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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 99-22 ORIGINAL CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS RESOLUTION NO. WHEREAS, the City Council has adopted Roberts Rules of Order for the conduct of sessions, with the Mayor serving as Chairman; and WHEREAS, the City Council does agree that it is in the best interest of all concerned to establish guidelines for the preparation of an agenda for City Council meetings; and WHEREAS, the City Council does agree that a consent agenda would expedite the business matters of the Council; and WHEREAS, the City Council feels that citizens do have a right to be heard at Public Meetings and a procedure to insure this right should be established; and WHEREAS, the Home Rule Charter does not provide a procedure for the agenda preparation or for Citizen Input; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS: SECTION I - DEFINITIONS 1. Regular Sessions - business meetings held on the first and third Monday each month. 2. Special Sessions - business meetings which are not Regular Sessions. 3. Work Sessions - meetings called for the exchange of information only. 4. Agenda Packets - Supporting information for agenda items. 5. Routine Business - Items of normal City business, including: canvassing an election, authorizing a contract, zoning which has previously been discussed at a Public Hearing, approval of minutes, grant deeds, grant of easements, final reading and adoption of ordinances, auditor's reports as to cash count, standard subdivision agreements, calls for bids, reports of administrative actions and proposals, leases and agreements previously approved in principle. SECTION II - AGENDA PREPARATION 1. Regular Sessions shall be posted by the Thursday before said meeting, at 5:00 p.m. Agenda packets shall also be completed and made available by this time. 2. The deadline for placing an item on the agenda is the Wednesday before said meeting at 12:00 Noon. Items placed on the agenda must be of sufficient clarity to enable the general public to determine the nature of the issue for consideration and the type of Council action required. 3. All new ordinances (except those dealing with routine business) shall be brought before Council once for discussion only, and a second time for Council consideration. The second reading of such ordinances may be placed on the Consent Agenda for Council action. 4. Items may be placed on the agenda by the following: a. The Mayor or any Council member, provided the appropriate back-up information is presented in accordance with SEC II 2. b. The City Manager or City Secretary for items dealing with the operations or administration of their respective job functions. 5. Matters that have been voted on by the City Council shall not be placed on the agenda for reconsideration within six months, unless a member of council on the prevailing side, or a council member appointed or elected to council since the matter was considered, makes a written request to reconsider the matter in question. 6. Matters voted on by the City Council which end in a tie vote, shall automatically be placed on each subsequent Council agenda until a decision is made. 7. The Mayor can verbally advise the City Secretary to remove an item from an agenda for one meeting only. All such items so removed shall be reported to the Council with their regular packet. 8. An item titled "Citizen Input" shall be included at the beginning of each Regular Session agenda to provide a time for comments by the public regarding issues which are not included on the agenda for that meeting. SECTION III - CONSENT AGENDA Routine business which is brought before Council will be consolidated under an agenda item called "Consent Agenda". All items appearing under "Consent Agenda" shall be approved, adopted, accepted, etc., by one motion of the Council. If the consent agenda contains minutes of meetings which one or more council members did not attend, an abstention will be recorded for those members. The agenda will contain the names of those absent from each meeting in parentheses after the meeting date to officially record the abstention. Items may be removed from the Consent Agenda by the Mayor, a Council Member, or a member of the Public for separate discussion and action. 2 SECTION IV - PUBLIC INPUT DURING MEETINGS 1. CONDUCT a. Conversations between or among audience members should be conducted outside the meeting room. Attendees will refrain from loud private conversations while Council is in session. b. Placards, banners or signs will not be permitted in the Council Chamber or in any other room in which the City Council is meeting. Exhibits, displays, and visual aids used in connection with presentations to the City Council, however, are permitted. c. Only City Council members and City staff may step to the dais. If a handout needs to be presented to the Council, it must be given to the City Secretary, who will make distribution. d. All remarks and questions shall be made to the Mayor or City Council as a whole, and not to individual Council members. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT a. Any person who wishes to address the Council must first register with the City Secretary by submitting a completed "Public Input" form. This form may be used by citizens to show their support or opposition to an agenda item, without having to address the Council. b. In accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, the Council cannot take action on or discuss any subject brought up during "Citizen Input", however, the Mayor may add the issue to a future Council agenda or refer it to the proper City Department for action. Staff will prepare a follow-up letter to the citizen for any action so referred with a copy to each Council member. Council members shall be allowed to respond to comments when they feel it necessary. c. The "Public Input" portion of each agenda item shall be limited to 30 minutes. Groups coming to address the council are encouraged to select representatives in order to conserve speaking time and reduce repetitive or redundant comments. A majority vote of council may extend this time. d. Public comments will be heard prior to deliberations by the council. Persons wishing to speak on any agenda item must submit a "Public Input" form prior to the beginning of discussion of that item. Each person shall be recognized by the chair, and allowed to speak one time for each agenda item listed on their "Public Input" form. e. When their name is called to speak, each person shall come to the designated microphone, state their name and address, limit their presentation to five minutes, and restrict their comments to the subject being discussed. The Mayor may allow the speaker to exceed the 3 five minute time limit if the information presented is of value to the discussion, and does not unduly prolong the meeting. A majority of Council may allow a speaker to continue after the - Mayor has announced the end of the speaker's time. f. If a speaker's comments will be longer than 5 minutes, the Council encourages written remarks be prepared and provided to each member through the City Secretary. g. During Public Hearings, the applicant will be allowed a maximum of 20 minutes to make a presentation, and 10 minutes for rebuttal if necessary. h. The Mayor has the responsibility and duty to rule a speaker out of order if the comments made are of a personal nature, or in any other manner disrupt the orderly conduct of business by the council. If the Mayor does not act promptly, a majority vote by the Council will require the Mayor to immediately rule the speaker out of order. SECTION V - ATTENDANCE 1. As specified in the City Charter, no member shall be excused from attendance at a council meeting except for good and valid reasons, as listed below: a. Illness b. Death of a family member or associate. c. Vacation d. Employment The City Council may deem other reasons as good and valid on a case by case basis. A member may be removed from office by the Council for chronic absenteeism. 2. Any member of Council who will miss a meeting will contact either the Mayor, City Manager, or City Secretary prior to the meeting with the reason for the absence. 3. The official roll will be noted in the meeting minutes. SECTION VI - MISCELLANEOUS 1. Call to Order. The Mayor, or in the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro-tem, or in the absence of the Mayor and Mayor Pro-rem, the Deputy Mayor Pro-tem shall call the meeting to order. In the absence of all three of these members, the meeting shall be called to order by the City Secretary and a temporary presiding officer shall be elected. 2. Conflict of Interest. A Council member prevented from voting due to a conflict of interest may leave the meeting during the debate, shall not vote on the matter, and shall 4 otherwise comply with the state law and city charter and ordinances conceming conflicts of interest. 3. Appointment of Council Liaisons. Council may designate liaisons to the various boards and commissions. The role of the liaison is to act as a communication conduit between the full council and the board or commission. The liaison shall take no part in the board or commission discussions unless requested. PASSED AND APPROVED this 4th day of October., 1999. William W. Ma~ning,-Mayor ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks, TRMC/CMC/AAE City Secretary