(a) In General. Workshop meetings of City Council shall generally take place on Tuesdays on the weeks following the first and third Tuesday regular Council meetings and shall be held at 7:30 p.m. The meetings will be held in the Meeting Room of the Town Hall, 27 East Main Street, or other location as decided by the President of Council. Workshop meetings are informal meetings of Council to discuss matters to be considered by Council at regular Council meetings or other matters concerning the City. All workshop meetings shall be open to the public in accordance with the Charter and statutes of Ohio providing for open meetings. Council shall take no legislative action at workshop meetings. Minutes of workshop meetings will be full and accurate minutes, which will enable the public to understand and appreciate City Council's discussion. The official minutes of workshop meetings shall be in the form as set forth in Section 220.03
, except that it shall be within the discretion of City Council to determine that a workshop meeting will not be audio recorded and/or video recorded, in which case the Clerk of Council shall be responsible for preparing full and accurate written meeting minutes which will enable the public to understand and appreciate City Council’s discussion and such written meeting minutes shall serve as the official minutes of such workshop meeting. It shall be the duty of the Clerk of Council, or the Clerk's designee, to provide for and to produce the official minutes for workshop meetings. Citizen comments will generally not be solicited at workshop meetings.
(Ord. 99-10. Passed 1-20-99; Ord. 02-111. Passed 6-5-02; Ord. 06-142. Passed 11-15-06; Ord. 13-114. Passed 10-2-13; Ord. 15-49. Passed 4-7-15.)
(b) Agenda. The written agenda for workshop meetings of Council shall be administratively coordinated by the City Manager with the assistance of the President of Council. Any member of Council, the Mayor or the City Manager may place an item on the workshop meeting agenda. All workshop meeting agenda items shall be due to the Clerk of Council by 5:00 p.m. two Fridays prior to the meeting.
(c) Opening of Workshop Meetings. The Mayor or, in the absence of the Mayor, the President of Council, or, in the absence of both, the President pro tempore shall call the meeting to order and then turn the meeting over to the President of Council, or in the absence of the President of Council, the President pro tempore, and that person shall chair the meeting. If the Mayor is absent, the person who opens the meeting in accordance with these rules shall also chair the meeting. As no legislative action will be taken at workshop meetings, no quorum for the meeting will be necessary for the meeting to commence. Workshop meetings where fewer than four Council members are present may be canceled at the discretion of the Chair.
(d) Order of Business. All meetings of Council shall be open to the public in accordance with the Charter and statutes of Ohio providing for open meetings. All agenda items shall be identified by title or subject matter. The minutes of the workshop meeting shall identify matters by title or subject matter. The Chair may declare a brief recess during the course of the meeting as appropriate. The order of business shall be as follows:
(1) Call to order;
(2) Reading of any correspondence, including petitions and recommendations received by the Mayor or members of Council at their discretion; Council comments;
(3) Reports of Council committees;
(4) Reports or presentations of City Council other committees, City officials, the City Manager, or community organizations;
(5) Discussion and approval of the next regular or special Council meeting agenda. Items may be added to or removed from such agenda by the affirmative votes of at least four members of the Council;
(6) Items to be added to a future agenda;
(7) Adjournment.
(Ord. 22-79. Passed 7-19-22.)
(e) Decorum. No person shall address the Council until recognized by the chair. Persons attending City Council workshop meetings will at all time exhibit orderly behavior, respectful of others. A person exhibiting disorderly behavior may be asked by the Chair to be seated and refrain from further comment, or may be removed from the meeting.
(f) Adjournment/recess of Workshop Meetings. Unless the Council shall, by a two-thirds vote, agree to continue, no discussion or other action shall be initiated or continued after 11:00 p.m., and at that time, a workshop meeting of the Council shall be recessed until the next workshop meeting.
(Ord. 97-212. Passed 8-19-98; Ord. 02-111. Passed 6-5-02; Ord. 07-47. Passed 6-6-07; Ord. 14-72. Passed 5-21-14; Ord. 14-130. Passed 11-5-14; Ord. 24-25. Passed 3-19-24.)