RULE 1. MEETINGS.
(a) Regular Meetings: Council shall hold all regular meetings on the first Thursday of each month and same shall begin precisely at 7:00 p.m.
(b) Special Meetings: Special meetings may be called by a vote of Council (taken at any regular or special meeting thereof), by the Clerk of Council upon the request of the Mayor or President pro tempore, or three members of Council. Any such request shall state the date and the specific subject(s) to be considered. All special meetings shall begin precisely at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
(c) Work Sessions: A work session may be called by three or more members of Council, and same shall be held at the Village Hall or other location that Council shall deem appropriate to conduct such business. All work sessions will be held on the date and time approved by a majority of Council.
RULE 2. PLACE OF MEETINGS.
All regular and special Council meetings shall be held at the Village Hall or at a Council approved location within ten (10) miles of Village Hall and shall be open to the public.
RULE 3. QUORUM.
(a) A majority of members elected to Council shall constitute a quorum to do business.
(b) All duly elected members of Council will be required to attend all regular and special Council meetings.
(c) Council members absent from a meeting shall be excused for the following reasons:
(1) Death in family (to cousin relationship).
(2) Personal illness (not to exceed twice a year).
(3) Vacation (not to exceed once a year).
(4) Unexcused absence (not to exceed once a year).
(5) Excused absence (upon approval by majority of Council).
(d) The Mayor, members of Council, or other Village official shall notify the Mayor, Clerk of Council, the Village Marshall, or the President Pro Tempore of Council as soon as possible when they anticipate they will be unable to attend any scheduled meeting of Council. Failure to so notify the Clerk of Council, Village Marshall, or President Pro Tempore of Council may result in the forfeiture of that month's pay upon approval of such forfeiture by a majority of the members of Council.
(e) If the Mayor, any member of Council, or any other Village official or employee, anticipates being absent from the Village for three or more calendar days, then the Mayor, member of Council, Village official or employee shall notify the Clerk of Council, the Village Marshall, or President Pro Tempore, in writing, as soon as is reasonably possible, of the dates of such anticipated absence from the Village, the anticipated date of return and phone number where the Mayor, Councilperson, Village official, or employee may be reached during such absence; and thereafter the Clerk shall notify the Mayor and all other members of Council of such reported absence. In the case of the absence of the Fiscal Officer from the Village, notice shall be given to the President Pro Tempore of Council of the Fiscal Officer anticipated absence in accordance with the above provisions, who shall then notify the Mayor and other members of Council of the Fiscal Officer absence.
RULE 4. HOLIDAYS.
In the event that a regular Council meeting should fall on or near a legal holiday, Council, by a majority vote of its members, may reschedule such meeting date. The Clerk of Council shall give notice of the date, time and place of such rescheduled meeting to the media and all other interested parties.
RULE 5. ORDER OF BUSINESS.
The Mayor shall, subject to the approval of Council, determine the order of business to be placed upon the Council agenda, which shall include the following: Call to order; roll call; approval, corrections or additions to previous meeting minutes; time open to audience (those having requested, in writing, prior to such meeting to be placed upon the agenda); reports and communications from the Mayor; monthly bills; Fiscal Officer report; Council or Committee reports on new motions, questions, ordinances and/or resolutions; Village Inspector's reports; Village Parks Manager's report; Village Road Superintendent's report; Village Marshall's report; Village Consultants' report; Village Engineer's report; Village Solicitor's report; and, adjournment of the meeting to be approved by a majority of Council members present.
RULE 6. COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE.
At the first meeting in January of each year, Council shall immediately proceed to elect a President pro tempore from its own number, who shall serve until the first meeting in January next after his or her election.
RULE 7. LEGISLATION AND AGENDA.
(a) Agenda:
(1) Any matter to be considered for discussion, debate or review, where possible, should be submitted to the Clerk of Council upon the approved Legislation and Agenda Request Form that is attached to Ordinance 02-012 incorporated by reference into these rules no later than 7:00 p.m. of the Monday of the week proceeding the regular Council Meeting, however such matter may still be discussed when introduced by any Council Member of the Mayor. When submitting a matter on the Legislation and Agenda Request Form, the name of the person submitting the request, the date submitted, the reason for emergency, and the purpose of the legislation shall be so indicated on the form.
(2) Any matter properly placed upon Council's agenda and needing further consideration shall be referred to the appropriate Council Committee and considered at a public meeting of that committee within thirty days of such referral.
(b) Legislation:
(1) Legislation may be introduced only by a Council member, the Mayor, or through a Committee of Council, and the same, where possible, shall be submitted on the approved Legislation and Agenda Request Form.
(2) To be placed before Council for its consideration, all proposed legislation should be submitted, where possible, to the Clerk of Council not later than 7:00 p.m. of the Wednesday of the week preceding the regular Council meeting or such legislation will not be in written form prior to the Council meeting.
(3) Proposed legislation shall be read by title only unless the Clerk is requested by the Council member or Council Committee Chairperson or Mayor who has submitted such legislation to read the entire legislation.
(4) All requests for proposed legislation to be presented, in writing, upon the Council floor of the next meeting must be submitted to the Village Solicitor on the Legislation and Agenda Request Form no later than 4:30 p.m. of the Thursday of the week preceding the Council meeting in which the legislation is to be presented.
(5) In the event that any Council member was unable to submit a request for legislation upon the Legislation and Agenda Request Form, by the deadline set forth in this Rule, they shall still be permitted to introduce legislation at a Council meeting, and a first reading shall be held thereon upon the request of such Council member.
RULE 8. COUNCIL VOTING.
(a) All members present at a regular or special meeting of Council are required to vote either "yes" or "no" on all questions, motions, ordinances and resolutions properly presented before Council. All abstentions shall be credited to the majority vote when totaled. Any member of Council that wishes to be excused from voting may do so upon stating his reason for said abstention.
(b) An amendment to a motion shall be properly proposed and read prior to voting upon same.
(c) Voting upon all questions, motions, resolutions and ordinances shall be conducted by a voice vote to be called by Clerk of Council with those voting in favor stating "yes" and those opposed stating "no".
RULE 9. MONTHLY JOURNAL.
The Clerk of Council must deliver or cause to be delivered to all Members of Council the Monthly Journal no later than 7:00 P.M. of the Friday proceeding the regular Meeting. The Village Marshal shall then cause delivery of same to Members of Council and the Mayor.
RULE 10. SPEAKING.
No member of Council shall be permitted to speak unless such member has been properly recognized by the chair while the member is seated at his or her desk. No member shall speak longer than three minutes at any one time without leave, nor shall such member speak more than once to the same issue until every other member of Council desiring to speak shall have first had a reasonable opportunity to speak. Further, the Mayor shall not be permitted to speak any longer than three minutes upon the same issue without consent by Council by a majority of its members.
RULE 11. SUSPENSION OF RULES.
These rules, or any of them, may be temporarily suspended at any meeting of Council by a vote of the majority of all members elected except when a greater number is required by law or by these rules. The vote on such suspension shall be taken by the yeas and nays and entered on the Journal. In case any rule herein shall not have been adhered to by Council, same shall be regarded as having been suspended.
RULE 12. ABSENCE OF RULES.
In the absence of any rule upon a matter of business, Council shall be governed by "Roberts Rules of Order".
RULE 13. READING OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS.
(a) All legislative action by Council shall be by ordinance or resolution, except when otherwise required by the Constitution or the laws of the State of Ohio, and shall be introduced in typed form. An affirmative vote of at least a majority of the members of Council shall be required for the passage of every ordinance or resolution.
(b) Ordinances and resolutions shall be read at three meetings of Council, unless waived by three-fourths of the members of Council. The first and second readings of non-emergency ordinances and resolutions shall be by title only and the third reading shall be in full unless a majority of Council approves reading by title only. Emergency ordinances and resolutions shall be read only once and such reading shall be by title only unless a majority of Council requests same to be read in full.
(c) On the passage of every ordinance or resolution, or the suspension of any rule contained in these Rules, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and each Councilperson's vote shall be entered upon the Journal.
(d) No ordinance or resolution shall contain more than one subject, which subject shall be clearly expressed in its title. No ordinance or resolution shall be revised or amended unless the ordinance or resolution superseding it contains the entire ordinance or resolution so revised or amended, or the section or sections so revised or amended. Having been revised or amended, the original ordinance, resolution, section or sections shall be expressly repealed.
(e) Unless otherwise provided by law, all ordinances, resolutions, statements, orders, proclamations and reports required by law to be published or posted shall be posted for a period of ten days after passage in a prominent public location in the Village as determined by Council.
(f) Emergency ordinances and resolutions shall contain a statement clearly evidencing the immediate necessity for such action and shall state the nature of the emergency. Passage of emergency ordinances and resolutions shall require the approval of four members of Council.
RULE 14. DISPENSING WITH READING OF MINUTES.
By a majority vote of all the members of Council present, the reading of the Minutes of prior Council meetings may be dispensed with, provided that such Minutes are in printed form and have been delivered to all Council members at least twenty-four hours prior to the current meeting date.
RULE 15. INVOCATION.
All Council meetings shall be opened with a word of prayer or the Pledge of Allegiance to be given by some suitable person; such person to be appointed by the President pro tempore of Council, either for the term of Council or for each Council meeting.
RULE 16. ATTENDANCE.
The following officials are also requested to attend all regular and special meetings of Council: the Village Solicitor, the Village Inspector, Village Engineer, Village Parks Manager, Village Zoning and Building Inspector, Village Marshal, and Village Consultants.
RULE 17. VILLAGE EMPLOYEE.
Council shall determine the number of officers, clerks and employees in each department of the Village government and shall fix their salaries.
RULE 19. COMMITTEES AND PROCEDURES.
(a) All procedures regarding the operation of committees of Council, their powers, duties, obligations and responsibilities, shall be in accordance with the General Committee Procedures and Finance Committee Guidelines as set forth in Section 111.03, Procedures for Internal Budgets and Purchases, as well as Section 111.01 and other relevant provisions of North Perry Village Code of Ordinances and these Rules of Council.
(b) Committee Chairpersons shall provide a written report setting forth all matters presently under consideration by the Committee to the Clerk of Council for dissemination to the Mayor and other members of Council prior to all regular Council meetings in accordance with the provisions of these Rules.
(c) Any matter that has been submitted directly or by referral of Council to a Committee of Council shall be considered at a public meeting of that Committee within thirty days of its submittal.
(d) Upon a determination by a Committee of Council regarding a matter submitted to it, that Committee's Chairperson shall notify, within twenty-four hours, the sponsor of such matter of the determination so made; and, at the next regular meeting of Council following the Committee meeting, the Chairperson shall advise Council of the Committee's determination and recommendation regarding the specific matter in question.
(e) Immediately upon the conclusion of a Committee Chairperson's report to Council, the minority member of that Committee shall be provided an opportunity to speak to the subject matter of such report.
(f) If, as a result of a determination by a Committee of Council, legislation is required, same shall be processed in accordance with the provisions of these Rules of Council.
(g) Any recommendation presented to Council by a Committee of Council is open to discussion, review and debate, and the final disposition of the matter is the sole and exclusive responsibility of Council.
RULE 20. MEMBER-VILLAGE PLANNING COMMISSION.
In accordance with the provisions of Ohio R.C. 713.01, a member of Council shall be elected by a majority vote of all members of Council to service as a member of the Planning Commission for the remainder of such member's Council term. The election shall be held at the first regular meeting of Council immediately following the expiration of the term of the previous Council member so elected to the Planning Commission or the occurrence of a vacancy in such position.
RULE 21. VILLAGE APPOINTMENTS; PROCEDURE.
The Mayor, Council, or any member of Council, while proceeding under the statutory or inherent powers of appointment, shall, in addition to complying with the mandates of any statute, resolution, ordinance, or rule, make any such appointment at an open meeting, as described in Chapter 105 of the Codified Ordinances and duly record such appointment in the minutes of such meeting as well as immediately providing written notice of such appointment to the Fiscal Officer who shall make a permanent record of same.
RULE 22. VISUAL AND/OR AUDIO RECORDING OF MEETINGS.
Whenever any member of the public desires to record, either through the use of a video and/or audio recording device, such person or persons shall utilize equipment that shall be operable without creating any noise that would interfere with any person sitting immediately adjacent to said equipment and such equipment shall be operated from the last row of seats in the structure where any meeting of Village Council, Planning Commission, a Council Committee meeting, or any other Board or Commission of the Village is meeting. Alternatively, such person or persons may record such proceedings by placement of the equipment behind the last row of seating in such room, so long as there are no wires or other connections that would interfere with members of the public or Village officials ingressing and egressing, in order to avoid any entanglement with such wires or cables. All such recording devices shall operate by battery and shall not be plugged into or operate based upon usage of any electrical outlet in any Village building or structure. In the event any person or persons desire to record any such proceeding, other than as set forth in such Rule, as a result of the number of people attending such proceeding, and the lack of space in such structure, the Mayor shall permit the relocation of such recording device to such location that does not unreasonably interfere with such proceedings, and in conformity with the spirit of this Rule. No recording devices shall be placed upon any desk or table utilized by any Village official attending said proceedings unless waived by a majority of the officials of the Village conducting such proceeding. This Rule shall not apply to recording devices utilized by Village officials who are conducting such proceeding.
(Ord. 11-06. Passed 6-1-11.)