(A) Regular meetings. Regular meetings of the Council shall be held on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at a time set by Council resolution, at the City Hall. If any such Monday is a legal holiday or Christmas or New Year’s Eve, the meeting will be cancelled or held on another date and time as established by Council action.
(B) Special meetings. Special meetings may be called by the Mayor or by any two members of the Council by a written notice filed with the City Administrator, who shall notify members of the time and place of meeting at least 24 hours before the meeting.
(C) Agenda meetings. Agenda meetings of the Council may be held on the first and third Mondays of each month at a time set by Council resolution at the City Hall. The purpose of the meeting(s) is to discuss and prepare the agenda for the regular meeting following. An agenda meeting may be called to order, and the regular business of the Council can be conducted if the Mayor and three Council members are present at the meeting.
(D) Rules of order.
(1) Presiding officer. The Mayor or, in the Mayor’s absence, the Acting Mayor shall preside at Council meetings, preserve order and decorum and decide questions of order. The Mayor’s duties under this division (D) shall be in addition to the duties, rights and privileges as a Council member.
(2) Special rules. The following special rules shall be applied.
(a) A member may be excused from voting in the case of conflict of interest on a matter before the Council.
(b) A motion before the Council shall be reduced to writing by the City Administrator at the request of any Council member.
(c) Such other special rules may be adopted and included in this division (D)(2) as the Council, from time to time, deems necessary.
(3) General rules. In all other matters of parliamentary procedure, the Council shall be governed by the latest printed edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.
(4) Suspension of rules. The operation and effect of any rule established or followed pursuant to this section may be suspended upon the unanimous vote of the Council.
(E) Attendance at council meetings. The attendance at Council meetings of each member of the Council is deemed to be one of the most important duties imposed by law upon them. Their presence to participate in the hearings, deliberations and decisions of the Council is essential to the proper discharge of their official duties. Recognizing that it is not always possible for each member of the Council to be present at all meetings, and that by reason of business demands, state of health, personal problems, vacations and other matters occasional absences are excusable, the Council may compel the attendance of members and punish non-attendance by resolution adopted by a majority. A vacancy in the Council, whether it be in the office of Mayor or Council member, shall be deemed to exist by reason of the failure of any member of the Council, without good cause, to attend Council meetings for a period of three consecutive months.
(F) Order of business. At the hour appointed for the meeting, the members shall be called to order by the Mayor or, in the Mayor’s absence, by the Acting Mayor. The City Administrator shall call the roll and note the absentees. If a quorum is present, the Council shall then proceed with its business in the order established by resolution of the Council.
(G) Minutes.
(1) Approval of minutes. The City Administrator shall provide a printed copy of the minutes of each meeting to each Council member. Amendments or corrections proposed by any member of the Council shall be made by the City Administrator, but no amendments to which objection is raised by any Council member shall be made without the approval of a majority of the Council.
(2) Contents of minutes. The City Administrator shall record all material matters considered by the Council in the minutes. Ordinances, resolutions, communications and claims considered by the Council need not be recorded in full in the minutes if they appear in other permanent records of the City Administrator and can be accurately identified from the description given in the minutes. The Council may, in its discretion, direct that any one of the above be fully set out in the minutes.
(Prior Code, § 105.04) (Ord. 563, passed 06-12-1995; Ord. 844, passed 05-20-2010; Ord. 943, passed 05-29-2018)