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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-07-18 Meeting ProceduresRESOLUTION NO. R-07-18 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. R-05-26; ESTABLISHING THE DATE AND TIME FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS, WORKSHOPS AND QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARINGS; ADOPTING ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER; PROVIDING FOR AGENDA PREPARATION; PROVIDING FOR AGENDA MODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR PUBLIC HEARING PROCEDURES (OTHER THAN QUASI-JUDICIAL MATTERS); PROVIDING FOR PUBLIC INPUT PROCEDURES; ESTABLISHING DIRECTION RELATIVE TO VERBATIM TRANSCRIPTS; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF RESOLUTIONS OR PARTS OF RESOLUTIONS IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; 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; and WHEREAS, City Council concurs that unadvertised items should be added to agendas only by unanimous vote of the Council Members present. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, as follows: SECTION 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE AND TIME. Regular Meetings: Regular Meetings shall be held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. and shall adjourn at 10:30 p.m. unless extended by a majority vote of City Council members present. A motion to extend the meeting time shall be made only once during the Regular meeting and the motion shall be for no more than a thirty (30) minute extension. All unfinished business at adjournment shall be carried to the beginning of the next Regular City Council meeting unless, prior to adjoumment, items are placed on a special meeting agenda. Quasi-judicial Hearings: Quasi judicial hearings, when necessary, shall be conducted at special meetings called for such purpose on the first and third Wednesday of the month, at 7:00 p.m. and shall adjourn at 10:30 p.m. unless extended by a majority vote of City Council members present, The City Manager, at his discretion, may schedule a quasi judicial hearing for a Regular City Council meeting when necessary. Workshops: Workshops, when necessary, shall be held on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. and shall adjourn at 10:30 p.m. unless extended by a majority vote of City Council members present. In the event that there is a special meeting for the purpose of conducting a quasi judicial hearing scheduled for the first or third Wednesday, the workshop will follow the special meeting. A consensus to extend the workshop shall be made only once during the meeting and the extension shalt be for no more than a thirty (30) minutes. All unfinished business at adjoumment shall be carried to the beginning of the next scheduled workshop. Special Meetings for Other Purposes: Special meetings for purposes other than quasi- judicial hearings may be called in accordance with the Charter of the City of Sebastian. Special meetings shall adjoum at 10:30 p.m. unless extended by a majority vote of City Council members present. A motion to extend the meeting time shall be made only once during the Special meeting and the motion shall be for no more than a thirty (30) minute extension. SECTION 2. NO SUBSTANTIVE DECISIONS AT WORKSHOPS. 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. SECTION 3. ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER ADOPTED. The City Council will follow Roberts Rules of Order, Revised, 9th Edition, published by Scott, Foresman 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. The City Council recognizes Robert Rules of Order are not applicable to every procedural matter governing a public official in the State of Florida. Each Council Member must vote on alt motions unless a Council Member has a conflict of interest. A Council Member may make a motion, second a motion or participate in discussion on a motion without relinquishing the chair. Members of Council have the exclusive right to raise questions of procedure or a point 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. SECTION 4. AGENDA SUBMITTAL DEADLINE AND PREPARATION. The City Manager is directed to prepare agendas for all City Council meetings. Documentation for items on agendas mus# be submitted to the City Clerk not later than noon on the Thursday preceding the respective meeting to expedite the preparation of agenda packets. SECTION 5. AGENDA MODIFICATION. City Council, by a unanimous vote of its members present, may modify the agenda to add an additional agenda item, and, 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. ORDER FQR 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: 1. Chairperson shall announce the opening of the public hearing. 2. City Attorney shall read the Ordinance or Resolution by title unless the City Charter, Code of Ordinances and/or Florida Statutes requires more than the title be read. 3. Chairperson, if appropriate, shall announce the rules that apply to the hearing. 4. City staff shall make a presentation, comments and preliminary recommendation, if any. 5. Public input. 6. City staff final comments and recommendation, if any. 7. Chairperson closes hearing unless hearing continuation granted by the affirmative vote of three Council members. B. Continuance of Public Hearing. City Council may continue a public hearing unless a continuance would violate City Charter, City Code, State or Federal law. A public hearing may be continued to a time certain that the hearing will be re-opened and shall be stated in the record. City Council may defer action on a matter and continue the public hearing for receipt of written comments on the matter. C. Deferring Decision on Merits. City Council may defer a decision on the merits of any matter pending as a result of a public hearing. D. Suspension of Rules. Any provisions of this Resolution may be suspended for good cause by the affirmative vote of at least three Council members. The good cause shall be stated on the record. E. Failure to Follow Rules. If City Council fails to strictly abide by any provision of this Resolution, such failure shall not invalidate action taken by City Council or staff. SECTION 7. PROCEDURES FOR SPEAKERS AND INTRODUCTION OF NEW BUSINESS FROM THE PUBLIC. A. Public Input on Agenda Items. Individuals who wish to address the City Council on items where public presentations are pemtiitted on the agenda shall address the City Council immediately prior to City Council deliberation of the agenda item. 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 recall an individual to provide additional information or to answer questions. In addition, individuals shall have the opportunity to address City Council during a public hearing held in accordance with any federal or state law, the City Charter, the Code of Ordinances and the Land Development Code of the City of Sebastian. B. Introduction of New Business from the Public. Introduction of New Business from the Public shall be that portion of Regular Meeting agendas at which individuals may introduce new business not otherwise on the prepared agenda. "New Business" as used in this paragraph, is defined as an item that has occurred or was discovered within the previous six months. Individuals are encouraged, whenever possible, to meet with staff to attempt to resolve matters. Individuals are also encouraged, whenever possible, to provide documentation for inclusion in the agenda packet. No Introduction of New Business from the Public shall be allowed at special meetings or workshops. C. No Time Limit for Public Input. There shall be no time limit on oral public presentations under Public Hearings, Introduction of New Business from the Public and Input on Agenda Items, however, City Council, by majority vote of its members present, may terminate or limit the presentation at any time. Individuals are asked to try to limit input under Introduction of New Business From the Public to five minutes. E. Written Presentations. Individuals may also submit written presentations to the City Council by providing ten (10) complete copies to the City Clerk prior to commencement of the meeting. F. Public Input Addressed to Chair. AN public input shall be addressed to the Chair, unless answering a question of a member of City Council or City staff. In controlling the meeting, the Chair will take the following actions: 1. First Offense -verbal warning to move on. 2. Second Offense -offender is directed to be seated. 3. Third Offense (refusal to be seated or other disrupted acts) - offenderwill be asked to leave the premises. SECTION 8. VERBATIM TRANSCRIPTS OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS. Any person who decides to appeal any decision made by the city council with respect to any matter considered at any meeting or hearing will need a record of the proceedings and may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be heard, in accordance with 286.0105 Florida Statutes. The City Clerk's office is not required to prepare verbatim transcripts or parts of any minutes of City Council meetings unless City Council, by majority vote, directs verbatim transcripts for any parts of any minutes it deems necessary and proper for conduct of internal affairs of city. SECTION 9. CONFLICT. All resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith are hereby repealed, including Resolution No. R-04-26. SECTION 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Resolution shall take effect upon its adoption. The foregoing Resolution was passed for adoption by Council Member Neglia ,was seconded by Council Member Paternoster ,and upon, being put to a vote, the vote was as follows: Mayor Andrea Coy aye, Vice Mayor Sal Neglia aye Council Member AI Paternoster aye Council Member Dale Simchick aye Council Member Eugene Wolff .aye The Mayor thereupon declared this Resolution duly passed and adopted this 9th day of May 2007. ATT S :~~ ' Sally A. M 'o, MMC City CI (SEAL) Approved as to Form and Content for Reli ~ by the City of Sebastian Only: Ric Stringer, City ttorney CITY OF SEB STIAN, FLO ay: ~ An rea Coy, Mayor