HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-21-32 Council Meeting Procedures ESOLUTION NO. R-21.32
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER
COUNTY, FLORIDA, ESTABLISHING THE DATES AND TIMES FOR
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS; REVISING START
AND END TIME; ADOPTING ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER;
PROVIDING FOR PROCEDURES FOR AGENDA PREPARATION,
AGENDA FORMAT, AGENDA MODIFICATIONS, PUBLIC INPUT,
PUBLIC HEARINGS, AND TRANSCRIPTS; REPEALING
RESOLUTION R-20-34; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF
RESOLUTIONS OR PARTS OF RESOLUTIONS IN CONFLICT
HEREWITH; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR
SCRIVENERS ERRORS' AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Sebastian, Indian River County, Florida,
believes it to be in the best interest of the citizens of Sebastian to provide clear direction to
establish Council meeting times and dates and provide for conduct of City Council meetings.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, as follows:
SECTION 1. ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER ADOPTED. The City Council will follow
the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised as a general guideline in the
conduct of all meetings and workshops. Failure to follow said rules shall not affect the validity of
any action taken.
SECTION 2. CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE AND TIME.
A. Reqular Meetinas: Regular Meetings shall be held on the second and fourth
Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. and shall adjourn at 9:30 p.m. unless extended for not
more than 30 additional minutes by a majority vole of City Council members present. All
unfinished business at adjournment shall be carried to the next Regular City Council meeting
unless placed on a special meeting agenda. If a Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting or
a Board of Adjustment meeting is needed, those meetings will take place no earlier than 6:00
p.m. on the same night, followed by the City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. or at the conclusion of
the Community Redevelopment Agency or Board of Adjustment meeting.
B. Special Meetings: Special meetings may be called in accordance with the
Charter ashall begin no earli nd er than 5:00 p.m. and shall adjourn no later than 10:00 p.m.
C. Quasi-iudicial Head.Ts: Quasi-judicial hearings, when anticipated to be lengthy,
may be conducted at special meetings called in accordance with the Charter for such purpose
on the first and third Wednesday of the month or may be placed on a regular meeting agenda at
the discretion of the City Manager.
D. Workshops: Workshops, when necessary, may be held prior to Regular Meetings
or on the first and third Wednesdays of the month no earlier than 5:00 p.m. and shall adjourn no
later than 10:00 p.m. All unfinished business at adjournment shall be carried to the beginning of
the next scheduled workshop. At workshops, matters may be discussed and placed on an
appropriate City Council meeting agenda for formal action. Substantive decisions shall not be
made at workshops.
E. Commercial Media TechnologY(CMT): City Council deems it to be in the best
interest of the citizens and residents of the City of Sebastian, to make provision for public
meetings by use of such commercial media technology (CMT) by elected, appointed officials
and members of the public. City Council determines it is necessary to protect the health and
safety of City Officials, City staff, and the public. City officials can fully participate and take
official action during a public meeting by the use of CMT, as long as an in person quorum is met
or in times of emergency. The same finding applies to City Board and Committee meetings and
quasi-judicial hearings.
F. Quorum: The City Council finds that its attendance requirement for purpose of
establishing a quorum can be satisfied by physically being present or in times of an emergency,
by CMT attendance. The same finding applies to City Board and Committee meetings and
quasi-judicial hearings.
SECTION 3. THE CHAIR. The Chair may make a motion, second a motion or
participate in discussion without relinquishing the chair. Members of Council have the exclusive
right to raise questions of procedure or points of order to the Chair and have the Chair rule on
the procedure or point of order. Any member of Council may appeal the decision of the Chair to
the entire Council, and the result shall be determined by majority vote.
SECTION 4. AGENDA SUBMITTAL DEADLINE AND PREPARATION. The City
Manager is directed to set agendas for all City Council meetings. Documentation for items on
agendas must be submitted to the City Clerk not later than noon on the Thursday preceding the
respective meeting to expedite the preparation of agenda packets.
SECTIONS. AGENDA MODIFICATION. City Council, by a unanimous vote of its
members present, may modify the agenda to add an additional agenda item. In such event, an
individual who wishes to address City Council with respect to the new agenda item, shall be
afforded a reasonable opportunity to address City Council on such new agenda item.
SECTION 6. AGENDA FORMAT AND GUIDELINES FOR REGULAR MEETINGS.
The general format and guidelines for Regular City Council meeting agendas shall be in the
form attached hereto as Exhibit "A". However, Council may change the order of agenda
headings by majority vote.
SECTION 7. ORDER FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS (OTHER THAN QUASI-JUDICIAL)
BEFORE CITY COUNCIL. The order for public hearings (other than quasi-judicial) before City
Council is as follows:
A. Order of Business:
t. Chair shall announce the opening of the public hearing.
Z Where applicable, City Attorney shall read the Ordinance or Resolution by
title unless applicable law requires more than the title be read.
3. Chair, if appropriate, shall announce the rules that apply to the hearing.
4. Applicant presentation, if appropriate.
5. City staff shall make a presentation, comments and preliminary
recommendation, if any.
6. Public input.
7. City staff final comments and recommendation, if any.
8. Chair closes hearing.
9. Council Deliberation and Action
B. Continuance of Public Hearinq. City Council may continue a public hearing
unless a continuance would violate applicable law. A public hearing may be continued to a time
certain stated in the record, or a continuance may be indefinite, in which case it shall be re -
noticed. City Council may defer action on a matter and continue the public hearing for receipt of
written comments on the matter.
matter.
C. Deferrina Decision on Merits. City Council may defer action on the merits of any
SECTION 8. PROCEDURES FOR PUBLIC INPUT.
A. Where Permitted on Council Meetina Agendas.
1. Regular Mee inns. Public input is allowed under Consent Agenda (for an
item that is pulled by a Member of City Council), Public Hearings, Unfinished
Business, New Business, and Public Input. Public input is not allowed under the
headings of Proclamations, Awards, Brief Announcements (except for individuals
giving or accepting proclamations or awards); Committee Reports and
Appointments (except for committee members giving reports and applicants
being interviewed for committee appointments); and City Council or Charter
Officer Matters. Council may, by majority vote, call upon an individual to provide
input if desired.
2. Workshoos and Soecial Meelinas. At workshops and special meetings,
public input is limited to the item on the agenda.
B. Procedures for All Public Input.
1. Time Limit. Individuals who wish to address the City Council on any
agenda items where public input is permitted on agendas are allowed five
minutes to speak on that item; however, City Council may extend or terminate an
individual's time by majority vote of Council members present.
2. Inqul Directed to Chair. Speakers shall address the City Council
immediately prior to City Council deliberation of the agenda item and all input
shall be directed to the Chair, unless answering a question of a member of City
Council or City staff. Individuals shall not address City Council after
commencement of City Council deliberation on an agenda item after public input
has concluded, provided, however, the Mayor and members of City Council may
call upon an individual to provide additional input if desired.
3. Certain Remarks Prohibited. Personal, impertinent, and slanderous
remarks, political campaigning and applauding are not permitted and may result
in sanctions imposed by the Chair including expulsion from the meeting.
Decisions by the Chair may be appealed in accordance with Section 3 above.
C. Public Input. The heading on Regular Meeting agendas "Public Input" provides
an opportunity for individuals to bring new information or requests to City Council not
otherwise on the prepared agenda. Individuals are asked to attempt to resolve matters
with staff prior to meetings. Individuals are asked to provide copies of material for
Council one week prior to the meeting if they intend to refer to specific material. City
Council will not debate an issue during Public Input but may by consensus direct a
Charter Officer in regard to the item if necessary or place a requested item on a future
agenda.
SECTION 9. TRANSCRIPTS OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS. The City Clerk is not
required to prepare verbatim transcripts of all or any portion of City Council meetings unless City
Council, by majority vote, directs such transcripts.
SECTION 10. RULES AS GUIDELINES. It is intended that the rules set forth in this
Resolution provide a guideline for the effective operation of the business meetings of City
Council, and no rights are bestowed upon any parties by the adoption of these rules or by the
City Council's failure to act in accordance with them.
A. Suspension of Rules. Any provisions of this Resolution, in whole or part, may be
suspended by the affirmative vote of at least three Council members.
B. Failure to Follow Rules. If City Council fails to abide by any provision of this
Resolution, such failure shall not invalidate action taken by City Council or staff.
SECTION 11. REPEAL. This resolution repeals Resolution R-20-34 in its entirety.
SECTION 12. CONFLICT. All resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith are
hereby repealed, including Resolution No. R-15-10.
SECTION 13. SEVERABILITY. The provisions of this Ordinance are intended to be
servable. If any provision of this Ordinance is determined to be void or is declared illegal,
invalid, or unconstitutional by a Court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the Ordinance
shall remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 14. SCRIVENER'S ERRORS. Sections of this Ordinance may be
renumbered or re -lettered and corrections of typographical errors which do not affect the intent
may be authorized by the City Manager or the City Manager's designee, without need of public
hearing, by filing a corrected or re -codified copy of same with the City Clerk.
SECTION 15. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Resolution shall take effect upon its adoption.
The foregoing Resolution was passed for adoption by Council Member
Dodd , was seconded by Council Member ,Tones , and upon being put to
a vote, the vote was as follows:
Mayor Jim Hill aye
Vice Mayor Fred Jones aye
Council Member Ed Dodd aye
Council Member Bob McPartlan aye
Council Member Chris Nunn aye
The Mayor thereupon declared this Resolution duly passed and adopted this 15th day of
December ,2021.
CITY OF SE IA RIDA
By:
Ji ,Mayor
ATTEST: - --- ---
4
ganette Williams, MMC
City Clerk
Approved as to form and content
reliance y e City o e sti o y:
non r., sq.
City Attorney
EXHIBIT "A"
SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA FORMAT
AND GUIDELINES'
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. INVOCATION
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. ROLL CALL
5. AGENDAv1ODIF�CgTJPNS
Modifications an dd adddditions require unanimous vote of City Council members. Deletions
do not apply.
6. PROCLAMATIONS. AWARDS. BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENTS
This item is for presentations of proclamations, certificates and awards, and brief timely
announcements by Council and Staff. No public input or action under this heading.
7. PUBLIC INPUT
Public Input is five minutes, however, it can be extended or terminated by a majority vote
of Council members present
8. CONSENT AGENDA
All items on the consent agenda are considered routine and will be enacted by one
motion. There will be no separate discussion of consent agenda items unless a member
of City Council so requests; in which event, the item will be removed and acted upon
separately. If a member of the public wishes to provide input on a consent agenda item,
he/she should request a Council Member to remove the item for discussion prior to start
of the meeting or by raising hisrher hand to be recognized.
9. COMMITTEE REPORTS $ APPOIJ�TMENTS
City committee reports and Councl Member regional committee reports. No public input
or action except for City committee member nominations and appointments under this
heading.
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS
Procedures for Public Hearings:
Chair announces opening of the hearing
City Attorney reads title
Chair announces rules that apply to the hearing
Applicant presentation
Staff presentation, cammentsandpreliminarymcommendation
Public input.
Staff final comments and recommendation
Chair closes hearing
Council Deliberation and Action
11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
12. NEW BUSINESS
13. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS
No public input under this heading
14. CITY MANAGER MATTERS
No public input under this heading
15. CITY CLERK MATTERS
No public input under this heading
16. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS
No public input under this heading
17. ADJOURN (All meetings shall adjourn at 9:30 pm unless extended for up to one half
hour by a majority vote of City Council)
Any provisions of this Resolution may be suspended by the affirmative vote of at least three
Council members.