(a) Preparation and Delivery of Agenda and Other Papers. The President of Council through the assistance of the Clerk of Council shall be responsible for the preparation of an agenda for each regularly scheduled Council meeting. The agenda shall follow the order of business as set forth in the previous section and shall contain the title of each Ordinance and/or Resolution to be considered by Council and a brief description of new business, which the President anticipates presenting to Council. Persons with business before Council shall be encouraged to advise the President of the nature of such business more than seventy-two (72) hours in advance of the regularly scheduled Council meeting for inclusion on the agenda. In order that Council and the President may prepare for regularly scheduled Council meetings, it is required that the Law Director, Mayor, any member of Council, or Department Head shall submit any legislation, report or other paper to the Clerk of Council on or before the Wednesday immediately preceding any regularly scheduled Council meeting (7 days prior to any regular meeting). Thereafter, the Clerk of Council shall prepare the agenda for review and approval by the President. Said agenda and copies of any legislation or relevant documentation, after approval by the President, shall be prepared by the Clerk and transmitted electronically to each Councilperson, the Mayor, Law Director, Finance Director and department heads by Friday no later than 4:00 P.M. immediately preceding any regularly scheduled Council meeting. A physical copy of said documents can be requested by members of Council in advance of the meeting.
(Ord. 2021-41. Passed 9-15-21.)
(b) Preparation and Delivery of Other Papers. All minutes of boards or commissions, Mayor's reports and other municipally generated items which are to be included as part of the regular Council meeting shall be presented to the Clerk of Council not later than 12:00 noon on the Monday preceding the Council meeting. All such material and subject matter shall be distributed to each member of Council by 4:30 p.m. on the Monday preceding each Council meeting.
Any matters, which are not presented to the Clerk of Council within the time limits set forth in this rule may not be included on the agenda for consideration at the following regular Council meeting, but will be included at the next succeeding regular Council meeting. Correspondence and miscellaneous items not requiring action by Council may be read if received after the deadline if authorized by a majority vote of Council.
However, if three (3) members of Council, in writing, request the consideration of a particular matter at a regular Council meeting, such written request, together with the subject matter, must be presented to the Office of the Clerk at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the time of the Council meeting.
In such event, the Clerk of Council shall notify each member of Council as soon as possible of such subject matter and its availability to such member for his or her examination during the twenty-four (24) hour period.
(c) Procedure for Handling Correspondence, Complaints, Requests, and Miscellaneous Matters from the Public. All correspondence, complaints, requests or miscellaneous matters, which residents desire to be considered by Council, must first be presented to the Office of the Clerk of Council in writing, or mailed to such office, with the name and address of the sender.
Material sent in shall then be presented to Council and after the contents of such material are made known to Council, such material may be referred to the appropriate committee for its consideration and investigation.
The Clerk must receive correspondence submitted for reading at a Council meeting no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Wednesday preceding the regular Council meeting. The request to have the correspondence read at a Council meeting must be so stated in said correspondence. Correspondence to be read shall be no longer than five (5) minutes in duration; otherwise, it will be noted on the record as received and available for public inspection in the Council office. Copies of said correspondence will be distributed to Council and the Administration with their agenda packets. The decision to read correspondence into the record at a Council meeting will be made by Council at the caucus prior to the Council meeting. If it is determined that the correspondence will be read, it will be read under the Communications portion of the meeting. Council reserves the right to refuse to publicly read any material it determines to be inappropriate for public disclosure.
Any such committee shall then make a written report of its recommendation and findings to Council after it has concluded its study of the matter. Such written report shall be kept on file thereafter in the Office of the Clerk and available for public examination.
(Ord. 2020-20. Passed 3-18-20.)