Section 3.01. COUNCIL MEETINGS. On the first Monday in January following a regular municipal election the council shall meet at the usual place and time for the holding of council meetings. If the first Monday is a holiday, the first Tuesday in January shall then be used. At this time the newly elected members of the council shall assume their duties. Thereafter the council shall meet at such time each month as may be prescribed by ordinance and resolution. The mayor or any other three members of the council may call special meetings of the council upon at least twelve hours notice to each member of the council and such reasonable public notice as may be prescribed by council rule in compliance with the laws of Minnesota. To the extent provided by law all meetings of the council shall be public, and any citizen shall have access to the minutes and records thereof at all reasonable times.
(Ord. 16-758, passed 6-28-2016)
Section 3.02. SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL. The city administrator may designate any employee of the City (except a member of the council) to act as secretary of the council. The secretary shall keep a journal of council proceedings and such other records and perform such other duties as this Charter or the council may require. The council may provide for such other officers and employees as may be necessary to serve at its meetings.
Section 3.03. RULES OF PROCEDURE AND QUORUM. The council shall determine its own rules and order of business. A majority of all elective officers shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time. The council may by ordinance provide a means by which a minority may compel the attendance of absent members. Except as otherwise provided by statute, this Charter, or ordinances enacted pursuant to it, the proceedings of the council shall be conducted in accordance with “Robert’s Rules of Order Revised.”
Section 3.04. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, all legislation shall be by ordinance. A roll call vote on all ordinances, resolutions and motions shall be recorded unless the vote is unanimous, provided however, that a roll call vote is required on each appropriation of money, except for payment of judgments, claims and amounts fixed by statute. An affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the council shall be required for the passage of all ordinances and resolutions except as otherwise provided in this Charter or Minnesota Statutes.
Section 3.05. PROCEDURE ON ORDINANCES. Every proposed ordinance shall be presented in writing. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be “The City of Hutchinson ordains.” No ordinance, except an emergency ordinance, shall be passed at the meeting at which it is introduced and at least seven days shall elapse between its introduction and final passage.
Section 3.06. EMERGENCY ORDINANCES. An emergency ordinance is an ordinance necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, morals, safety or welfare in which the emergency is defined and declared in a preamble, and the ordinance is adopted by a vote of at least four members of the council.
Section 3.08. SIGNING AND PUBLICATION OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS. Every ordinance or resolution passed by the council shall be signed by the mayor or by the mayor pro tem in the absence of the mayor, or by any one council member, in the absence of the mayor and the mayor pro tem, attested, filed and preserved by the city administrator. Every ordinance shall be published at least once in the official newspaper. In the case of lengthy ordinances, or ordinances which include charts or maps, if the council determines that publication of the title and a summary of the ordinance would clearly inform the public of the intent and effect of the ordinance, the council may by a majority vote direct that only the title and a summary be published, with notice that a printed copy of the entire text of the ordinance is available for inspection at the office of the city administrator and any other public location which the council designates. Prior to publication, the council shall approve the title and text of the summary for accuracy and clarity. To the extent and in the manner provided by law an ordinance may incorporate by reference statute, state administrative rule or regulation of Minnesota, a code or ordinance or part thereof without publishing the material referred to in full.
Section 3.09. WHEN ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS TAKE EFFECT. Every resolution and emergency ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage or at such later date as is fixed in it. Every other ordinance shall take effect upon publication or at such later date as is fixed therein. Every ordinance adopted by the voters of the City shall take effect immediately upon its adoption or at such later time as is fixed thereon.
Section 3.10. AMENDMENT AND REPEAL OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS. Every ordinance or resolution repealing all or part of a previous ordinance or resolution shall give the number, if any, and the title of the ordinance or resolution to be repealed in whole or in part. No ordinance or resolution shall be amended by reference to the title alone, but such an amending ordinance or resolution shall set forth in full each section or subdivision to be amended and shall indicate by appropriate type or symbols matter to be omitted or added.
Section 3.11. REVISION AND CODIFICATION OF ORDINANCES. The city council may revise, rearrange and codify its ordinances with such additions and deletions as may be deemed necessary. Such ordinance code shall be published in book, pamphlet or continuously revised looseleaf form and copies shall be made available by the council at the office of the City administrator for general distribution to the public free or at a reasonable charge. Publication in such a code shall be sufficient publication of any ordinance provision not previously published if a notice that copies of the codification are available at the office of the City administrator is published in the official newspaper for at least two successive weeks.