(A) Rule 1: Call to order; quorum.
(1) At the hour appointed for the meeting, the governing body shall be called to order by the presiding officer.
(2) The Town Clerk-Treasurer, or some competent member acting for the Clerk-Treasurer shall call the roll. If a quorum is present, the governing body shall proceed to the business which may come before it.
(3) A majority of the governing body shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting.
(B) Rule 2: Order of business. The order of business at each regular Council meeting shall be as follows, and shall not in any case be altered, except by consent of a majority of the members present voting thereon:
(1) Call to order. The Mayor, or in his or her absence, the Mayor pro tem, shall call the meeting to order precisely at the appointed hour.
(2) Roll call. Before proceeding with the order of business, the Clerk-Treasurer or his or her deputy shall call the roll of the members, and the names of those present shall be entered in the minutes.
(3) Reading of minutes. Unless a reading of the minutes of a Council meeting is requested by a member of the Council, the minutes of the preceding meeting, which have been furnished by the Clerk-Treasurer to each Council member, shall be considered approved if correct, and errors rectified, if any exist.
(4) Petitions. Petitions, remonstrances, communications, and comments or suggestions from citizens present shall be heard by the Council. All such remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a whole, and not to any member thereof. Such remarks shall be limited to a reasonable time and such determination will be in the discretion of the presiding officer. No member other than the individual speaking shall enter into the discussion without the permission of the presiding officer.
(5) Reports by officers. Town officials and/or committees shall present such reports as may be required by the Town Council.
(6) Old business. The Council shall consider any business that has been previously considered and which is still unfinished.
(7) New business. The Council shall consider any business not heretofore considered, including the introduction or reading of ordinances and resolutions.
(8) Other business. Prior to adjournment, the Council shall, as it deems necessary, consider such business as is not specifically provided for herein.
(9) Adjournment. The Council may, by a majority vote of those present, adjourn from time to time to a specific date and hour. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and decided without debate.
(C) Rule 3: Preservation of order. The Mayor or presiding officer shall preserve order, prevent personal reflections, confine members in debate to the question, and shall decide who shall be first heard when two members arise at the same time. Any member of the Council, when called to order by the presiding officer, shall at once suspend his or her remarks.
(D) Rule 4: Recognition by presiding officer. Each Council member, before speaking on any question, shall address himself or herself to the presiding officer by his or her proper title, and shall not proceed with his or her remarks until recognized and named by the presiding officer.
(E) Rule 5: Motions, generally. No question on a motion shall be debated or put to a vote unless the same be seconded. When a motion is seconded, it shall be stated by the presiding officer before debate or action thereon. Any motion shall be reduced to writing by the Council member making such motion, if the presiding officer or Council member shall ask it.
(F) Rule 6: Division of question. If the question before the Council contains more than one distinct proposition, any Council member may have the same divided.
(G) Rule 7: Reason for voting. Any member of the Council may state his or her reason for voting upon any question either immediately before or immediately after the vote is taken, but he or she shall confine his or her remarks to the subject under consideration.
(H) Rule 8: Voting Council member. Each member of the Council who shall be present when a question is to be voted upon shall vote thereon, unless excused therefrom by the Council. He or she may, before the vote is called for, give his or her reasons for not voting. If he or she is directly interested in the question, he or she shall not vote.
(I) Rule 9: Record of ayes and nays. On the question of the passage of an ordinance or resolution, the vote of the Council shall be taken by ayes and nays and a record of the same shall be made upon the journal, which shall show how each member voted.
(J) Rule 10: Call for ayes and nays; record; change of vote. The ayes and nays shall be taken at the request of a Council member, and a record of the same, together with the name of the Council member calling for the division, shall be entered upon the journal, which shall show how each member voted. Any member may change his or her vote previous to the announcement of the vote of the Council.
(K) Rule 11: Precedence of subsidiary motions.
(1) When a question is before the Council, no motion shall be received, except as herein specified, which motion shall have precedence in the order stated as follows:
(a) To adjourn;
(b) The previous question;
(c) To lay on the table;
(d) To close debate at specified time;
(e) To especially assign to a time certain;
(f) To refer to a committee; and
(g) To amend.
(2) These several motions shall not be applied to each other, except that the motion to assign, refer, amend, or to close debate at a specified time may be amended; and the previous question may be demanded upon the amendment, which motion shall be decided without debate. When one of these motions has been made, none of the others inferior to it in precedence shall be made, and in proceeding to vote, motions pending shall be put in the order of their rank as above arranged. No motion or proposition of a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color or amendment.
(L) Rule 12: Motion to adjourn.
(1) A motion to adjourn the Council shall always be in order, except:
(a) When a member is in possession of the floor;
(b) While a vote is being taken;
(c) When adjournment was the last preceding motion; or
(d) When it has been decided that the previous question shall be taken.
(2) A motion simply to adjourn cannot be amended, but a motion to adjourn to a time named may be amended and is open to debate.
(M) Rule 13: Previous question.
(1) The previous question shall be in this form: “Shall the main question now be put?” It shall only be admitted when demanded by a majority of the members present, and its effect shall be to put an end to all debate and bring the Council to a direct vote, first upon pending amendments, and then upon the main question.
(2) When the previous question is decided in the negative, it shall leave the main question under debate for the remainder of the meeting unless sooner disposed of by taking the question, or in some other manner.
(N) Rule 14: Motion to lay on the table.
(1) A motion to simply lay a question on the table is not debatable. A motion to take the subject matter from the table may be proposed and carried into effect; provided, that two-thirds of the Council members present vote in favor thereof.
(2) A motion to lay any particular proposition on the table shall apply to that proposition only.
(O) Rule 15: Special order of business.
(1) Any matter before the Council may be set down as a special order of business at a certain time if two-thirds of the Council members present vote in the affirmative, but not otherwise.
(2) When such time arrives, if the Council is in session, the presiding officer or any Council member may call up such special order, which shall then be considered.
(P) Rule 16: Motion to amend.
(1) A motion to amend an amendment shall be in order, but one to amend an amendment to an amendment shall not be entertained.
(2) An amendment modifying the intention of a motion shall be in order, but an amendment relating to a different subject shall not be in order.
(Q) Rule 17: Motion to strike out and insert. On an amendment to “strike out and insert,” the paragraph or sentence to be amended shall be first read as it stands, then the words proposed to be struck out, and then those proposed to be inserted, and finally, the paragraph or sentence as it would stand if so amended.
(R) Rule 18: Reconsideration.
(1) A vote or question may be considered at any time during the same meeting, or at the first regular meeting held thereafter.
(2) A motion for reconsideration being once made and decided in the negative shall not be renewed, nor shall a vote to reconsider be reconsidered.
(3) A motion to reconsider must be made and seconded by a member who voted in the majority.
(S) Rule 19: Petitions and communications.
(1) Petitions, memorials, and all communications and papers addressed to the Council, Mayor, or presiding officer, or presented by a Council member in his or her place, may be read by the Town Clerk-Treasurer at the request of a Council member or the presiding officer.
(2) All petitions, memorials, communications, and papers, which may be filed with, or delivered to, the Town Clerk-Treasurer prior to the meeting of the Council, shall be laid upon the desk of the Mayor or presiding officer.
(T) Rule 20: Record of names of movers of motions. In all cases where a motion is entered upon the journal of the Council, the name of the member moving the same shall also be entered.
(U) Rule 21: Minutes of proceedings.
(1) The Town Clerk-Treasurer shall keep a minute book of the proceedings of the Council, and shall cause Council members and officers of the town to be informed of such duties as they may be charged with by the Council from time to time, and he or she shall perform such other duties as appertain to him or her as Town Clerk-Treasurer. He or she shall not allow the minute book, records, accounts, or papers to be taken from his or her table or out of his or her custody, except by the regular mode of business of the Council, or by an officer authorized so to do; and if any paper in his or her charge shall be missing, he or she shall report the fact to the presiding officer at once, in order that the loss may be investigated.
(2) The minutes book of the proceedings shall be open to the public for inspection at all reasonable times.
(V) Rule 22: Allowance of bills or claims. No bills or claims against the town shall be allowed except as authorized by written requisition, except salaries of town officials, and until approved by a majority of the Council.
(Prior Code, § 1-5-6)