Except as otherwise provided in the Charter, by law, or in this
chapter, the Council shall be governed in questions of order, organization,
and conduct of business by Robert's Rules of Order in all applicable
cases.
An agenda for each regular meeting of the Council shall be prepared
by the Clerk under the supervision of the President of the Council.
The agenda shall be completed not later than 4:00 p.m. on the Friday
preceding each regular meeting of the Council, except for emergency
matters which may be added to the agenda at any time before the meeting
by the President of the Council. The agenda for each regular meeting
shall include only such matters of Council business as have been presented
or delivered to the Clerk, not later than noon on the day the agenda
is to be prepared. As soon as the agenda for each meeting has been
prepared, the Clerk shall mail or deliver a copy to each Councilman,
to the Mayor, and to the office of the Business Administrator.
The President of the Council shall call each meeting to order.
In his absence the Clerk shall call the meeting to order and those
present shall select a temporary Chairman who shall preside during
the absence of the President. The President shall assume the Chair
as soon as he is in attendance at any meeting which may have been
called to order in his absence, and the temporary Chairman shall thereupon
relinquish the Chair.
At the opening of each meeting of the Council, the Clerk shall
call the roll and the names of those present shall be recorded in
the minutes. Three members of the Council shall constitute a quorum.
If a quorum is not present 1/2 hour after the appointed time for any
meeting, the presiding officer shall declare the meeting adjourned.
The order of business at each meeting of the Council shall be
as follows:
A. Salute to the flag; silent prayer.
C. Approval of minutes of previous meeting.
D. Receiving, opening and awarding of bids.
G. Applications and proclamations.
H. Resolution on payment of bills.
I. Comments and reports from Council.
J. Requests and communications of Mayor, administrative officers, boards,
committees and department heads.
The Clerk shall, so far as practicable, prepare and distribute
to the Council the minutes of each meeting promptly after the meeting.
The minutes of any meeting may be approved without reading whenever
they have been distributed at least 24 hours prior to the time of
approval.
There shall be no standing committees of the Council other than
the committee as a whole. The rules of the Council shall govern the
meetings of the whole so far as applicable. Special committees for
legislative purposes may be appointed by the President pursuant to
resolution or motion. No special committee shall proceed to the consideration
of any matter referred to it unless a majority of the members of the
committee shall be present. No special committee shall report on a
matter referred to it at the same meeting at which the reference is
made, except by unanimous consent of the members of the committee.
The vote upon every motion, resolution, or ordinance shall be
taken by roll call, and the yeas and nays shall be entered on the
minutes. The minutes of each meeting shall be signed by the presiding
officer and by the Clerk.
When the roll is called upon any question, the silence of a
Councilman shall constitute an affirmative vote unless he states that
he abstains.
[Amended 7-18-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-09]
A. Persons other than Councilmen may be permitted to address the Council
only during the time designated for public comment in the meeting
agenda. No member of the public shall address the Council until permission
is obtained from the Council President, nor while any other person
is speaking. All comments are to be directed to the Council and not
directly to any members of the public.
B. In the case of a resolution, prior to adoption, the Council President
shall recognize all persons interested, and each shall be given the
opportunity to be heard once for a maximum of three minutes, which
time may be extended by the consent of the Council President. At the
public hearing of any ordinance, all persons interested shall be given
an opportunity to be heard once concerning said ordinance, and each
shall be limited to five minutes, except where time is extended by
the consent of Council President. In the event that public comments
exceed a total of one hour, the Council President may reduce the time
for additional speakers to a maximum of three minutes. No person shall
address any remark or question to any specific Councilman, except
by permission of the Council President, nor shall any person be permitted
to address the Council President while a motion is pending. A Councilman
may, through the Council President, choose to question a speaker,
but is not obligated to answer questions or make statements or commitments
in response to questions raised by the public.
C. In all matters not previously provided for, except upon consent of
the Council President, each person addressing the Council shall limit
his remarks to five minutes. The Council President shall call any
speaker to order who violates this provision of the rule.
D. No member of the public or of any organization shall be permitted
to make any audio or video presentation before the Council during
any regularly scheduled meeting unless said presentation has been
previously submitted and approved by the Council President.
A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and shall be decided
without debate.
An ordinance shall take effect as a resolution immediately and
as an ordinance upon final passage and publication in accordance with
the laws of the State of New Jersey.