the year, e.g., the first ordinance introduction for the year 2022 shall be in the following format: Ordinance #01-2022. In January of the following year, ordinance numbering shall begin again at “01” again, followed by the year.
The numbering of resolutions placed on the agenda shall be consecutive based upon the two- year cycle of each new City Commission referred to in Section 2.9 of the City Charter. The numbering of resolutions shall begin again at “Resolution #1” at the first meeting following the biennial Organizational Meeting in November of every even year.
At the meeting, at the time on the agenda for the consideration of the consent agenda, a Commissioner shall move and a second Commissioner shall support adoption of the consent agenda. There will be no discussion of this motion except that any Commissioner, the City Manager or the City Attorney may request that a specific item be removed from the consent agenda and it shall stand removed without further action necessary. The consent agenda may then be adopted by voice vote.
The matter so removed shall be considered at its appropriate time during the meeting according to the order of business of Rule X. When a matter which has been removed from the consent agenda comes up in the regular course of business, the normal rules of discussion shall apply.
The City Manager is hereby authorized to include the following items on a consent agenda:
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA CONSENT ITEMS
MINUTES, PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, REPORTS:
1. Approval of minutes;
2. City Manager's report;
3. Monthly and other departmental and divisional reports; monitoring reports;
4. Requests for commercial and industrial exemption certificates and districts;
5. All communications;
6. Planning Commission reports;
7. Annual Reports for BCU, TIFA, LDDA, DDA and others;
8. Petitions and requests for street paving, street lighting and utility improvements; and
9. Requests to vacate property.
RESOLUTIONS:
1. Appointments to various boards, committees and commission;
2. Setting public hearings;
3. Accepting sole-source bids between ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), and contracts between fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) and one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000);
4. Approving fund transfers;
6. Approving budget amendments;
8. Establishing new funds or budgets, budget adjustments involving Fund Balance and approving adopted budgets or budget adjustments for BCDDA, LDDA or BCTIFA;
9. Confirming assessments for demolition;
10. Establishing special assessments and other special fund budgets;
11. Authorizing lease agreements for City-owned property in Airport area;
12. Approving signatures for checking accounts;
13. Approving liquor license requests and transfers;
14. Making permanent temporary traffic control orders;
15. Approving Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Certificates;
16. Authorizing change orders not meeting current policy;
17. Approving Industrial Facility Tax Certificates; and
18. Authorizing sale of City-owned property, including tax-reverted properties.
(Res. 17. Passed 4-19-77; Res. 228. Passed 8-16-77; Res. 438. Passed 12-6-77; Res. 439. Passed 12-6-77; Res. 35. Passed 5-1-79; Res. 415. Passed 11-13-79; Res. 315. Passed 9-1-81; Res. 496. Passed 1-25-83; Res. 237. Passed 7-12-83; Res. 316. Passed 8-16-83; Res. 652. Passed 1-10-84; Res. 101. Passed 5-22-84; Res. 745. Passed 3-11-86; Res. 122. Passed 5-27-86; Res. 287. Passed 8-18-87; Res. 381. Passed 9-19-89; Res. 378. Passed 7-6-93; Res. 60. Passed 12-21-93; Res. 237. Passed 5-17-94; Res. 383. Passed 9-2-97; Res. 384. Passed 9-2-97; Res. 357. Passed 9-19-00; Res. 191. Passed 5-15-01; Res. 12. Passed 11-13-01; Ord. 07-2014. Passed 7-15-14; Ord. 03-2015. Passed 5-19-15; Ord. 09-2015. Passed 11-17-15; Ord. 03-2016. Passed 3-15-16; Ord. 03-2019. Passed 3-19-19; Ord. 09-2019. Passed 7-2-19; Ord. 08-2020. Passed 10-20-20; Ord. 11-2021. Passed 12-21-21; Ord. 12-2021. Passed 1-4-22; Ord. 10-2022. Passed 11-1-22; Ord. 13-2024. Passed 9-3-24.)