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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-07-32 Meeting ProceduresRESOLUTION NO. R-07-32 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. R-07-18; ESTABLISHING THE DATES AND TIMES FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS; ADOPTING ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER; PROVIDING FOR PROCEDURES FOR AGENDA PREPARATION, AGENDA FORMAT, AGENDA MODIFICATIONS, PUBLIC INPUT, PUBLIC HEARINGS, AND 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, the City Council of the City of Sebastian, Indian River County, Florida, conducted a workshop at which Council meeting procedures were discussed at length; and WHEREAS, City Council reached a consensus at a regular meeting to adopt various new procedures to effect more streamlined and organized meetings. 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. A. 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. All unfinished business at adjournment shall be carried to the beginning of the next Regular City Council meeting unless, prior to the agenda deadline for that next meeting, items are placed on a special meeting agenda. B. 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 10:30 p.m. All unfinished business at adjournment shall be carried to the beginning of the next scheduled workshop. C. 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 and shall begin no earlier than 5:00 p.m. Special meetings shall adjourn at 10:30 p.m. D. Quasi-judicial Hearings: 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. E. Extension of Adjournment Time. A meeting may be extended beyond the time set for adjournment by a majority vote of City Council members present. A motion to extend the ~~ .a meeting time shall be made only once during the 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 the currenf 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. (*language prescribed by Robert's Rules) 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 all 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 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. SECTION 5. AGENDA MODIFICATION. City Council, by a unanimous vote of its members present, may modify the agenda to add an additional agenda item, or move an item on the agenda 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. 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 without need of amending this Resolution. Any public presentations allowed shall be placed under Public Input or New Business, unless at the discretion of the City Manager or the majority of Council an item is considered an emergency or timely matter. 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: 1. Chairperson shall announce the opening of the public hearing. 2. Where applicable, 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. 2 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. Applicant presentation, if necessary. 6. Public input. 7. City staff final comments and recommendation, if any. 8. 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, or a continuance may be indefinite and subject to being renoticed. 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. SECTION 8. PROCEDURES FOR PUBLIC INPUT. A. Where Permitted on Council Meeting Agendas. 1. Regular Meetings. Public input is allowed under Consent Agenda, 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. Workshops and Special Meetings. At workshops and special meetings, public input is limited to the item on the agenda. B. Procedures for All Public I 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. Input 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 recall an individual to provide additional information or to answer questions. 3 3. Certain Remarks Prohibited. Personal, impertinent, and slanderous remarks, political campaigning and applauding are not permitted and may result in expulsion from the meeting. The Chair shall make determinations on such remarks, subject to the repeal provisions below. C. Chair to Control Meeting. In controlling the meeting during public input, 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 disruptive acts) - offenderwill be asked to leave the premises. D. Appealing Decisions of Chair. Any member of Council may appeal the decision of the Chair to the entire Council. A majority vote of City Council shall overrule any decision of the Chair. E. 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. 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 10. RULES AS GUIDELINES. It is intended that the rules set forth in this Resolution merely 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. A. 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. B. 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 11. CONFLICT. All resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith are hereby repealed, including Resolution No. R-07-18. 4 SECTION 12. 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 simchick 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 22nd day of August 2007. CITY OF SEB TIAN, FL IDA gy: Andrea Coy, Mayor ATTE T: ~ ,,__ _ ~A /.~ 1,~,~ Sally ~ Maio, MC City Clerk (SEAL) Approved as to Form and Content for ' nc City of Sebastian Only: ~° ~ -~~ Rich tringer, Cit Att rney 5 EXHIBIT “A” SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA FORMAT AND GUIDELINES 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. MOMENT OF SILENCE 4. READING OF CIVILITY PLEDGE We will be respectful of one another even when we disagree. We will direct all comments to the issues. We will avoid personal attacks. 5. ROLL CALL 6. AGENDA MODIFICATIONS Modifications and additions require unanimous vote of City Council members. Deletions do not apply. 7. 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. 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 his/her hand to be recognized. 9. COMMITTEE REPORTS & APPOINTMENTS City committee reports and Council 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: Mayor opens hearing Attorney reads title Applicant presentation if necessary Staff presentation Public input Staff summation Mayor closes hearing Council action 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. PUBLIC INPUT * Public Input is five minutes, however, it can be extended or terminated by a majority vote of Council members present. 13. NEW BUSINESS 14. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS 15. CITY MANAGER MATTERS 16. CITY CLERK MATTERS 17. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS 18. ADJOURN (All meetings shall adjourn at 10:30 pm unless extended for up to one half hour by a majority vote of City Council) * Revised 11/14/07 by action of Council to move Public Input After Unfinished Business - Sam