(A) Establishment. The City Council is responsible for the creation and management of all ad hoc committees for the city. The City Council shall fix the membership number of each committee unless otherwise prescribed by state statute. The City Council shall exercise due diligence in its selection of committee members. The City Council shall strive to have committee membership to represent a cross-section of the city to the extent possible, consistent with the goals and operations of the committee.
(B) Purpose. All committees or boards required by the General Statutes shall perform the duties and functions required by the statutes. Anything in this section relating to such committees is superseded by the statutory requirements. Committees and appointees thereto shall uphold city policies pertaining to the committee.
(C) Ad hoc committee membership. Any full-time resident of the city or its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is eligible to serve on appointed ad hoc committees. The City Council may reject any and all applicants subject to its discretion. No person may be appointed to serve on, or in any way be associated with, any committee, if that person has an unpaid financial obligation to the city. Such obligations include past due taxes, delinquent water and sewer debt in arrears of more than 60 days, and unpaid citations unless under contest or other obligations as may be determined by the City Council. A person becomes eligible to serve upon certification by the city’s Finance Director or City Clerk that all financial obligations to the city have been satisfied. No person may be appointed to, or serve on any committee except upon submittal of proper application and appointment by a vote of the City Council. Any person serving on an appointed committee at the time this subchapter is adopted, may be considered to continue serving at the discretion of City Council. No person may serve upon more than three committees at one time nor serve as Chairperson of more than one committee.
(D) Ad hoc committee terms and vacancies. All committee members for ad hoc committees have no set term limits. Committee members are required to attend all regularly scheduled committee meetings unless excused by the committee chair or a vote of the committee. Three unexcused absences shall be deemed a resignation from the committee and reported as such to the City Clerk so to be reported to the City Council. Should a vacancy arise, the committee Chairperson shall report the vacancy to the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall advertise for volunteers to submit applications to serve on the committee in the event that a vacancy occurs. The City Clerk shall submit the application(s) to the City Council so the Council may consider the applicants in open session at a regular scheduled meeting. The City Council may, at its discretion, replace any committee member(s) who violate city policies or conducts themselves in any way detrimental to the city, or the purpose of the committee. All committees and boards, unless otherwise specified by city ordinance or state statute, are ad hoc and serve at the pleasure of City Council.
(E) Ad hoc committee responsibilities. Committees, commissions or boards established by state statute shall perform the duties and functions required by the statute. Committees shall conduct regularly scheduled meetings, open to the public, with meeting minutes and actions recorded. Committees shall diligently pursue the objective(s) or task(s) assigned by the City Council and shall regularly report to the City Council on the progress of its work. Annually, and if applicable, committees shall prepare and submit to the City Council a budget for its projected initiatives. Committees shall at all times conduct its business with proper decorum and with due regard to the greater good of the city. Committees shall, at the beginning of each calendar year, submit to the City Clerk a list of all current committee members, member contact information and the regular meeting date, time and location.
(F) Officers and duties. Ad hoc committees shall organize at its first meeting during which they shall elect among its members a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary. There shall be no term limits applied to committee officers. The Chairperson shall decide upon all points of order and procedure unless otherwise directed by a majority vote of the committee. The Chairperson shall also be the committee member designated to be the spokesperson of the committee and to liaison with an assigned city staff member for the purpose of the committee. The Vice- Chairperson shall serve as the Acting Chairperson in the Chairperson’s absence and shall, at such times, have the powers and duties as the Chairperson. The Secretary shall keep all records for the committee, and shall produce and keep minutes of each meeting recording therein: the identities of attending and absent members; important facts pertaining to the meeting; actions taken by the committee; and the votes of all members upon any matter. Copies of the minutes for each meeting shall be approved by a majority vote of the committee and timely filed with the City Clerk. The Secretary shall notify members of pending meetings and the agendas, and in conjunction with the City Clerk and the assigned city staff member to the committee, arrange for all legally required notices. Subject to the majority vote of the committee, the assigned city staff member may also serve as the Secretary to the committee.
(1) Cancellation of meetings. In the event that there is not any new or old business to come before the committee, or if members notify the Chairperson in advance that they cannot attend such that a quorum will not be possible for the purposes to conduct business for the city, then the Chairperson may cancel a meeting by given written notice of the cancellation to committee members and the City Clerk not less than 24 hours before the time set for the meeting. For the purposes of this division (F)(1), electronic mail shall suffice as the requisite for written notice.
(2) Quorum. A majority of the voting membership of the committee, excluding vacant seats, shall constitute a quorum. A member who has withdrawn from a meeting without being excused by majority vote of the remaining members then present shall be counted as present for determining whether a quorum exists.
(3) Voting. A majority vote of the members present and voting shall decide matters before the committee and each member shall vote either “yes” or “no” on any such matter. Every member may vote on any matter unless disqualified or recused. Members who are disqualified or have recused themselves, for reasons as described in division (G) below, may only be excused from voting by a majority vote of the membership then present and voting. Without being so excused, the disqualified or recused member’s vote shall be recorded as a “yes” vote.
(4) Conduct of meetings. All committee meetings shall have an agenda. The agenda shall, at a minimum, consist of the following:
(a) Date/time/place;
(b) Roll call;
(c) Adoption of agenda;
(d) Approval of minutes from the previous meeting;
(e) Business (unfinished and new);
(f) Reports (if applicable); and
(g) Adjournment.
(5) Public hearings. Public hearings are to be coordinated with the assigned city staff member and the City Clerk. Public hearings required by law or deemed advisable by an ad hoc committee shall be conducted during a regular committee meeting and shall be organized by a motion adopted by the committee fixing the subject, date, place and time of the hearing. All applicable requirements of the Open Meetings Law, being G.S. Ch. 143, Article 33C and other legal authorities shall apply to the meeting during which the public hearing is conducted. A public hearing for which any required notice has been given may be continued by a proper notice to recess to a time and place certain without further legal advertisement.
(6) Public comments to an ad hoc committee. Any person, entity or group wishing to address an ad hoc committee shall make a request to the committee’s assigned staff member or to the City Clerk to be on the ad hoc committee’s agenda for that purpose. This request shall be forwarded to the Chairperson; provided that the committee retains the discretionary authority, by majority vote, whether it will hear from the requestor.
(G) Conflicts of interest. If a committee member has a financial, personal or employment related interest in an issue that comes before the committee, the member shall notify the committee Chair and the committee members of such interest and be excused from voting on the matter. Any question relating to a potential conflict of interest should be referred to the City Attorney for advice and counsel.
(H) Committees and the State Open Meetings Law. All committees serving the city are subject to the State Open Meetings Law, being G.S. Ch. 143, Article 33C. Committees may conduct special meetings but such meetings must be advertised as required by the General Statutes. It is the intent of the city that the City Council, its Boards and ad hoc committees will comply with the letter and spirit of the Open Meetings Law, being G.S. Ch. 143, Article 33C. Boards and ad hoc committees, appointed by the City Council, are prohibited in the conduct of “closed” or “executive” session. Boards and ad hoc committees, appointed by the City Council, shall conduct regularly scheduled meetings, open to the public, with meeting records and minutes recorded. A copy of these minutes shall be submitted to the City Clerk.
(I) Ad hoc committee budgets and expenditure of funds. At the beginning of each budget cycle, the Chair of each committee shall submit to the city’s Finance Director a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Such budgets shall include all expected expenditures and a recommended source of funding whether it is receipts for expected activities, grants or the revenue of the city. No committee may expend funds except upon the approval of the Finance Director or the issuance of a proper purchase procedure and contracts by city staff. All city purchasing procedures and state requirements in the solicitation of bids and the issuance of purchasing procedures and contracts shall be followed. Committees shall not financially obligate the city except as authorized by an approved appropriation or purchase document that has been properly approved and executed.
(J) Boards, commissions and committees exempted from being an ad hoc committee.
(1) Boards, commissions and committees established by the General Statutes are exempted from this section.
(2) The following boards, commissions and committees list below and addressed by city ordinance are exempted and shall continue to be until its existence is repealed:
(a) Planning Board;
(b) Board of Adjustment;
(c) Recreation Advisory Committee;
(d) Residential Rental Remedial Action Board;
(e) City Housing Authority Board;
(f) City ABC Board; and
(g) City Firefighters Relief Fund Board of Trustees.
(Ord. 2016-8-9-42, passed 9-13-2016)