(A) Regular meeting. The Council shall hold a regular meeting on the second Monday of each month. The meeting shall be held at the Town Building and shall begin at 7:00 p.m.
(B) Special meetings. The Town Council President or any three members of the Council may at any time call a special Council meeting. The notice of a special Council meeting shall be delivered to the Town Council President and each Council member or left at his or her usual dwelling place and place of business at least six hours before the meeting. Special meetings may be held at any time when the Town Council President and all members of the Council are present. Only those items of business specified in the notice may be transacted at a special meeting, unless all members are present or have signed a written waiver of notice. Any news media which have requested notice of meetings shall be given notice of special meetings in the same manner as the members of the Council.
(C) Agenda. The Clerk-Treasurer shall prepare the proposed agenda for the regular meeting. A request to have an item of business placed on the proposed agenda must be received at least seven calendar days before the regular meeting. Any Council member may, by a timely request, have an item placed on the proposed agenda. The proposed agenda shall include, for each item of business placed on it, as much background information on the subject as is available and feasible to reproduce. A copy of all proposed ordinances shall be attached to the proposed agenda. Each Council member shall receive a copy of the proposed agenda before the meeting and it shall be available for public inspection or distribution at least 48 hours prior to the regular meeting. The Council may, by majority vote, add an item that is not on the proposed agenda.
(D) Public request to address the Council.
(1) Any individual or group who wishes to address the Council shall make a request to be on the proposed agenda to the Clerk-Treasurer. However, the Council shall determine at the meeting, by majority vote, whether it will hear the individual or group. Prior to his, her, or their speaking, the presiding officer of the meeting shall advise the individual or individuals allowed to speak as to the length of time he, she, or they will be given to address the Council.
(2) Before any person will be allowed to speak to the Council, he or she must be recognized by the presiding officer and identify himself or herself by name and address; at that time, he or she shall come forward before the Council and speak into a microphone or at a designated place. Any person failing to comply with these rules may be ruled out of order by the presiding officer and, at that time, may be removed from the Council room by the Town Marshal at the instruction of the Council.
(E) Order of business.
(1) Items shall be placed on the proposed agenda according to the order of business. The order of business for each regular meeting shall be as follows:
(a) Call to order;
(b) Roll call;
(c) Minutes;
(d) Petitions or comments by those citizens present;
(e) Reports from committees and officers;
(f) Unfinished business;
(g) New business;
(h) Claims;
(i) Miscellaneous business - limit to two minutes per speaker; and
(j) Adjournment.
(2) By motion and majority vote of the Council, items may be considered out of order.
(3) The Council President may:
(a) Rule motions in or out of order, including any motion patently offered for obstructive or dilatory purposes;
(b) Determine whether a speaker has gone beyond reasonable standards of courtesy in his or her remarks, and to entertain and rule on objections from other members on this ground;
(c) Entertain and answer questions of parliamentary law or procedure;
(d) Call a brief recess at any time; and
(e) Adjourn in an emergency.
(F) Office of Council President. At the organizational meeting, the Council shall elect from among its members a President. A Council member who serves as President shall be entitled to vote on all matters and shall be considered a Council member for all purposes, including the determination of whether a quorum is present.
(G) Action by the Council. The Council shall proceed by motion. Any member may make a motion.
(H) One motion at a time. A member may make only one motion at a time.
(I) Substantive motion. A substantive motion is out of order while another substantive motion is pending.
(J) Adoption by majority vote. A majority of all the members-elect of the Council shall constitute a quorum. It shall require a majority vote of all the members-elect of the Council to pass an ordinance or to take any other official action on behalf of the Council. Any action of the Council shall not be official unless a quorum is present. Whenever it is required by law that any ordinance, resolution, or other action by the Council shall require a two-thirds vote before approval is granted, two-thirds of all members-elect of the Council shall have to vote for approval.
(K) Debate. The presiding officer shall state the motion and then open the floor to debate on it. The presiding officer shall preside over the debate according to the following general principles:
(1) The introducer (the member who makes the motion) is entitled to speak first;
(2) A member who has not spoken on the issue shall be recognized before someone who has already spoken; and
(3) To the extent possible, the debate shall alternate between opponents and proponents of the measure.
(L) Procedural motions. In addition to substantive proposals, the following procedural motions, and no others, shall be in order. Unless otherwise noted, each motion is debatable, may be amended, and requires a majority vote for adoption. In order of priority (if applicable), the procedural motions are:
(1) To adjourn. The motion may be made only at the conclusion of action on a pending matter and it may not interrupt deliberation of a pending matter;
(2) To take a recess;
(3) Call to follow the agenda. The motion must be made at the first reasonable opportunity or it is waived;
(4) To suspend the rules. The motion requires a vote equal to the number required for a quorum;
(5) To divide a complex motion and consider it by paragraph;
(6) To defer consideration. A substantive motion whose consideration has been deferred expires 100 days thereafter unless a motion to revive consideration is adopted;
(7) Call of the previous question. The motion is not in order until there have been at least 20 minutes of debate and every member has had an opportunity to speak once;
(8) To postpone to a certain time or day;
(9) To refer to a committee. Sixty days after a motion has been referred to a committee, the introducer may compel consideration of the measure by the entire Council, whether or not the committee has reported the matter to the Council;
(10) To amend. An amendment to a point must be pertinent to the subject matter of the motion, but it may achieve the opposite of the intent of the motion. A motion may be amended, and that amendment may be amended, but no further amendments may be made. Any amendment to a proposed ordinance shall be reduced to writing on the call of any member or the Town Council President;
(11) To revive consideration. The motion is in order any time within 100 days after the day of a vote to defer consideration. A substantive motion on which consideration has been deferred expires 100 days after the deferral unless a motion to revive consideration is adopted;
(12) To reconsider. This motion must be made by a member who voted with the prevailing side, and only at the meeting during which the original vote was taken. The motion cannot interrupt deliberation on a pending matter, but is in order at any time before actual adjournment;
(13) To rescind or repeal;
(14) To ratify; and
(15) To prevent reconsideration for six months. The motion shall be in order immediately following the defeat of a substantive motion and at no other time. The motion requires a vote equal to the number required for a quorum for adoption and is valid for six months or until the next regular election of Council members, whichever occurs first.
(M) Renewal of motion. A motion that is defeated may be renewed at any later meeting unless a motion to prevent reconsideration has been adopted.
(N) Withdrawal of motion. A motion may be withdrawn by the introducer at any time before a vote.
(O) Duty to vote. Every member must vote aye, nay, or abstain unless excused by the remaining members according to law. A member who wishes to be excused from voting shall so inform the presiding officer, who shall take a vote of the remaining members. No member shall be excused from voting except on matters involving the consideration of his or her own financial interest or official conduct.
(P) Introduction of ordinances. A proposed ordinance shall be deemed to be introduced at the first meeting at which it is actually considered by the Council. The ordinance shall be read at the meeting unless it has been previously passed among the Council members, a member of the Council requests that the ordinance not be read in its entirety, and the remainder of the Council agrees that it is familiar with the contents of the ordinance. If a member of the Council objects because the ordinance is not being read, then the Council may, upon motion and a majority vote, formally waive the reading of the ordinance before it.
(Q) Adoption of ordinances. An affirmative vote equal to a majority of all the members of the Council not excused from voting on the question in issue (including the Clerk-Treasurer’s vote in the case of an equal division) shall be required to adopt an ordinance or to take any action that has the effect of an ordinance. No ordinance shall be passed on the date which it is first read or introduced, and final action shall not be taken on any ordinance until the second meeting at which it is considered. Final action may be taken on an ordinance on the date which it is first introduced only by unanimous vote of the Council. Any other action taken with regard to the passage or operation of any ordinance shall be done in compliance with statutory law.
(R) Adoption of the budget ordinance. During the period beginning with the submission of the budget to the Council and ending with the adoption of the budget ordinance, the Council may hold any special meetings that may be necessary to complete its work on the budget ordinance. Any provisions of law concerning the call of special meetings do not apply during that period so long as each member of the Council has actual notice of each special meeting called for the purpose of considering the budget, and no business other than consideration of the budget is taken up.
(S) Executive sessions. The Council may hold executive sessions as provided by law for legal, personnel, or similar matters. The Council shall commence an executive session by a majority vote to do so, after reading of the agenda, and terminate it in the same manner.
(T) Quorum. A majority of the actual membership of the Council, excluding vacant seats, shall constitute a quorum. A member who has withdrawn from a meeting, without being excused by majority vote of the remaining members present, shall be counted as present for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present.
(U) Public hearings. Public hearings required by law, or deemed advisable by the Council, shall be organized by a special order, adopted by a majority vote that sets forth the subject, date, place, and time of the hearing as well as any rules regarding the length of time of each speaker and so forth. At the appointed time, the Town Council President, or his or her designee, shall call the hearing to order and then preside over it. When the allotted time expires or when anyone who wishes to speak has done so, the presiding officer shall declare the hearing ended.
(V) Quorum at public hearings. A quorum of Council shall be required at all public hearings required by state and federal law.
(W) Committees. At its organizational meetings or first regular meeting hereafter, the Council shall choose a nominating committee to be composed of three members. The members of this committee shall continue to serve through the term that they were elected to the Council until removed from the committee by a majority vote of the entire Council. The purpose of this committee is to submit names for the consideration of the Council as a whole when various committees are established by the Council from time to time. The procedure for submission of names is to be determined by the committee. Once the Council has decided that it is necessary to establish certain committees, the nominating committee shall submit the names of persons to serve on that committee to the Council within 30 days. All nominations and recommendations of the nominating committee are reviewable by the entire Council and may be changed by a majority vote of the Council. Any person who is a resident of the town may be selected by the nominating committee if the committee deems that person qualified. Any resident of the town selected by the nominating committee must consent to that selection before approval by the Council. However, each committee shall have at least one Council member on it who shall serve as the head of the committee. All committees shall automatically terminate at the end of the year.
(X) Repealer. The provisions of these rules of procedure take precedence over all prior ordinances and those parts of prior ordinances in conflict with the provisions of these rules, and such ordinances or parts of ordinances are hereby repealed.
(Y) Reference to Robert’s Rules of Order. To the extent not provided for in these rules, and to the extent it does not conflict with the spirit of these rules and the laws of the state, the Council shall refer to Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised, for unresolved procedural questions.
(Amended 4-11-2016)