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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 09-066 CITY OF THE COLONY RESOLUTION NO. 09-066 WHEREAS, the City of The Colony Home Rule Charter Section 2.12 provides that the City Council shall determine its own rules and order of business; and WHEREAS, the City Council has adopted Roberts Rules of Order for the conduct of meetings, with the Mayor serving as Chair; 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 ensure 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 Meeting- a meeting of the City Council to conduct its business as set forth in the Home Rule Charter shall be held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. In the event a regular meeting falls on a holiday the meeting may be rescheduled or cancelled as determined by Council. 2. Special Meeting- a meeting of the City Council that is not a Regular Meeting. Per the Home Rule Charter Section 2.11 a Special Meeting may be called by the Mayor or upon written application of any three members of Council. 3. Work Session- a meeting of the City Council called for the purpose of exchanging information about the public business or policy. No action is taken by Council during Work Sessions. 4. Agenda Packet- supporting documentation 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 1 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 approved in principle, and rescheduling or cancelling regular meetings. SECTION II - AGENDA PREPARATION 1. Regular Meeting agendas shall be posted by the Thursday before said meeting by 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 by 12:00 p.m. 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, if any. 3. All new ordinances, except those dealing with routine business or amendments to ordinances currently in place in the Code of Ordinances, shall be brought before Council once for discussion only, and a second time for Council consideration. This includes ordinances that add new sections or new subject matter to the Code of Ordinances, annexations, etc. 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 Section II, 2. b. The City Manager, City Secretary, and City Attorney 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. 6. The Mayor may, in writing or verbally, advise the City Secretary to remove an item from an agenda for one meeting only. 7. An item titled "Citizen Input" shall be included at the beginning of each Regular Meeting agenda. Citizen Input shall be included during Work Sessions and Special Meetings related to the subject matter for that meeting. 2 SECTION III - CONSENT AGENDA Routine business which is brought before Council will be consolidated under the heading "Consent Agenda". All items appearing under Consent Agenda shall be approved, adopted, accepted, or enacted by one motion and one vote of 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. SECTION IV - CITIZEN 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. Attendees shall not address the Council except as provided herein. b. Placards, banners or signs will not be permitted in the Council Chambers or in any other room in which the City Council is meeting. Exhibits, displays and visual aids used in connection with presentations to the Council are permitted. C. Only City Council members, city staff, and scheduled consultants may step to the dais. If information or documents need to be presented to the Council, it must be provided to the City Secretary who shall distribute such material. d. All remarks and questions shall be made to the Mayor or Council as a whole, and not to individual Council members. 2. COMMENTS a. Any person who wishes to address the Council must first register with the City Secretary by submitting a completed "Citizen Input" form. This form may also be used by citizens to show their support or opposition to an agenda item without having to address the Council. Regular Meetings: Citizen Input is allowed on posted agenda items when those items are addressed in the meeting. Other public comments are heard at the beginning of the meeting. 3 Special Meetings and Work Sessions: Citizen Input is allowed on posted agenda items only. (See Sec. II. 7.) Council may set time limits on Citizen Input as necessary. 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 or Council 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. C. The Citizen Input portion of each agenda item shall not be limited unless after a thirty (30) minute presentation the Council, after a majority vote, may limit or cease such presentation. Groups coming to address the Council are encouraged to select representatives in order to conserve speaking time and reduce repetitive or redundant comments. d. Comments will be heard prior to deliberations by the Council. Persons wishing to speak on any agenda item must submit a Citizen Input form prior to the beginning of discussion on that item. Each person shall be recognized by the Chair, and will be allowed to speak one time for each agenda item listed on their Citizen 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 (5) minutes and restrict the comments to the subject being discussed. The Mayor may allow a speaker to exceed the 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 also 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 five minutes, the Council encourages remarks to be prepared in writing and provided to each member through the City Secretary. g. During Public Hearings the applicant will be allowed a maximum of twenty (20) minutes to make a presentation and ten (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 are in any other manner disruptive to the orderly conduct of business of the Council. If the Mayor does not act promptly, a "Point of Order" motion from any Council person can request the Mayor to call the 4 speaker out of order. If the Mayor still does not act, the Council person may call for a "Point of Privilege" and move for a vote of the Council to restrict the speaker. A majority vote of the Council will require the Mayor to immediately rule the speaker out of order. SECTION V - ATTENDANCE Home Rule Charter Section 2.04. Member qualification. (b) If any council member fails to maintain the foregoing qualifications, or is convicted of a felony, a Class A misdemeanor or a crime of moral turpitude, or holds any other public office other than as a notary public or a member of the military or naval reserve or national guard, or shall move from the City of The Colony, or shall miss three (3) consecutive regularly scheduled meetings, without valid excuse, the city council must, at its next regular meeting, declare a vacancy to exist and shall fill said vacancy as set forth in section 2.06 of this charter." 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 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 as defined in the City Charter. 2. Any member of Council who misses a meeting will contact 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. SECTION VI - MISCELLANEOUS 1. Call to Order- The Mayor, or in the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro- tem, or the absence of the Mayor and Mayor Pro-tem, the Deputy Mayor Pro-tem shall call the meeting to order. In the absence of all three of these members, the City Secretary shall call the meeting to order 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 otherwise comply with current state law, Home 5 Rule Charter Section 11.03, and ordinances concerning conflicts of interest. SECTION VII This Resolution shall supercede any preceding Resolutions regarding Council Agenda preparation and conduct of meetings. PASSED AND APPROVED this 8th day of September, 2009. 6 (41 e Mc o y(TY, mayor City of The Colony ATTES Christie Wilson, TRMC, CMC City Secretary t APPROYM AS TO FORM: ,t Bob Hager, City orney 6