The following Rules of Order shall control the parliamentary conduct of Council:
Rule 1. The Mayor, or in his or her absence, the Deputy Mayor, shall take the Chair at the hour appointed for Council to meet and shall immediately call the members to order. The roll shall then be called and the Clerk of Council shall enter in the minutes of each meeting the names of the members present thereat. In the absence of a quorum at the time appointed for a meeting, the members present may, by a majority vote, take a recess and cause the Clerk or any police officer to procure the attendance of absent members. For purposes of conducting Council meetings, a quorum shall require the presence of a minimum of four members of Council.
Rule 2. In the case of the absence of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, the Clerk shall call Council to order. After the roll is called and a quorum is found to be present, Council shall proceed to elect, by a majority vote, a Chairperson of the meeting, or until the appearance of the Mayor or Deputy Mayor.
Rule 3. The Chair shall preserve decorum and shall decide all questions of order, subject to appeal to Council. If an appeal is taken, the question shall be: "Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the decision of Council?" If any member transgresses the rules of Council, the Chair shall, or any member may, call him or her to order, in which case he or she shall take his or her seat, unless permitted to explain.
Rule 4. All votes of Council shall be conducted by roll call.
Rule 5. Either the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor or the Chairperson of the meeting may call any other member to take his or her place in the Chair. Such substitution shall not continue beyond the adjournment of such meeting. "The Chair," as applied to the person presiding, means either the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor or the Chairperson of the meeting.
Rule 6. All members shall occupy seats in the Council Chamber as designated by the Mayor. Members may exchange desks by joining in a written notice to the Mayor to that effect.
Rule 7. Every member, when about to speak to a question or make a motion, shall address the Chair as "Mr. or Ms. Mayor," who shall announce the name of the member entitled to the floor. The speaker shall confine himself or herself to the question under debate and shall avoid personalities.
Rule 8. No member shall speak more than five minutes on any one subject without leave of Council.
Rule 9. Every member present when a question is put, shall vote either "yes" or "no," unless Council, for special reasons, excuses him or her. An application to be excused from voting shall be made before the call of votes is commenced. The reason for the request shall be briefly stated and it shall be decided without debate.
Rule 10. Any member may demand the division of a question under consideration when its sense will admit such a division.
Rule 11. All petitions, resolutions and ordinances may be referred by Council to the appropriate committee for an investigation and report.
Rule 12. Any member may dissent from or protest against any ordinance or resolution of Council and have the reason therefor entered upon the Journal. Such dissent must be in writing, couched in respectful language, and shall be presented to Council not later than the next regular meeting following that of the passage of such ordinance or resolution.
Rule 13. No member shall be permitted to leave Council for the entire session without the consent of the majority of the other members of Council present, except in the case of an emergency.
Rule 14. Meetings of Council shall be held at the Town Hall of the Municipality, located at 760 Central Avenue, at such hours and on such days as determined by Council at the organizational meeting of Council. Council may, by motion, dispense with any regular meeting or change the day and hour of holding any regular meeting. Whenever the regular meeting date is a holiday, the meeting scheduled for that date shall be postponed to a date determined by motion of Council. At the meeting, the minutes of the preceding meeting shall be read in full only if so desired by any member present. Otherwise, the minutes shall then be approved and Council shall transact business in the following order:
a. Public forum
b. Council reports, which shall be presented from each member to present petitions, offer committee reports, make motions, offer resolutions or ordinances, and present such other business as desired by each Councilmember.
c. Mayor's report
d. Manager's report
e. Committee reports
f. Old business
g. New business
h. First readings of ordinances and resolutions
i. Second and third readings of ordinances and resolutions
j. Executive sessions
k. Adjournment.
Rule 15. All committees shall be appointed by Council, unless otherwise directed by Council. Council shall review a letter of interest and resume of all citizen applicants prior to any appointment to a citizen committee. Council may also require personal interviews of citizen applicants as deemed necessary.
Rule 16. A committee shall meet on the call of the Chairperson or two members thereof.
Rule 17. The Chairperson of a committee shall be the member first named upon a committee. In the event of his or her absence, the person next named on the committee shall be the Chairperson thereof. A majority of the members of a committee shall be a quorum.
Rule 18. When any matter is referred to a committee with instructions to report at a time named in the order of reference, and if such committee is not ready to report at such time, then unless further time is granted, the matter so referred shall be considered as if reported back without recommendation, and such committee shall forthwith return to the Clerk the documents pertaining thereto, and the matter shall take its appropriate place in the order of business.
Rule 19. The report of a committee (except the Committee of the Whole) shall be reported to Council during open session and made part of the meeting minutes or be presented to Council in writing. The written report shall only be presented to Council if signed by a majority of the committee. The documents referred shall be returned with the report. Nothing in this Rule shall be construed to prevent the introduction of minority reports. Upon motion, and by a majority vote, Council may relieve a committee of further consideration of any question and order it placed on the calendar.
Rule 20. When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the Chair before debate. Any member may demand that it be put in writing. A motion shall not be withdrawn by the movant without the consent, first, of the person who seconded it, and then of Council.
Rule 21. When a question is before Council, no motion shall be entertained, except: first, to adjourn; second, to lay on the table; third, for the previous question; fourth, to postpone to a time certain; fifth, to refer; sixth, to amend; and seventh, to postpone indefinitely. These motions shall have precedence in such order.
Rule 22. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, except upon immediate repetition, in interruption of a member speaking or when the previous question has been ordered or a vote is being taken. A motion to adjourn is not debatable, except as to time.
Rule 23. A motion to lay on the table shall preclude all amendments or debate of the subject under consideration. If the motion prevails, the consideration of the subject may not be resumed, except upon motion of a member voting with the majority and the consent of two-thirds of the members present.
Rule 24. The previous question shall be stated in these words: "Shall the main question be now put?" The previous question shall be admitted on the demand of not less than two members. There shall be no further amendment or debate, but pending amendments shall be put in their order before the main question.
Rule 25. All motions to adjourn, except a motion to postpone indefinitely, may be amended as to time. If a motion to postpone indefinitely is carried, the principal question shall be declared lost. A motion to reconsider, once lost, shall not be renewed at this meeting.
Rule 26. A motion to suspend the statutory rule requiring three readings on separate days is debatable. Upon such a motion, the main question is open to debate.
Rule 27. A motion to amend is susceptible of but one amendment thereof. An amendment once rejected may not be moved again in the same form.
Rule 28. Any rule, except when otherwise provided by statute, may be suspended by a vote of a majority of the members of Council, without debate.
Rule 29. A motion to reconsider a subject that has been acted upon favorably must be made before adjournment of that session of Council. A motion to reconsider any subject may be made at any time after the original decision of Council upon the same. A motion to reconsider may be made by any member who voted with the prevailing side. Having been made, such a motion shall not again be entertained at that meeting. A majority of members present may reconsider a vote.
Rule 30. In the absence of a rule to govern any possible point, reference shall be made to Robert's Rules of Order.
Rule 31. All ordinances and resolutions shall be read by title only unless a majority of Council present at the meeting directs otherwise. If, after any reading, any member objects to the ordinance or resolution, he or she shall move to reject the proposition. After the third reading, Council shall vote upon the motion to adopt the ordinance or resolution.
Rule 32. The Clerk and other employees and officers of Council are under the control and direction of the Chair during sessions of Council.
Rule 33. Notice of a special meeting of Council shall be served upon members personally or at their place of residence, not less than twenty-four hours before such meeting. Personal notification would include any of the following: face-to-face contact, telephone conversation, e-mail with received reply, and text message with received reply.
Rule 34. Upon each ordinance or resolution containing an emergency clause, there shall first be had a vote on the emergency section. The emergency section shall be passed only upon the affirmative vote of at least five (5) members of Council. Immediately upon the passage of the emergency section, a vote upon the ordinance or resolution shall be taken by separate roll call. Passage of the particular ordinance or resolution shall be by a majority vote of Council present. Should the passage of the emergency section fail due to a lack of the required minimum of five (5) affirmative votes, the ordinance or resolution will introduced as a first reading. Such ordinance or resolution will be presented without the emergency section at subsequent meetings unless directed otherwise by Council.
(Ord. 9-58. Passed 12-8-58; Ord. 11-69. Passed 1-26-69; Ord. 2-82. Passed 1-25-82; Ord. 17-98. Passed 6-9-98; Ord. 4-19. Passed 3-26-19.)