[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.
[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.
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.
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.