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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-10-21 CC Packet CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 21, 2002 6:30 PM L CALL TO ORDER 1. RoD Call II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Ill. A W ARDS/PRESENTATIONS/APPEARANCES IV. PUBLIC HEARINGS V. COUNCIL BUSINESS 1. Personnel Policy (Bring from October 9, 2002 Packet) 2. BenefitslFlex Plan (Bring from October 9, 2002 Packet) 3. By-Laws (Enclosed) VI. CONSENT AGENDA VII. APPROVAL OF COUNCIL MINUTES VITI. ANNOUNCEMENTSIUPDATES lX. ADJOURNMENT .. < .. STATE OF MINNESOTA COUNTY OF ANOKA CITY OF CENTERVILLE ORDINANCE #72 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING BY-LAWS/RULES FOR THE ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES OF ALL CITY COMMITTEE AND COMMISSIONS For the purpose of this document the term Commission and Committee will be used interchangeably. Policy will refer to Commissioners and Committee Members alike. The Council of the City of Centerville ordains: The purpose of this committee is advisory and may make recommendations to the City Council for consideration regarding matters relating to this committee. SECTION 1. AUTHORITY The Committee has the authority to conduct investigations and to make recommendations, however may not make decisions on behalf of the Council. Committees are subject to the same rules as the City Council under the open meeting laws. The Council's final decision, however, and not the Committee's recommendation, binds the City. The Committee may not enter into a contract, employ workers, or authorize expenditures. SECTION 2. ELIGIBILITY Any resident of the City of Centerville is eligible to apply as a Committee member. This individual is welcome to serve on a Committee at one (1) time. SECTION 3. APPOINTMENTS Each member of the Committee will be appointed by the City Council via a letter of interest submitted to the City Administrator. This same action will take place if a vacancy should happen. On an annual basis the City Administrator will receive a letter of interest from those remaining on the Committee if an active member desires to remain on the Committee and same will be forwarded to Council for consideration. This letter will be received by the City Administrator no later than November 1 of each year. SECTION 4. APPOINTMENTS OF OFFICERS .. At the first meeting of the year the Committee will appoint by majority vote a Chair and a Vice Chair. The Chair and Vice Chair will serve for a period of one (1) year and may not serve consecutively in their same capacities. SECTION 5. OFFICERS DUTIES The Chairperson shall preserve order, enforce the rules of procedure herein prescribed and determined without debate, subject to the final decision of the Commission/Commission on appeal, all questions of procedure and order. The Chairperson will also give leadership; sign reports, write correspondence to be signed by either the City Administrator or the Mayor; compile or assist in the preparation of the agenda as authorized by the Committee; and appoint task forces as authorized by the City Council. The Vice Chairperson shall support and assist the Chairperson; preside over the Committee meetings in the absence of the Chairperson; fill the office of the Chairperson if a vacancy should arise. Appeal: Any Committee Member may appeal a decision of the Chair. To do this, a Committee Member states, "I appeal the decision of the chair", immediately after the chair announces the decision. (Recognition from the Chair is not necessary when making an appeal. The appeal must be seconded, is debatable, and cannot be amended. After the debate, the Committee votes on the Chair's decision. A majority of "yes" votes upholds the decision of the Chair, and a majority of "no" votes overrules the decision. A tie vote sustains the ruling. The Chair may vote to uphold his or her own ruling. If no one appeals a ruling as soon as the Chair makes it, it becomes the rule of the Committee. SECTION 6. MEETINGS 1. REGULAR MEETINGS Regular meetings of the Committee shall be held on the same day of each calendar month at same time, set by the Committee and approved by the Council. Any regular meeting falling upon a holiday shall be re-scheduled by the Committee for an alternative date, with enough time to be properly noticed to the public. The City Clerk shall maintain a schedule of regular meetings. This schedule shall be available for public inspection during regular business hours at the City Clerk's office. All meetings, including special emergency meetings, shall be held at City Hall unless otherwise specifically noticed. 2. SPECIAL MEETINGS Any three (3) members of the Committee may call a special meeting of the Committee upon at least 24 hours written notice to each member of the Committee and City Clerk. This notice shall be delivered personally to each member, or left at the member's usual place of residence with some responsible person. Similar written notice shall be mailed at least three days prior to the meeting date to those who have requested notice of such special meetings. This request must be in writing and filed with the City Clerk, designating an official address where notice may be mailed. Such request will be valid for one (1) year. 3. EMERGENCY MEETINGS Any three (3) members of the Committee may call an emergency meeting of the Committee when circumstances require the immediate consideration of the Committee. Notice may be in writing personally delivered to Committee members or may be in the form of personal telephone communication. Notice must include the date, time place, and purpose of such a meeting. Where practical, the Clerk shall make an effort to contact news-gathering organizations that have filed a request to receive notice of special meetings. SECTION 7. PUBLIC NOTICE & OPEN MEETING PUBLIC NOTICE: The City Clerk must post written notice of the date, time, place, and purpose of the meeting on the City Hall bulletin board. Notice of meetings must be posted at least three days before the date of the meeting. The City will pUblish public notice in the official newspaper, at least three days before the meeting for all special meetings: When the performance of an act is ordered within a "fixed period of time", the time is computed as excluding the first day and including the last day of the prescribed or "fixed time period", unless the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday. For example, if a meeting is scheduled for a Thursday, notice has to be given on Monday to meet the three-day notice provision. In this scenario, Tuesday is day one, Wednesday is day two, and Thursday is day three. Monday is not included in the time computation. Similarly, if a special meeting is planned for Monday, notice must be given on Friday; Saturday and Sunday are included in the time computation since they are not the last day of the fixed period. If the Committee meets where a quorum is in attendance, the City must make public notice. OPEN MEETING LAW: Under the Minnesota Open Meeting Law, all City Committee meetings must be open to the public, The open meeting law serves three vital purposes: 1. To prohibit actions from being taken at a secret meeting where the interested public cannot be fully informed of the decisions of public bodies or detect improper influences; 2. To ensure the public's right to be informed; and 3. To give the public an opportunity to present its views, The law prohibits the use of telephone conversations, e-mail, or letters in a decision-making process among a quorum of members designed to avoid an open meeting. Any person who intentionally violates the open meeting law is subject to personal liability in the form of a civil penalty up to $300 for a single occurrence. The public body may not pay the penalty. SECTION 8. MINUTES The Committee must keep a full and accurate record of its actions at every committee meeting. The City Clerk records the committee proceedings in a minute book. In the absence of the City Staff member to take the minutes, the Committee should delegate the duty of taking minutes for that meeting. The minutes should be written in language and in terms the average citizen understands. If the Committee finds a mistake in the minutes of the previous meeting, the minutes will be corrected during the current meeting and reflected in the minutes. Once the Committee has formally approved the minutes of any meeting, the minutes should not be changed under any circumstances. Because minutes are official papers of the city, the clerk should sign them. Minute books are public records and must be available for public view at any reasonable time. The following information should be included in the minutes: . The time and place of the meeting; . The members present; . A summary of all decisions made by the Committee, including a copy of each motion exactly as stated, whether or not the motion had a second and, if the motion was seconded, whether or not the Committee adopted it, and the names of the people who made and seconded the motion; and, . The names of the Committee Member who voted either for or against each motion. SECTION 9. ORDER OF BUSINESS Each meeting of the Committee shall convene at the time and place appointed. Committee business shall be conducted in the following order: 1 . Call to Order 2. Public Hearings 3. Appearances 4. Old Business 5. New Business 6. Discussion Items 7. Consideration of Minutes 8. Adjournment The order of business may be varied by the presiding officer, but all public hearings shall be held at the time specified in the notice of the hearing. The Chair person/staff liaison shall prepare an agenda of business for each regular Committee meeting and file a copy in the office of the Clerk. The agenda shall be prepared in accordance with the order of business and copies shall be delivered to each Committee member and to others as far in advance of the meeting as time for preparation will permit. No item of business shall be considered unless it appears on the agenda for the meeting or is approved for addition to the agenda by a unanimous vote of the Committee present. The Chairperson/staff liaison shall see that at least one (1) copy of printed materials relating to agenda items is available to the public in the meeting room while the Committee considers their subject matter. The agenda item shall not be considered unless this provision is complied with. This section does not apply to those materials that are classified as other than public under the Minnesota Data Practices Act or materials from closed meetings. SECTION 10. MOTIONS: The Committee transacts business through motions made by Committee Members, These motions are seconded, and subsequently passed or rejected by Committee vote. The Committee Member states his or her motion. (Usually in the following form: "I move. . . text of the motion."). The Committee Member making a motion does not need to favor it or vote for it. The Committee Member may wish to put the issue before the Committee so a decision can be made. Another Committee Member then seconds the motion by saying: "I second the motion." The Chair recognizes the motion and opens the pending motion to discussion. The presiding officer calls for the vote at the end of the discussions and announces the result of the vote. MOTION TO RECONSIDER: This motion enables a Committee to set aside a vote it previously took, and to reconsider the matter as though it had not voted on the issue. Only a person who originally voted on the prevailing side may move to reconsider. Make the motion by saying, "I move to reconsider . . . slating the motion to be reconsidered. . ." The Committee may debate the motion. If the Committee passes the motion to reconsider, it must then reconsider the original motion and lake another vote. If the Committee defeats a motion to reconsider, no further action is necessary. MOTION TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY: There is an important difference between the motion to postpone indefinitely and the motion to postpone temporarily. The motion to postpone temporarily is more commonly called a motion to "lay on the Iable" or 'to Iable." The motion to postpone, postpones consideration of the motion until some undetermined, future time. The Committee may consider a tabled motion whenever a majority of the members decide to do so. A motion to postpone indefinitely, however, is the equivalent to a negative vote on the main motion. Thus, the issue can be raised again only by a motion made by someone on the prevailing side of the vote since, unless someone changes his or her mind, the motion to postpone will once again prevail. MOTION TO LIMIT DEBATE: A Committee may limit debate by placing a time limit on debate, such as a limit of 3 minutes to consider a particular motion; or limiting the number of people who may speak for and against a certain motion, such as a limit of three speakers in favor and three speakers opposed. MOTION TO AMEND: Committee Members may offer amendments to a main motion at any time. In addition, it is possible to amend an amendment currently under consideration. Beyond this, Committee Members can offer no further amendments. When a member has made a motion to amend, the vote on the amendment must precede the vote on the original motion. After the Committee has accepted or rejected the amendment, another vote on the original motion is necessary. MOTION TO SUBSTITUTE: This is a motion to replace one motion with another on the same subject. A Committee Member may move to substitute a main motion or an amendment to a main motion. One fomn for making a substitute motion is to say, "I wish to introduce the following substitute motion. . . present the substitute motion. . ." When a substitute motion Is before the Committee, the Committee must decide which of the two motions, the originai motion or the substitute motion, to consider. The Committee must vote on the question. A "yes" vote favors considering the substitute motion. A "no" vote favors considering the original motion. The Committee must then discuss and vote on the selected motion. SECTION 11. QUORUM At all Committee meetings a majority of the appointed members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time. SECTION 12. VOTING The votes of the members on any questions may be taken in any manner which signifies the intention of the individual members, and the votes of the members on any action taken shall be recorded in the minutes. Any member that is present but does not vote, the minutes as to that member's name, shall be recorded as an abstention. SECTION 13. COUNCIL LIAISON The Committee may request from the Council a Liaison to attend their meetings. Council may elect to appoint a Council Liaison to the Committee. The liaison will act as a communicator to and from the Council/Committee. SECTION 14. REMOVAL FROM COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION Any member of the Committee may remove themselves from participation in the Committee by a letter of resignation being submitted to the City Administrator. Any member of the Committee may be removed by Council. SECTION 15. COMPENSATION All Committee members shall serve without compensation unless a stipend has been set by Council for meeting attendance and at the Council's pleasure. SECTION 16. BUDGET On or before the first day of July, the Committee shall submit to Council a budget request for anticipated expenditures for the upcoming year. SECTION 17. EXPENDITURES Expenditures of the Committee shall be within amounts appropriated by the Council. The Committee is not allowed to expend funds or order any items. All requests will be forwarded to the City Administrator for approval and ordering. The Finance Director will submit to the Committee a report setting forth in detail a complete report of all expenditures incurred during the year by January 1. Such report will be approved by the Committee and forwarded to Council for review. SECTION 18. REFERRAL AND REPORTS Any matter brought before the Committee for consideration will be acted on promptly and forwarded to Council for consideration. SECTION 19. GIFTS A Committee Member may not accept a gift from an interested person. An "interested person" is a person or a representative of a person or association with a direct financial interest in a decision the Committee is authorized to make. The definition of an interested person implies that city officials who are authorized to make recommendations that could impact someone financially also cannot accept gifts. Virtually every resident of the city and anyone doing business in the city could at some time have a direct financial interest in a decision or recommendation a city official is authorized to make and thus would qualify as an interested person; such as the issuing of a license or zoning of a property or granting of a land use permit. A "gift" means money, real or personal property, a service, a loan, a forbearance or forgiveness of indebtedness, or a promise of future employment, that is given and received without the giver receiving consideration of equal or greater value in return. The decision or recommendation a city official is authorized to make does not have to be pending or probable. If the city official is authorized to make that decision or recommendation, then a person who could at any time have a direct financial interest in that decision or recommendation is an interested person and any gift from that person is prohibited. SECTION 20. CONFLICT OF INTEREST A Committee Member may not have a direct or indirect personal, financial interest in any issue before the Committee where the Committee has authority to make recommendations to the City Council. Such Committee Member must abstain from participating in the Committee discussion and from voting on these issues. Specific issues of conflict may include zoning, local improvements, issuance of licenses and permits, and contracts to be recommended to Council. SECTION 21. INCOMPATIBLE OFFICES If a Committee Member receives a certificate of election to the City Councilor Mayor office, the individual is considered to have resigned from the Committee. SECTION 22. AMENDMENT OF RULES The City of Centerville reserves the right to change the provisions of these bylaws from time to time without notice. These bylaws supersede all prior committee bylaws. Mayor Attested City Clerk