[Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lake Mills 12-15-2009 by Ord. No. 1054 as Title 1, Ch. 5, Art. B, of the 2009 Code of Ordinances. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.
Members. The City Council shall consist of five Council members elected
to staggered, three-year terms. A total of four members shall be elected
from two districts. One member shall be elected from the City at-large.
Of the four members elected from districts, two members shall be elected
from District 1 (Wards 1, 4, 5 and 8), and two members shall be elected
from District 2 (Wards 3, 7, 2 and 6). Upon passage of this amendment,
all Council members shall be elected to staggered, three-year terms,
as follows:
[Amended 9-2-2014 by Ord.
No. 1133]
(1)
At the regular spring election, beginning with the election in 2015,
one Council member shall be elected from the City at-large for a term
of three years.
(2)
At the regular spring election in 2016, one Council member shall
be elected from District 1 (Wards 1, 4, 5 and 8) for a three-year
term, and one Council member shall be elected from District 2 (Wards
3, 7, 2 and 6) for terms of three years.
(3)
At the regular spring election in 2017, a second Council member representing
District 1 and a second Council member representing District 2 shall
be elected to terms of three years.
(4)
Council members previously elected from any wards in each of the
two new districts will continue to serve out their current terms of
office, which shall end in 2016 or 2017, respectively. If such members
seek reelection at the end of their existing terms, instead of being
a candidate in two wards, they will be candidates in four wards in
their respective districts.
B.
One Council member shall be elected from the City at-large to a three-year
term in 2018. One Council member representing District 1 and one Council
member representing District 2 shall be elected to three-year terms
in 2019. One Council member representing District 1 and one Council
member representing District 2 shall be elected to three-year terms
in 2020. Thereafter, all Council members shall be elected to staggered
three-year terms at regular spring elections.
[Amended 9-2-2014 by Ord.
No. 1133]
C.
City Council President. The City Council shall, at its first regular
meeting, or at an organizational meeting if one is called for that
purpose, elect from its members a President and Vice President. The
City Council President, or in his/her absence, the City Council Vice
President, shall preside at all City Council meetings.
D.
Salary. Effective May 1, 2006, Council members elected to terms commencing
in April 2006 or thereafter shall receive an annual salary of $2,880,
except the President of the Council, who shall receive $3,600. In
addition, effective May 1, 2015, whoever is elected as Council Vice
President shall receive an annual salary of $3,180 instead of $2,880.
[Amended 11-4-2014 by Ord. No. 1138]
E.
City Council Vice President. In addition to presiding at Council
meetings whenever the Council President is absent from the meeting,
the Council Vice President shall be responsible for tracking and periodically
reporting on the Council's progress in fulfilling its goals as stated
in the Planning and Goal Setting Report approved by the Council.
The powers and duties of the City Council shall be as set forth
in §§ 64.07 and 64.08, Wis. Stats., and such powers
shall be all legislative and general ordinance powers, and such other
powers as created by charter ordinances.
A.
Meetings.
(1)
Regular meetings.
(a)
Following the spring election of each year, the City Council
shall meet on the third Tuesday of April for the purpose of organization.
Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held on the first and
third Tuesdays of every month at 7:00 p.m. at a place to be determined
from time to time by a majority of the Council.
(2)
Special meetings.
(a)
The Council President or any two members of the Council may
call special meetings by written notice to each Council member and
by satisfying requirements for public notice, which shall be coordinated
with the City Clerk in advance of the special meeting. The notice
to Council members shall be delivered to the individual members personally
or left at their usual abode at least 24 hours before the meeting,
unless for good cause a twenty-four-hour notice is impossible or impractical.
In that case, a shorter notice may be given, but the notice may not
at any time be provided less than six hours in advance of the meeting.
The notice shall specify the time, place and purpose of the meeting.
Attendance by any Council member, other than those members calling
the meeting, is a waiver of any defect in the notice.
(b)
Special meetings shall be deemed regular meetings for the purpose
of transacting any business that may be permitted by law.
(3)
Executive or closed meetings.
(a)
Executive or closed sessions of Council meetings shall conform
to provisions set forth in the Wisconsin Statutes regarding notice
and exemptions to open meeting requirements.
(b)
Members and former members may not discuss the substance of
closed sessions until such time that minutes from such meetings have
been deemed no longer to be confidential and the minutes are open
to public inspection.
(c)
Members may deliberate on items brought before the Council in
closed session, but members may not vote on items without first reconvening
into open session.
(4)
Adjournment. Any Council member may move to adjourn a meeting. If
any agenda item is not considered before a motion to adjourn is adopted,
it shall automatically be referred to the Council's next regular meeting,
unless the motion provides for a specific date and hour.
B.
Quorum required. A quorum is necessary for the transaction of any
Council business. A majority of the entire Council shall constitute
a quorum.
C.
Call to order. The Council President shall be the presiding officer
and shall at the hour appointed call the members to order. If the
Council President is absent from the meeting, the Council Vice President
shall call the Council to order and preside at that meeting.
D.
Absence of member. If a Council member for any reason cannot attend
a regularly scheduled meeting, he or she shall contact the City Clerk
prior to the meeting in question to give an explanation of his or
her anticipated absence. The Council member's stated reasons for being
absent shall be entered verbally in the Council's record. If circumstances
render it impossible to give advance notice of an absence, the Council
member shall file a written statement with the Clerk within one week
of the absence. At the next regular meeting, the Clerk shall enter
the statement in the Council's record.
E.
Order of business. The business of the Council shall be conducted
in the following order:
(1)
Call to order.
(2)
Roll call. If a quorum is not present, the meeting shall automatically
adjourn to the next regular meeting.
(3)
Correction and approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting.
(4)
Correspondence.
(6)
City Manager's Report.
(7)
Acceptance of committee minutes.
(8)
Public hearing(s).
(9)
Council business, to include consent agenda, if any.
(10)
Any other Council business.
F.
Introduction of business.
(1)
Introduction requirements. All ordinances, resolutions, memorials
or other communications shall be in writing, contain a brief statement
of their content, indicate the name of the presenting member, and,
prior to their consideration by the Council, be delivered to the Clerk.
At the first permitted opportunity, the Clerk shall read and record
each by title at a meeting of the Council. Any Council member may
require at any time the reading in full of any matter while it is
before the Council.
(2)
Filing. Each proposed ordinance or resolution shall be filed in the
office of the Clerk at least six working days prior to that scheduled
Council meeting at which the measure is to be introduced. If for good
cause this pre-filing is impossible or impractical, the Council may
waive this requirement.
(3)
Placement on the agenda. All items of business to be presented to
the Council, or any of its standing committees, shall be placed on
the agenda for the appropriate meeting or meetings by the City Manager,
or in his or her absence, by the City Clerk. Any member of the Council
may request the placement of an item on the agenda, and any applicant
for a permit, approval, or license shall submit an application or
required materials to the City Manager or City Clerk six working days
prior to being placed on the agenda for consideration.
G.
Presiding officer.
(1)
Designation. The Council President shall be the presiding officer.
In the absence of the Council President, the Vice President of the
Council shall preside at the meetings of the Council.
(2)
Function. The presiding officer shall preserve order, conduct the
proceedings of the Council, and be its parliamentarian. If a member
does not follow the Council's rules, the presiding officer may, on
his or her own motion, or shall, at any member's request, call the
offending member to order. The Council, if appealed to, shall decide
the matter.
(3)
Questions of order. Any Council member may raise a point or question
of order. The question of order must be raised at the time the alleged
breach of order occurs. The presiding officer shall, in turn, immediately
rule on the question of order, subject to an appeal by a member to
the Council. The appeal may be sustained by a majority vote of the
members present, exclusive of the presiding officer.
(4)
Motion. The Council President may make any motion if he or she vacates
the chair and designates the Council Vice President to preside temporarily.
H.
Voting.
(1)
Mode of voting. Any Council member may demand an aye and no vote
on any matter. However, the vote shall be by ayes and nays if the
Council is:
(2)
Majority vote required. A majority vote of all members of the Council
in favor of any proposed ordinance, resolution or appointment shall
be necessary for passage or approval, unless a larger number is required
by law. In all other cases, a majority of the votes cast shall be
necessary for Council action, provided a quorum has voted.
(3)
Abstentions.
(a)
A Council member shall not vote on any proposed ordinance, order,
resolution or proposition in which he or she has a direct pecuniary
or personal interest not common to other members of the Council.
(b)
A Council member who is required by law to abstain from voting
on any particular matter shall not be counted for determining:
(4)
Vote change. A Council member may change his or her vote on a matter
up to the time the result of the vote is announced.
I.
Reconsideration of question. Any member who voted with the prevailing
side on any question may move for reconsideration of the vote immediately
after the vote or at the next succeeding regular meeting of the Council.
If a motion to reconsider is defeated, it may not again be presented
to the Council.
J.
Ordinances.
(1)
Reading of ordinances.
(a)
All proposed ordinances shall be read a total of three times
before the Council may vote on any of them. Each ordinance reading
shall be read by title only; however, any Council member may request,
at the time of any of the required three readings, that the proposed
ordinance shall be read in full.
[Amended 8-16-2022 by Ord. No. 1240]
(b)
By adoption of a motion to suspend the rules, the Council may
dispense with any of the required readings.
(2)
Vote on. The Council may not vote on an ordinance at the same meeting
that it is introduced unless the Council suspends this rule by an
affirmative 2/3 vote.
(3)
Committee reports. If an ordinance is referred to a committee and
the committee reports on the ordinance at a subsequent meeting, the
report shall be in writing, signed by a majority of the committee,
and shall be the committee's final action on the ordinance. If the
committee reports an amended or substitute ordinance, the report shall
still be the committee's final action on the ordinance, provided the
substitution or amendment is germane to the ordinance originally referred
to the committee.
K.
Persons' right to address Council.
(1)
Right declared. A person may address the Council, provided one of
the following conditions is met:
(2)
Time limited. Except for informational and public hearings, speakers
shall be limited to three minute addresses unless the Council consents,
by a 2/3 vote of the members present, to extend the time.
L.
Manner of deliberation.
(1)
Manner of. No Council member shall address the Council until recognized
by the presiding officer. The Council member shall then address the
presiding officer and keep all remarks to the question under discussion.
The Council member shall also avoid personal confrontations when speaking.
(2)
Recognition. When two or more members simultaneously seek recognition,
the presiding officer shall name the member who is to speak first.
(3)
Motions. No motion shall be discussed or acted upon until it has
been seconded, unless these rules specifically permit one Council
member to initiate action. No motion shall be withdrawn without the
consent of those Council members making and seconding the motion.
(5)
Termination of debate. Any member wishing to terminate the debate
may move the previous question. The presiding officer shall then announce
the question as, "Shall the question before the Council now be put?"
If 2/3 of the members present vote in the affirmative, the question
before the Council shall be taken without further debate. The Council
then votes, first on any pending amendments and then on the main question.
M.
Consent agenda.
(1)
Clerk's responsibilities. The City Clerk may create a subsection
on any Council agenda entitled "consent agenda." In a consent agenda,
the Clerk shall place matters that, in the Clerk's judgment, are routine
and noncontroversial and do not require a special vote or specific
action by the Council.
(2)
Procedure for adoption. The following procedure shall apply when
a consent agenda is used:
(a)
No separate discussion or debate may be permitted on any matter
listed on the consent agenda.
(b)
A single motion, seconded and adopted by a majority vote of
all members of the Council, shall be required to approve, adopt, enact
or otherwise favorably resolve all matters listed on the consent agenda.
(c)
Any Council member may request removal of any item or part of
an item included in the consent agenda. At the time the consent agenda
is considered, that item, as requested by the Council member, shall
be removed without debate or vote.
(d)
If an item or any part of the item has been removed from the
consent agenda in accordance with this rule, the Council shall consider
that item at an appropriate time during the Council's regular order
of business.
N.
Robert's Rules of Order to govern Council. In the absence of a standing
rule, the Council shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, Newly
Revised (11th ed.), unless contrary to state law.
[Amended 5-7-2013 by Ord.
No. 1110]
O.
Suspension of rules. These rules or any part of them may be suspended
in connection with any matter under consideration by a recorded vote
of a majority of all members of the Council.
[Amended 3-20-2012 by Ord. No. 1096]
P.
Amending the rules. By a recorded vote of 2/3 of all the members
of the Council, these rules or any part of them may be amended.
Q.
Length of regular Council meetings. After any regular meeting of
the Council has been convened for three hours, any member may bring
a motion to limit deliberations and debate to a total of 30 more minutes,
with any business not completed during the time remaining being postponed
to the next regular meeting of the Council, to be placed first as
business to be considered on that agenda. If such motion is made and
seconded, the motion may be considered even though another question
may be under consideration when the motion is made. If the motion
passes by a majority vote, then after 30 minutes of additional deliberation
or debate, motions to move the previous question, to table, to postpone
to a certain date, and to adjourn may be made and considered in the
order listed.
[Amended 11-17-2020 by Ord. No. 1219]
A vacancy in the office of Council member shall be filled by
the Council in accordance with Wis. Stats., § 17.23.
A.
Unless specifically exempted in this section, all proposed ordinances
shall be sponsored by at least one member of the City Council prior
to the drafting of such proposed ordinance by the City Attorney.
B.
Any member of the Council may sponsor any proposed ordinance initiated
by any citizen, any City official, or any board or commission, but
such sponsorship shall be obtained by the person or body seeking sponsorship
prior to the drafting of any proposed ordinance by the City Attorney.
C.
All names of any Council members sponsoring a proposed ordinance
shall be included in the ordinance prior to its introduction to the
Council for consideration.
D.
No Council member sponsoring a proposed ordinance may be compelled
to vote in favor of such ordinance simply because that member has
acted as its sponsor.
E.
Ordinances for appropriation, annexation, codification, direct legislation,
zoning, and compliance with a state or federal mandate are not required
to receive sponsors prior to drafting by the City Attorney or prior
to their introduction to the Council.
A.
Whenever the City Council contemplates the expenditure or borrowing
of any sum exceeding $500,000, and when that expenditure or borrowing
is for the purpose of constructing any building or addition to any
building, the City Council, by resolution, shall provide for a referendum
question on the approval or disapproval of the expenditure or the
borrowing.
B.
Such referendum shall be held in accordance with the requirements
of Chapter 67, Wis. Stats., if a referendum requirement exists within
the chapter for the building project in question.
C.
If no such referendum is required under Chapter 67, Wis. Stats.,
then the authority for requiring such referendum shall be this section,
and said referendum shall be held at the next spring or regular election,
or at a special election approved by a simple majority vote of the
Council.
D.
Any referendum required by this section shall be deemed by the Council
as advisory.
E.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the building construction project
provides essential public utility and public health services or if
made necessary by fire, flood or other calamity or if made necessary
by state or federal mandate, the provisions of this section are inapplicable.
