RULE 1. MEETINGS.
(a) Regular Meetings: Council shall hold all regular meetings on the second Thursday of each month and same shall begin precisely at 7:00 p.m.
(b) Special Emergency Meetings: Special emergency 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 three members of Council. Any such request shall state the date and the specific subject(s) to be considered. All special emergency meetings shall begin precisely at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
(c) Work Sessions: Monthly work sessions may be called by the Mayor or three or more members of Council, and same shall be held the fourth Thursday of month as may be needed at the Village Hall or other location that Council shall deem appropriate to conduct such business. Council members are to keep this date open in order to be available for a called work session
(d) Council Committee and Subcommittee Meetings: Council Committee and Subcommittee meetings may be called by the Mayor or the Committee’s/Subcommittee’s respective Chair, and same shall be held at the Village Hall or other location that may be deemed appropriate to conduct such business. All Committee meetings involving members of Council shall first be called to be held on the fourth Thursday of the month.
RULE 2. PLACE OF MEETINGS.
All regular, work session, committee meetings and any special emergency Council meetings shall be held at the Village Hall and shall be open to the public.
RULE 3. QUORUM AND ABSENCES.
(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, work session, committee and emergency 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), upon prior written notification of same to Mayor; if, however, Mayor is unavailable, then to President pro Tempore.
(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, or the President Pro Tempore of Council as soon as possible when he/she anticipate he/she will be unable to attend any scheduled meeting, work session, committee or sub-committee meetings of Council. Failure to so notify the Mayor or Council President Pro Temp 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 Mayor 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, member of Council, Village official, or employee may be reached during such absence; and thereafter the Mayor or President Pro Tempore shall notify all other members of Council of such reported absence.
RULE 4. HOLIDAYS.
In the event that a regular Council meeting should fall on or near a legal holiday, Council, by 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, approvals, corrections, additions or deletions to previous meeting minutes; pre and post meeting time open to public with noted time limits (those having requested, in writing, prior to such meeting to be placed upon the agenda or in attendance at the meeting); reports and communications from the Mayor, Chief Fiscal officer’s reports; Council, Council Committee and/or Council sub-committee reports, new motions, ordinances and/or resolutions; Village Road Superintendent’s report; Village Chief of Police’s report; Village Solicitor’s report; introduction and/or consideration of legislation, Executive Sessions as may be needed; and, adjournment of the meeting to be approved by a majority of Council members present.
RULE 6. LEGISLATION AND AGENDA.
(a) Agenda:
(1) Any matter to be considered for discussion, debate or review, is to be submitted to the Chief Fiscal Officer no later than 12:00 noon of the Friday immediately preceding the regular Council meeting; however, such matter may still be discussed when introduced by any Council member or the Mayor. When submitting a matter, the name of the person submitting the request, the date submitted, and if applicable, the appropriate committee (or sub-committee) to which such matter should be referred.
(2) Any matter properly placed upon Council’s agenda and needing further consideration shall be referred to the appropriate Council Committee (or Sub-Committee) and considered at a public meeting of that committee within thirty (30) days of such referral.
(b) Legislation:
(1) Legislation may be introduced only by a Council member, the Mayor, or through a Committee (or sub-committee) of Council.
(2) To be placed before Council for its consideration, all proposed legislation is to be submitted in its final form with all necessary attachments and appendices to the Chief Fiscal Officer not later than 12:00 noon of the Friday immediately preceding the regular Council meeting.
(3) Proposed legislation shall be read by title only unless the Chief Fiscal Officer is requested by the Council member or Council Committee (or Sub-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 no later than 4:30 p.m. at least seven (7) business days preceding the Council meeting in which the legislation is to be presented.
(5) In the event that any Council legislation is unable to be submitted by the deadlines 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 7. 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 and resolutions shall be conducted by a voice vote to be called by the Chief Fiscal Officer with those voting in favor stating “yes” and those opposed stating “no.”
(d) Voting upon all ordinances shall be conducted by a “Roll-Call” voice vote to be called by the Chief Fiscal Officer with those voting in favor stating “yes” and those opposed stating “no.”
(e) Time shall be provided to “no” votes to explain their vote if they so choose to do so.
RULE 8. SPEAKING.
No member of the public shall be permitted to speak unless such person shall first have been properly recognized by the chair, and thereafter, stand and state his/her name and address. No member of the public shall speak longer than three (3) minutes at any one time without leave, nor shall he/she speak more than once to the same issue until every other member of the public desiring to speak shall have first had a reasonable opportunity to speak and said person is, again, recognized by the chair.
RULE 9. SUSPENSION OF RULES.
These rules, or any of them, may be temporarily suspended at any meeting of Council by a vote of not less than five (5) of all members elected thereto, except when a greater number is required by law or by these rules. In case any rule herein shall not have been adhered to by Council, same shall be regarded as having been suspended.
RULE 10. ABSENCE OF RULES.
In the absence of any rule upon a matter of business, Council shall be governed by “Roberts Rules of Order.”
RULE 11. ATTENDANCE.
The following officials are required to attend all regular and work sessions/special emergency meetings of Council: Village Solicitor, Zoning Inspector, Village Chief of Police, Village Chief Fiscal Officer, Village Road Commissioner and other Village staff/employees/appointed Board members and contracted consultants that are requested to be present.
RULE 12. COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES AND PROCEDURES.
(a) Committee (Sub-Committee) Chairpersons shall provide a written or verbal report setting forth all matters presently under consideration by the Committee (Sub-Committee) to the Chief Fiscal Officer for dissemination to the Mayor and other members of Council prior to all regular Council meetings in accordance with the provisions of these Rules.
(b) Any matter that has been submitted directly or by referral of Council to a Committee (Sub-Committee) of Council shall be considered at a public meeting of that Committee (Sub-Committee) within thirty days of its submittal.
(c) Upon a determination by a Committee (Sub-Committee) of Council regarding a matter submitted to it, that Committee’s (Sub-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’s (Sub-Committee’s) meeting, the Chairperson shall advise Council of the Committee’s (Sub-Committee’s) determination and recommendation regarding the specific matter in question.
(d) Immediately upon the conclusion of a Committee (Sub-Committee) Chairperson’s report to Council, the minority member of that Committee (Sub-Committee) shall be provided an opportunity to speak to the subject matter of such report.
(e) If, as a result of a determination by a Committee (Sub-Committee) of Council, legislation is required, same shall be processed in accordance with the provisions of these Rules of Council.
(f) Any recommendation presented to Council by a Committee (Sub-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 13. 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 Chief Fiscal Officer who shall make a permanent record of same.
(Ord. 2016-18. Passed 7-14-16; Ord. 2018-05. Passed 4-12-18.)