(a) Purpose. These rules shall be used by the Council of the Village of Shawnee Hills in order to conduct its business in an orderly and lawful manner. All ordinances and resolutions or parts of all ordinances and resolutions inconsistent herewith be and are hereby repealed and this section shall take effect according to law.
(b) Definitions.
(1) Quorum: A quorum at any meeting of Council shall consist of a majority of members of Council.
(2) Majority: Four members of Council shall constitute a majority for the normal transaction of business.
(3) Two-third majority: A two- thirds majority shall mean four (4) members of Council.
(4) Three-fourths majority: A three-fourths majority shall mean five (5) members of Council.
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
(c) (1) Standing Committees. Council shall have the following standing committees with the responsibilities and set forth below:
A. Finance Committee. Review, investigate, and recommend Council action in all fiscal matters before Council; including budgets, appropriations, taxes, assessments, employee wages and relations, expenditures and general monetary policy which shall include investigating grant opportunities and other special assignments.
B. Utilities, Service, and Technology (UST) Committee. Review, investigate and recommend Council action in all matters regarding public utilities. This includes, but shall not be limited to, the sanitary sewers, Ohio Edison Electric Co., Del Co Water Co., telephone or cellular service providers, and natural gas companies. Also review, investigate, and recommend Council action in all matters of streets, storm sewers, recreational facilities, beautification, public park lands, and other special assignments. Also review, investigate, and recommend Council action in all matters related to digital/electronic information and technology. This includes, but shall not be limited to, the planning, development, and/or implementation of policies, procedures, and technology (existing and emerging hardware or software) necessary to help the Village communicate internally and externally.
C. Safety Committee. Review, investigate, and recommend Council action in all matters of public buildings, traffic safety, police protection, fire protection, civil defense, building code and inspection, and other special assignments.
D. Rules Committee. Review, investigate, and recommend all amendments to the Rules of Council. The Rules Committee shall meet at least once each year to review the standing Rules of Council.
E. Community Advisory (CA) Committee. Gather and review information about public safety concerns in the Village; work with the Police Department to develop strategies to solve public safety problems in the Village; help generate and recommend plans for improving the relationship between the Police Department and the community; and participate in community outreach to, among other things, solicit input from community members, including youth from the community. The CAC shall have five (5) members - two
members of the Safety Committee, two Village residents (one from each side of the Village if possible), and one local business owner. The CAC shall meet quarterly.
F. Public Art Steering (PAS) Committee. Review and provide input and make recommendations, not final decisions, to the Village Administration regarding proposals and solicitations for Village-owned or commercial public art for sites identified in the Public Art Master Plan. To assist the PAS, the Village Administrator may solicit input and participation from Village stakeholders, including, but not limited to, neighborhood groups and associations, members of the development and arts communities, Village staff, and any other members of the community who may provide input on public art pieces commissioned. The Village Administrator may request the PAS to participate in the formation and drafting of requests for qualifications, request for proposals, calls for artists, or other solicitation documents to guide eligible artists in applying for Village arts commissions and solicitations for public art. Additionally, the PAS may provide advice in the formation and update of the Public Art Master Plan.
G. The President Pro Tempore shall appoint a representative and alternate to the Delaware County Regional Planning Commission and confirmed by a majority vote of Council. The appointment shall be effective for the calendar year of the appointment. The appointment shall be limited to a member of Council, a member of Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning and Zoning Commission, or the Architectural Board of Review. The appointed representative may be removed at any time by a majority vote of Council.
(Ord. 12-2024. Passed 4-8-24.)
(2) Special committees. The President Pro Tempore may from time to time appoint special committees for limited purposes, subject to the approval of a majority of Council. The statement of purpose for all special committees shall contain a section setting forth the length of time required to complete their special purpose.
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99; Ord. 20-99. Passed 12-13-99.)
(3) Composition of committees. The Finance, UST, Safety, Rules, and CA Committees shall consist of not less than two members of Council, appointed by the President Pro Tempore and approved by a majority vote of Council. The Mayor shall be an ex-officio member of these committees and shall have a vote only in the case of a tie vote by the committee members. The Clerk shall be a non- voting member of the Finance Committee.
The PAS Committee shall consist of five members appointed by the President Pro Tempore and approved by a majority vote of Council. One of the five members should be a visual art professional, which means any of the following: professional artist in any medium, curator, art critic, art historian, arts educator, architect, or other design professional with a visual arts background or fine art collector. One member should be a practicing professional artist in any medium. The other members shall be at-large members. Members shall serve two-year, staggered terms.
(Ord. 12-2024. Passed 4-8-24.)
(4) Duties of committee chairman. The Chairman shall:
A. Appoint a vice-chairman to serve in the chairman's absence.
B. Receive all items for consideration by the committee. Prepare an agenda for each committee meeting.
C. Assign each new piece of legislation which is to be considered by a committee, to members of the committee who shall be the "sponsor" of the legislation. The sponsor shall present an overview of the proposed legislation at the first reading.
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
D. Be responsible for the delivery, not less than two days before the next scheduled meeting, of the agenda to the Clerk-Treasurer for distribution. (Ord. 09-2004. Passed 7-26-04.)
E. Provide copies of whatever supporting material is available, that is germane to the discussion of items on the agenda. If supporting material is unchanged between meetings it need be provided only upon its first availability. Whenever possible, supporting material shall be delivered with the agenda.
F. Be responsible for maintaining an up to date status of all legislation directed to the committee until such time as legislation has received final approval or disapproval of Council or is declared null and void.
G. Maintain the status of legislation by inclusion of all active legislation as agenda discussion items for every committee meeting without exception. Should a piece of legislation become inactive whether tabled, held in committee or withdrawn by an applicant, such information will be noted in the committee agenda following the discussion items including the reason for inactivity.
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
H. When having been directed by the presiding officer of Council to conduct a study, review, investigation, or to make recommendations, the Committee and Committee Chairman shall assure that the subject matter is continued on the committee agenda as an active discussion item until such time as the committee report is completed and submitted to Council. Upon reference by the presiding officer to the Committee, Council shall table the legislation, if such legislation is currently on the Village agenda. Such items or legislation may be removed from the table by simple majority vote of Council. (Ord. 23-2006. Passed 8-28-06.)
I. If desired, appoint as many citizen advisory members as may be necessary, however, no citizen advisory members shall vote on the recommendations of the committee but may concur in either the majority or minority reports.
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
J. Report Committee meetings at a regular Council meeting following a Committee meeting. The Committees report will serve as meeting minutes. This will assure delivery of Committee meeting minutes to the Clerk of Council and the public.
(Ord. 12-2005. Passed 10-24-05.)
(5) Committee meetings. Meetings of all committees of Council shall be public meetings and whenever possible shall be held in public buildings, however, each committee by a majority of is voting members may elect to hold meetings wherever it deems necessary to properly further its assigned purpose, provided the committee complies with the Ohio Revised Code provisions regarding open meeting requirements. All committee meetings will be called by the Chairman of such committee or by two voting members giving notice of the date, time and place to all members of the committee, Mayor, Council members and Clerk. The Clerk shall notify all members of Council of all committee meetings. Each committee may adopt its own rules of order; however in the absence of such rules, the parliamentary procedure set forth in Robert's Rules of Order, newly revised, shall prevail.
The Chairperson or each committee, except the Chairperson of the Rules Committee whose meetings are required as set forth herein may establish a regular monthly meeting time and date so as to not have any conflicting times and dates for the meetings of each committee. The Clerk shall post these meeting times and dates.
(Ord. 14-2016. Passed 8-8-16.)
(Ord. 14-2016. Passed 8-8-16.)
(d) Agenda.
(1) Preparation. The agenda of all meetings of Council shall be prepared by the Clerk under the guidance of the Mayor. No item requiring action may be placed on the agenda later than 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday before a regular meeting and not less than 24 hours prior to the time of a special meeting. The agenda shall indicate the name of the sponsor(s) of any ordinance or resolution which will be presented to Council.
(2) Delivery. It shall be the responsibility of the Clerk to be assured that the agenda is delivered to all members of Council, Mayor and Administration mailboxes in the Council room by noon on the Friday before a regular meeting and not less than 24 hours prior to the time of the special meeting.
(3) Changes. Any change to the published agenda shall not be made other than by a majority vote in Council on the motion to amend which shall not be debatable except for a brief statement of necessity by the maker of the motion.
(4) Order of business. The agenda shall reflect the following order of business. It is noted that this section is directory in nature and is not mandatory and is subject to the discretion of the presiding officer.
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
A. Call to Order
B. Pledge of Allegiance
C. Roll Call
D. Approval of Minutes of previous meeting
E. Approval of agenda
F. Solicitor
G. Engineer
H. Village Administrator
I. Visitors
J. Communications
K. Mayor’s report
L. Pro tem report
M. Legislative Actions
First Readings
Second Readings
Third Readings
N. Committee reports
Finance Rules
Service
Safety Public Utilities
O. Treasurer’s Report
P. Approval to pay the bills
Q. Miscellaneous Business
R. Adjournment.
(Ord. 09-2004. Passed 7-26-04; Ord. 23-2006. Passed 8-28-06.)
(5) Suspension. Any provision of this section except as noted in subsection (4) hereof, may be suspended by an affirmative vote of a three-fourths majority of Council. (Ord. 03-2003. Passed 12-10-03.)
(6) Minutes. The Clerk shall prepare and distribute minutes by NOON the Friday before the next meeting. The meeting minutes of the Council of Shawnee Hills shall be posted on the Village website, upon council approval and before the next regularly scheduled meeting that follows the meeting in which the minutes were approved.
(Ord. 23-2006. Passed 8-28-06.)
(e) Schedule.
(1) Schedule of Council affairs. Council shall maintain a schedule of Council affairs including therein the times, dates and places of all regularly scheduled meetings of Council, special meetings as they become necessary, regular meetings and public hearings of standing committees, and wherever possible, meetings of special committees.
(2) Responsibility. The Clerk of Council shall prepare, maintain and revise the schedule of Council affairs under the direction of the Mayor and President of Council. An up-to-date copy of the schedule shall be available to the general public at all times in the office of the Clerk of Council.
(f) Rules Governing Deliberations. All deliberations of Council shall be governed by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Ohio, the Ohio Revised Code, duly enacted ordinances and resolutions of the Municipality, the Rules of Council as contained herein, and in those areas of parliamentary procedure not specifically set forth in the foregoing documents by Robert's Rules of Order, newly revised.
(g) Legislation.
(1) Ordinances. The term "ordinance" refers to the type of action by Council which is of a general or permanent nature, creates a right, grants a franchise or involves the expenditure of money, the levying of a tax, or authorizes the purchase, lease, sale or transfer of property. Ordinances shall be presented to Council in writing and shall have the name of the sponsors. Ordinances may be placed on the agenda when submitted by a member of Council following Committee review or at any time by the Mayor, a Council Member or Administrator.
(2) Resolutions. The term "resolution" is used in connection with the action of Council in passing legislation generally referred to a declaration of intent or purpose, the authorization of some temporary act or administrative procedure. A resolution may initiate, direct or carry out administrative duties and functions which are granted to Council under statutory laws or Municipal ordinances. Resolutions shall be presented to Council in writing and shall have the name of the sponsors. Resolutions may be placed on the agenda when submitted by a member of the Council following Committee review, or at any time by the Mayor, a Council Member or Administrator.
(3) Suspension of rules. Suspension of rules regarding reading of ordinances or resolutions shall be as provided in the Ohio Revised Code. When a motion is properly made and seconded to suspend the rule requiring reading at three separate meeting days, no debate shall be permitted on the motion.
(4) Emergency legislation. Emergency legislation shall be enacted as provided by the Ohio Revised Code.
(5) Effective date. The effective date of legislation shall be as provided by the Ohio Revised Code.
(6) Zoning ordinances. Upon submission of a zoning ordinance or any amendments thereto, the Planning Commission shall hear and review the matter for approval, disapproval or recommendations and the Commission is allowed not less than thirty days for consideration and report. Council shall hold a public hearing on the zoning ordinance or amendment with notice of the time and place as required by the Ohio R. C. 713.12. No such ordinance or amendment which violates, differs from or departs from the Planning Commission recommendations, plan or report shall take effect unless passed by not less then three-fourths of the full membership of Council. No such ordinance or amendment which agrees with the recommendation, plan or report of the Planning Commission shall take effect unless passed by a majority of members elected to Council.
(Ord. 23-2006. Passed 8-28-06.)
(7) Pending legislation.
A. All ordinances and/or resolutions that have been tabled or postponed in excess of twelve months shall be considered null and void, and any further action on the subjects covered shall be reintroduced as new legislation.
B. Any ordinances and/or resolutions tabled to a date indefinite or definite shall be removed from the table upon a motion to remove the ordinance and /or resolution from the table with appropriate second and upon passage by a majority of Council. Any ordinance and/or resolution so removed from the table shall receive the same procedural or legislative reading, subject to the provision of subsection (7)A. hereof that such ordinance and/or resolution would have received had it not been tabled. Consequently for purposes of illustration, an ordinance or resolution which is tabled prior to its first procedural reading upon reading removed from the table shall receive its first procedural reading.
(8) Amending legislation. Any new language or any additions to existing ordinances or resolutions shall be printed in capital letters or bold so that any change is readily apparent.
(h) Conduct of Discussion.
(1) Policy. When an ordinance, resolution, or motion is before Council, an adequate opportunity shall be provided for all members of Council to be heard. However, in order to expedite business and to assure that a minority cannot effectively abrogate the desire of the majority by dominating the floor and thus prevent a vote, the rules of discussion contained in the following requirements are set forth as the official policy of Council.
(2) Conduct of presiding officer. The Presiding Officer shall recognize members and other persons who wish to address Council, prior to such member or person taking the floor. All persons not personally known by Council shall furnish their name, address, and the reason for their appearance upon request of the Presiding officer prior to being recognized. The Presiding Officer may utilize the following rules when exercising his control of the discussion of any ordinance, resolution or motion:
A. No member or person shall be permitted to speak longer than five minutes at any one time;
B. No member or person shall be permitted to speak more than two times for or against the proposition under consideration;
C. While members may yield to other members, the limitations set forth in subsection (2)A. and B. hereof shall prevail;
D. No member or person shall be permitted to speak the second time until all members have been heard at least once or a member who has not been heard wishes the floor;
E. The Presiding Officer, subject to challenge by Council, may refuse the floor to any member or person where the tactics are obviously dilatory and not in the best interest of Council;
F. The above rules may be suspended to permit unlimited debate by a vote of three-fourths majority of Council.
(Ord. 03-2003. Passed 12-10-03.)
(3) Excusal during meeting. No member shall be excused from attendance while Council is in session except upon permission of the Presiding Officer.
(Ord. 09-2004. Passed 7-26-04.)
(i) Voting.
(1) Voting. Except as otherwise provided in these rules or by law, all ordinances and resolutions will be voted upon in open Council, and shall be oral roll call votes. The roll call voting shall be by sponsors first and than for the remaining members of Council as called by the Clerk. The Clerk shall call the roll and each Council member will respond either "aye" or "yes", "nay" or "no", or "abstain". No other comment shall be considered proper during the vote. The Clerk shall record the vote and the same shall be preserved in the minutes of the meeting. After the vote is complete, the Presiding Officer shall disclose the results thereof. Except as otherwise provided herein, or by law, a majority shall carry any resolution, ordinance, or motion. The Mayor shall have no vote except as provided by the Ohio Revised Code in a tie vote. The President of Council shall have a vote while conducting a Council meeting. No question concerning the vote of any member will be proper after the vote is called.
(2) Abstaining vote. No member shall be questioned concerning the necessity of an abstaining vote. A decision to abstain is a matter personal to each member and under no condition may this action be challenged. Each member is urged to use his careful discretion in this matter. An abstaining vote shall be treated as neither a positive nor a negative vote and a member who casts an abstaining vote shall not be recorded as voting on either side of the questions.
(j) Amendments of Rules; Adoption and Reenactment. The rules of Council as established in this section may be amended by legislation adopted by a majority of Council after proper action by the Rules Committee.
(k) Acting Clerk. In the emergency absence of the Clerk, the Presiding Officer shall have the authority to appoint an elected official to perform those duties of the Clerk, as Acting Clerk, per the Ohio Revised Code.
(l) Public Notices.
(1) Public notices are placed at:
The Village Municipal Building,
The Civic Association Building,
El Vaquero Restaurant.
As alternatives: Strader’s Garden Center, Experienced Possessions and Cuttin’ Up Barber Shop.
(Ord. 23-2006. Passed 8-28-06.)
(Ord. 23-2006. Passed 8-28-06.)
(2) The agenda will be posted in the posting places prior to each Council meeting and the minutes of each Council meeting will be posted for two weeks after approval by Council.
(Ord. 03-2003. Passed 2-10-03.)
(m) Newspapers Designated for Legal Publication. The Delaware Gazette and the Columbus Dispatch are hereby designated as newspapers in which legal publications required by law may be published.
(n) Executive Sessions.
(1) No tape recorders shall be permitted in Executive Session.
(2) No votes shall be taken in Executive Session as required by Ohio law.
(o) Order and Decorum. The Presiding Officer of Council shall preserve order and decorum and confine members in debate to the question. He/she may, in common with any member call any member to order who shall violate any of the rules and shall, when in the chair, decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the Council on the demand of two members. On such appeal there shall be no debate, but the members making the appeal may briefly state his reasons for the same, and the Presiding Officer shall have the same right to a similar statement. A majority vote of Council shall decide the appeal.
The Presiding Officer shall have the opportunity to express opinions in an impartial manner. The Presiding Officer's function is solely to see that the business properly brought before Council is conducted in an orderly manner, and that the members of Council observe the rules of procedure.
(p) Absences. Every member of Council is expected to attend all Council and assigned committee meetings. If a member becomes aware his or her need to miss a meeting, they will be required to notify the Mayor of the necessity and file with the Mayor a written copy of any committee reports he or she would have given at the meeting.
Council may punish or expel any member for disorderly conduct or a violation of its rules and declare the seat vacant for absence without valid excuse where such absence has continued for two months. No expulsion shall take place without the concurrence of two-thirds of all members elected and until the member has been notified of the charges against him and has had an opportunity to be heard as required by State law.
(Ord. 1-99. Passed 3-8-99.)
(q) President Pro Tempore. The President Pro Tempore shall act as liaison between the Council and the Executive branches where necessary.
(Ord. 20-99. Passed 12-13-99.)