Village of Grafton, WI Village Board

Regular meetings of the Village Board shall be held on the first Monday evening and on the third Monday evening of each calendar month at 6:00 p.m., except that in the month of April of each year the regular meetings of the Village Board shall be held on the first Monday evening and the third Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m.

[Amended by Ord. No. 006, Series 2008]

Any regular meeting falling on a legal holiday in which the Village offices are closed shall be held on the next following day at the same hour and place. All meetings of the Board and adjourned meetings, except when otherwise directed by the Village Board, shall be held in the Village Hall.

§ 2.08.020 Special meetings.

Special meetings of the Village Board may be called by any two Trustees in writing, filed with the Village Clerk at least 24 hours prior to the time specified for such meetings. The Village Clerk shall immediately notify each Trustee of the time and purpose of such meeting by causing a written notice thereof to be delivered to each Trustee personally if he can be found, and if he cannot be found, then by leaving a copy of such notice at the home of such Trustee. The Village Clerk shall cause an affidavit showing service of such notice as provided in this section to be filed in his office prior to the time fixed for such special meeting. Special meetings may be held without such notice when all members of the Village Board are present in person or consent in writing to the holding of such meeting, such written consent to be filed with the Village Clerk prior to the beginning of the meeting. Public notice of such special meeting shall be given at least 24 hours prior to the commencement of such meeting, unless for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical; in which case shorter notice may be given, but in no case may the notice be provided less than two hours in advance of the meeting.

§ 2.08.030 Adjournment of meetings.

The Village Board may, by a majority of those present but not less than three affirmative votes, adjourn from time to time to a specific date and hour.

§ 2.08.040 Order of business.

[Amended by Ord. No. A-009-91, 1991; Ord. No. 027, Series 2003; 10-2-2017 by Ord. No. 009, Series 2017]

The business of the Village Board shall be conducted in the following order.

Call to order/pledge of allegiance to the flag;

Roll call of trustees/department heads/officials;

Conduct public hearing(s), if applicable;

Approval/filing of minutes;

Persons requesting to be heard;

Business presented by President;

Resolutions/ordinances/action items;

License applications;

Report of bills;

Departments' and officers' reports;

Adjournment.

§ 2.08.050 Presiding officer; Village President.

The Village President at the stated hour shall call the meeting to order. He 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 these rules. Any member shall have the right of appeal from a decision of the presiding officer. No appeal shall be debatable, and the appeal may be sustained by a majority of the members present, exclusive of the President.

§ 2.08.060 Presiding officer in absence of President.

If the President is absent at the designated time for any meeting, the Village Clerk or, in his absence, the senior Trustee present based on date of original election as Trustee shall call the meeting to order and preside until the Village Board shall, by motion, select an acting President for that meeting.

§ 2.08.070 Presiding officer; vacating Chair.

Whenever the presiding officer shall desire to speak upon any question or to make any motion he shall vacate the Chair and designate a Trustee to preside temporarily.

§ 2.08.080 Committees; appointment.

[Amended by Ord. No. 006, 1999; amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1.01, Code Adoption)]

The following committees shall be appointed by the Village President, subject to the approval of the majority of the Village Board, at the second regular meeting in April of each year:

Finance Committee, includes claims, insurance, codes, personnel.

§ 2.08.090 Committees; composition.

[Amended by Ord. No. 017, Series 2002; 1-21-2013 by Ord. No. 008-2013]]

The composition of the Finance Committee shall be as follows: four Village Board members. The Village President shall be the Chair. Each member shall serve as appointed unless excused by a majority of the members of the Village Board.

§ 2.08.100 Ordinances and resolutions.

Form. No ordinance or resolution shall be considered by the Village Board unless presented by a Trustee in writing.

Referral to committee. All ordinances, resolutions, communications and other matters submitted to the Village Board shall be read by title and author and referred to the appropriate committee by the President. The Village Clerk shall read and record each such reference by title. Any Trustee may require the reading in full of any matter at any time it is before the Village Board. All bills and other financial claims against the Village shall, upon receipt thereof, be immediately referred by the Village Clerk to the Finance Committee for report thereon at the ensuing meeting of the Village Board.

Committee report. Each committee shall, at the next regular meeting, submit a written report on all matters referred to it, unless a longer time be granted by vote of the Village Board, and such report shall be entered in the proceedings. Such report shall recommend a definite action by the Village Board on each item, shall be signed by a majority of the committee, and shall be filed with the Village Clerk prior to each meeting. Minority reports may be submitted. Previous notice of each committee meeting shall be filed with the Village Clerk, and each meeting shall be open to the public. Any committee may require any Village officer to confer with it and supply information needed in connection with any matter pending before the committee.

Vote on committee report. Any aye and nay vote shall be taken on each committee report immediately following its submission, provided that any Trustee may require a separate vote on any ordinance, resolution or other matter in any report. Action upon a specific matter included in any committee report shall be deferred until the next regular meeting following the submission of the report upon the request of any two Trustees. The approval of a committee report in which the adoption of an ordinance or resolution is recommended shall comprise final action on such ordinance or resolution, and likewise for other actions recommended by the committee on any matter.

Appropriations. All ordinances or resolutions appropriating money or creating any charge against the Village other than the payment of claims for purchases or work previously authorized by the Village Board shall only be acted upon by the Board at the next regular meeting, provided that this provision may be suspended by affirmative action by three-fourths of all members of the Village Board. A roll-call vote shall be taken and recorded on all appropriations.

§ 2.08.110 Deliberations of Board.

The deliberations of the Village Board shall be conducted in the following manner:

No Trustee shall address the Village Board until he has been recognized by the presiding officer. He shall thereupon address himself to the President and confine his remarks to the question under discussion and avoid all personalities.

When two or more members simultaneously seek recognition, the presiding officer shall name the member who is to speak first.

No person other than a member shall address the Village Board, except by vote of a majority of the members present.

No motion shall be discussed or acted upon unless and until it has been seconded, unless the rules permit one Trustee to initiate action. No motion shall be withdrawn or amended without the consent of the person making the same and the person seconding it.

When a question is under discussion, no action shall be in order, except:

To adjourn;

To lay on the table;

The previous question;

To postpone to a certain day;

To refer to a committee;

To amend;

To postpone indefinitely.

These motions shall have precedence in the order listed.

Any member desiring to terminate debate may move the previous question, in which event the President 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; its effect being to put an end to all debate and bring the Village Board to a direct vote, first upon any pending amendments and then upon the main question.

Any Trustee may demand any aye and nay vote on any matter, and such vote shall be entered in the proceedings. Every member shall vote when a question is put, unless the Village Board, by a majority vote of those present, excuses him for special cause. A majority vote of all members of the Village Board in favor of any proposed ordinance, resolution or appointment shall be necessary for passage or approval, unless a larger number is required by statute. Except as otherwise provided, a majority vote of those present shall prevail in other cases.

A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, and a motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, and a call for the previous question shall be decided without debate.

§ 2.08.120 Reconsideration of question.

[Amended by Ord. No. 016, Series 1998]

It shall be in order for any member who voted with the prevailing side to move for a reconsideration of the vote on any question at that meeting or at the succeeding regular meeting. A motion to reconsider being put and lost shall not be renewed. A Trustee cannot change his vote on any question after the result has been announced.

§ 2.08.130 Suspension of rules.

The rules enumerated in this chapter or any part thereof may be temporarily suspended in connection with any matter under consideration by a recorded vote of two-thirds of the members present.