[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Elkton as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Composition of Council — See Charter §§ 3 and 20.
Council committees — See Charter § 5.
Procedural rules — See Charter § 22.
Powers of Council — See Charter § 31.
[Adopted 6-19-1980 as Secs. 2-1-1 through 2-1-4 of the 1980 Code]
The Town Council, composed of the Mayor and six Council members, shall have the authority and duties prescribed in the Town Charter and this Code.
The Mayor shall have the authority and shall perform the duties prescribed in the Town Charter and this Code.
[Amended 9-19-1994; 11-18-2019]
As soon as possible after the organization of Council, the Council shall appoint such committees as it may deem appropriate. The Mayor shall have the right, but not the obligation, to attend and participate in all committee meetings; however, the Mayor shall not be an official member of the committee; shall have no voting rights; and shall not be counted in determining the number required for a quorum or whether a quorum is present. The committee structure may be modified or amended at any time by a majority vote of Council.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 37-4, Other committees, was repealed 11-18-2019.
[Adopted 6-19-1980 as Secs. 2-1-11 through 2-1-27 of the 1980 Code]
[Amended 11-18-2019]
A. 
The Council shall meet in regular session at least once a month. Each July, the Council shall determine the dates and starting times which regular meetings and work sessions, if any, are to be held during the subsequent 12 months. The Council may amend or modify the dates and times of regular meetings at any time by resolution and with proper public notice.
B. 
The Council may meet in special session upon call of the Mayor or any other two members of the Council as provided for in the Town Charter.
C. 
Meetings of the Council or its committees shall be in the Town Municipal Building or at such other place as may be designated.
The proceedings of the Council, except as its own rules may otherwise provide, shall be governed by the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 37-7, Order of proceedings, was repealed 11-18-2019.
The presiding officer at a meeting of the Council shall enforce the procedural rules of the Council and shall decide questions of order.
At Council meetings, the member first rising and addressing the Chair shall speak first; provided, however, that when two members rise at the same time, the Mayor shall name the one to speak.
At Council meetings, no member of the Council shall speak more than once on the same question until every member wishing to speak shall have done so, nor more than twice nor for a greater length of time than 15 minutes on any question, without permission of the Council. A member of the Council addressing the Council shall confine himself or herself to the question before the Council and avoid personal or indecorous language. No member shall interrupt another while speaking except to make a point of order to the presiding officer.
Every proposed franchise asked for from the Council shall be presented in print or typewritten form at the expense of the petitioner and a copy of the same provided for each member of the Council at the meeting when such franchise is so presented, and no such request shall be considered as having been presented to the Council until so printed or typewritten.
[Amended 11-16-2009; 12-16-2013]
No general ordinance shall be adopted by the Council unless and until it shall have been first introduced and read at a meeting of the Council and thereafter at a subsequent meeting brought up, discussed and adopted in accordance with existing requirements of state law and of the Code and other ordinances of the Town respecting adoption of ordinances by the Council. The requirement of being "read" at a meeting may be confined to the reading of the title only and not verbatim; provided an announcement is made at the meeting that a copy of the proposed ordinance is available in the Town office for review. If, in the opinion of Council, an emergency exists that requires the immediate adoption of an ordinance or amendment thereto, any such ordinance or amendment thereto may be adopted on introduction without any further readings or meetings.
No ordinance shall be amended or repealed except by an ordinance legally introduced and adopted. Every ordinance shall take effect from the date of its passage, unless otherwise provided.
If a member of the Council at any meeting of the Council has been recorded as present, he or she shall not, without permission of the Council, absent himself or herself from such meeting until its adjournment.
When, at a Council meeting, a question is under debate, no motion shall be entertained unless specifically provided for; provided, however, that the following shall take precedence in the order given:
A. 
To adjourn: to be made without preliminary remarks and decided without debate.
B. 
To lay on the table: to be decided without debate.
C. 
For the previous question: to be decided without debate.
D. 
To postpone, either indefinitely or to a day or hour certain.
E. 
To refer or recommit.
F. 
To substitute or amend.
G. 
To adopt or approve.
At a Council meeting, a motion to adjourn shall always be in order, except when a member has the floor, when the Council is engaged in voting, when the previous question has been ordered or when the motion to adjourn has been put and lost and no other business has intervened.
Any member of the Council who obtains the floor during the debate and submits no other motion or remark may move for the previous question, which motion, if seconded, shall forthwith be put to Council.
In all matters pending before the Council, a majority shall govern, except in cases where it is otherwise specifically provided. Each member of the Council who shall be present when any question is put or ballot taken shall vote or ballot as the case may be, unless personally interested or excused by the Council.
At a Council meeting, on the call of any member of the Council, the vote on any question may be taken by ayes and nays and recorded; provided, however, that the demand be made before other business has been taken up.
Any member of the Council shall have the liberty to dissent from, or protest against, any ordinance, resolution or order of the Council, and have the reason for his or her dissent entered upon the record; provided, however, that such dissent shall be entered of record at the meeting at which the action dissented from is taken and shall not be entered of record at a later meeting.
At a Council meeting, in all cases a motion to reconsider will be entertained only when made by a member of the Council who voted with the prevailing side. A majority of those present can reconsider any vote, but the motion to do so shall be made at the same session of the Council during which such vote was taken. A motion to reconsider shall have precedence over all other questions, and when it has once been put and lost, it shall not be renewed.