[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of
the Village of Osceola 8-10-1993 by Ord. No. 7-93 as Ch. 2 and Sec.
3.08 of the 1993 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Village Board shall consist of the Village
President and six Trustees who shall be elected for two-year terms.
A.Â
Regular meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be
held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. or at such other
times as the Board may direct, except that where a regular meeting
falls on a legal holiday such meeting shall be held on the following
evening.
[Amended 11-14-2017 by Ord. No. 17-01]
B.Â
Recessed meetings. The President may recess any regular
meeting until further notice. Notice to the Trustees of the time and
place of the recessed meeting shall be given by the Clerk in writing,
in person or by telephone.
C.Â
Special meetings. The Village President or any two
Trustees may call a special meeting, subject to posting requirements
and notification of other Board members.
[Added 1-12-1999 by Ord. No. 99-01]
D.Â
Remote attendance.
[Added 11-9-2021 by Ord. No. 21-06]
(1)Â
Remote attendance permitted. When a meeting is held in person, the
Village President or designee may allow one or more members of the
body, or any Village employee, officer, consultant, contractor, or
any other person, to appear at the meeting, as defined in § 19.82,
Wis. Stats., by telephonic, video conference, or other remote method
of participation. Upon direction of the Village President or designee,
the body may on a case-by-case basis conduct an entirely virtual meeting,
in which no member of the body is present at Village Hall, subject
to the requirements of this section. This includes a state of emergency
or public health emergency being proclaimed by a federal, state, or
local authority; a lack of quorum being able to be physically present
in a Village-owned building; or other unique circumstance.
(2)Â
Notice required. Any member who is unable to be physically present
at an in-person meeting of the Board may notify the Village Clerk
no later than 4:00 p.m. on the day prior to the meeting that he or
she intends to participate in a meeting by telephonic or electronic
means unless advance notice is impractical due to an emergency. If
the Village Clerk receives the member's request in a timely manner,
he or she shall attempt to facilitate the request by contacting the
member in a manner during the Board meeting that allows the member
to participate in the proceedings. The member shall be entitled to
participate and vote and shall count toward a quorum.
(3)Â
Limits on utilization. No member shall utilize the participation methods referenced in Subsection A of this section for two or more meetings consecutively unless the member demonstrates, in writing, good cause, as determined in the Village President or designee's sole discretion; or, if the Village President is the member requesting, the Chair of the Administration and Finance Committee's sole discretion; or if a state of emergency has been proclaimed by a federal, state, or local authority.
(4)Â
Virtual meeting. The public shall be given access to the system implementing
the virtual meeting platform. Information about access to the meeting
shall be provided to citizens in a timely manner as part of the meeting
agenda notice in a specific and conspicuous manner. Best efforts shall
be used to ensure that members of the public lacking access to the
virtual meeting platform are provided alternative reasonable methods
to attend.
(a)Â
Technical requirements and malfunctions. Each person attending
remotely is responsible for his or her audio and internet connections;
no action shall be invalidated on the grounds that the loss of, or
poor quality of, a member's individual connection prevented participation
in the meeting.
(b)Â
Forced disconnections. The Village President may cause or direct
the disconnection or muting of a member's connection if it is causing
undue interference with the meeting. The President's decision to do
so, which is subject to debatable appeal that can be made by any member,
shall be announced during the meeting and recorded in the minutes.
(c)Â
Proper equipment. Appropriate equipment shall be used so that
the attending public can readily observe or hear such person's participation
in the meeting.
(5)Â
References. This subsection shall also apply to other Village committees and commissions as defined and outlined in Chapter 6, "Boards and Commissions."
(6)Â
Severability. The several sections of this subsection are declared
to be severable. If any section or portion thereof shall be declared
by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable,
such decision shall apply only to the specific section or portion
thereof directly specified in the decision and shall not affect the
validity of any other provisions, sections or portions thereof of
the subsection. The remainder of the subsection shall remain in full
force and effect. Any other ordinances whose terms conflict with the
provisions of this subsection are hereby repealed as to those terms
that conflict.
A.Â
The Village President shall preside. In case of absence
of the President, the Clerk shall call the meeting to order and the
Trustees present shall elect one of their number President Pro Tem.
B.Â
Duties. The presiding officer shall preserve order
and decorum, decide all questions of order and conduct the proceedings
of the meeting in accordance with the parliamentary rules contained
in Robert's Rules of Order, unless otherwise provided by statute or
by these rules. Any member shall have the right to appeal from a decision
of the presiding officer. An appeal shall be sustained by a two-thirds
vote of the members present, excluding the President.
A.Â
Roll call; procedure when quorum not in attendance.
As soon as the Board shall be called to order, the Clerk shall proceed
to call the names of the members in alphabetical order, noting who
is present and who is absent, and record the same in the proceedings
of the Board. If it shall appear that there is not a quorum present,
the fact shall be entered on the journal and the Board may adjourn
or the presiding officer or, in case of his or her absence, the Clerk
may issue a process to any constable or police officer commanding
him or her forthwith to summon the absentees.
B.Â
Quorum. A majority of the members shall constitute
a quorum. The President shall be counted in computing a quorum.
[Amended 1-12-1999 by Ord. No. 99-01; 9-12-2023 by Ord. No. 23-06]
At each regular meeting of the Board of Trustees,
the order of business shall be as follows:
The deliberations of the Board shall be conducted
in the following manner:
A.Â
When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated
by the President or read by the Clerk previous to debate. All resolutions
should be made and submitted in writing.
B.Â
When the question is under discussion no action shall
be in order, except to adjourn, to lay on the table, to move the previous
question, to postpone to a certain day, to refer to a committee, to
amend or to postpone indefinitely. These motions shall have precedence
in the order listed.
C.Â
Any member desirous of terminating the debate may
move the previous question, in which event the presiding officer shall
announce the question as "Shall the main question now be put?" If
a majority of the members present vote in the affirmative, the main
question shall be taken without further debate and to bring the Board
to a direct vote, first upon any pending amendments and then upon
the main question.
D.Â
A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, and
a motion to adjourn or to lay on the table and a call for the previous
question shall be decided without debate.
E.Â
A roll call shall not be necessary on any questions
or motions except as follows:
(1)Â
When the ayes and noes are requested by any member.
(2)Â
On confirmation and on the adoption of any measure
assessing or levying taxes, appropriating or disbursing money or creating
any liability or charge against the Village or any fund thereof.
(3)Â
When required by the Statutes of Wisconsin.
F.Â
All aye and nay votes shall be recorded in the journal.
G.Â
The Board shall in all other respects determine the
rules in its procedure, which shall be governed by Robert's Rules
of Order, unless otherwise provided by ordinance or statute.
When a question has been once decided, any member
of the majority or, in case of a tie, any member voting in the affirmative
may move a reconsideration thereof at the same or at the next succeeding
meeting, but if a motion to reconsider is made on a day subsequent
to that on which the ordinance question was decided, a vote of the
majority of the entire Board shall be required to sustain it.
A call of the Board shall be ordered at any
time by the request of two or more members and absent members shall
be sent for, but a call cannot be made after voting has commenced.
When a call of the Board has been requested and ordered, the door
shall be closed until the report of the police officer has been received
and acted upon or until further proceedings under the call are dispensed
with by a majority of the entire Board.
Whenever any disturbance or disorderly conduct
shall occur in any of the meetings of the Board, the President may
cause the room to be cleared of all persons guilty of such disorderly
conduct, except the Trustees. In case any Trustee shall be guilty
of disorderly conduct, the President or presiding officer may order
the police to take him or her into custody for the time being or until
the meeting shall adjourn. Such member shall have the right to appeal
from such order to the Board as in other cases.
All demands or accounts shall be acted upon
at the time of presentation, unless one or more members shall demand
a reference. In the latter case the accounts shall be referred to
the Finance Committee and lay over until the next ensuing meeting,
unless the Board, by a two-thirds vote of all the members present,
otherwise disposes of the same.
A.Â
All general ordinances of the Village and all regulations
imposing any penalty shall be published in the official paper of the
Village once and shall be immediately recorded, with the affidavit
of publication, by the Village Clerk in a book kept for that purpose.
A printed copy of such ordinance or regulation in any book, pamphlet
or newspaper and published or purporting to be published therein by
direction of the Village Board shall be prima facie proof of due passage,
publication and recording thereof.
B.Â
All ordinances shall take effect and be in force from
and after passage and publication, unless otherwise provided, and
published copies thereof shall have appended the date of first publication.
These rules shall not be rescinded or amended
unless the proposed amendment or motion to rescind has laid over from
a regular meeting, and then it shall require a vote of 2/3 of all
the members of the Board.
These rules shall not be suspended except by
a two-thirds vote of all the members of the Board.
[Amended 11-10-1998 by Ord. No. 5-98; 1-12-1999 by Ord. No. 1-99]
A.Â
As a complete alternative to the requirements established
by §§ 61.54, 61.55, and 62.15, Wis. Stats., shall be
applicable to Village contracts.
B.Â
The authority vested in the Board of Public Works
by § 62.15, Wis. Stats., shall be exercised by the Village
Board or as delegated by the Village Board.