[Adopted 11-17-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-17]
A majority of the Councilpersons serving shall constitute a
quorum for the conduct of business at any meeting. The Mayor or Mayor
Pro Tempore shall preside; except that in the absence of both, the
members present shall elect a presiding member.
The City Clerk or City Administrator shall keep the minutes
of all public meetings of Council, which shall be a matter of permanent
public record. A truthful and trustworthy account of the meeting transactions
is essential to the completeness of the official record. At each Council
meeting the minutes of the previous meeting shall be presented for
approval. Minutes shall not be considered the official record of a
meeting until approved by Council. Any member of Council desiring
to express a position on a matter voted upon by Council in the minutes
may do so by presenting the position in writing to Council no later
than the next regular meeting.
The primary objective of preparing an agenda, besides legal
reasons, is to provide a guide to all interested parties of the business
proposed to be acted on at a given time, date and place. Matters to
be considered by Council at a regular meeting shall be placed on the
public written agenda prepared by the chief administrative officer
and posted by 12:00 noon on Thursday preceding the meeting. An agenda
for a regularly scheduled meeting must be posted on a bulletin board
in a publicly accessible place at the office or meeting place of the
public body and on the municipal website at least 24 hours prior to
such meeting. At the request of a member of Council, the agenda may
be amended by a two-thirds vote of Council prior to approval of the
minutes.
The City Attorney shall attend meetings of Council upon request
of Council. Upon Council approval the City Attorney shall act as parliamentarian,
propose ordinances and resolutions. The City Attorney shall if called
upon by Council review all ordinances, resolutions, documents presented
to Council and give opinions upon questions of procedure, form and
law to any member of Council.
The City Administrator, City Clerk or designee shall attend
meetings of Council.
Council may appoint a special committee to assist in or hold
a public hearing for Council at any time upon any matter pending before
it. Minutes or reports of hearings held by special committees shall
be filed with the City Administration as public records:
Council shall act by ordinances in accordance with S.C. Code
Ann. § 5-7-260. Acts of Council which are required to be
done by ordinance:
A. Adopt or amend an administrative code or establish, alter or abolish
any municipal department, office or agency;
B. Provide for a fine or other penalty or establish a rule or regulation
in which a fine or other penalty is imposed for violation;
C. Adopt budgets, levy taxes, except as otherwise provided with respect
to the property tax levied by adoption of a budget, pursuant to public
notice;
D. Grant, renew or extend franchises;
E. Authorize the borrowing of money;
F. Sell or lease or contract to sell or lease any lands of the municipality;
and
G. Amend or repeal any ordinance described in Subsections
A through
F above.
An ordinance may be proposed by any member of Council. A proposed
ordinance may be referred to the City Attorney at the request of Council
for approval as to form. The City Attorney, if requested by Council,
shall render assistance in the preparation of notices and ordinances.
An ordinance shall be deemed introduced when it appears on an agenda
for a public meeting of Council and its title is read.
All ordinances relating to administration, health, safety, vehicles,
streets (except franchises and encroachments), solicitations, pollution,
municipal court, descriptions of areas annexed to the City, and any
other ordinances or portions of ordinances so required by Council
shall be codified and updated annually in a loose-leaf Code of Ordinances
and by electronic versions to be displayed on the City's website.
Standard codes, technical regulations and zoning ordinances may be
cited in the code by reference and copies shall be made available
for distribution or purchase at a reasonable price.
A voice motion of a member of Council shall be considered to
be the introduction of an oral resolution which shall require no written
record other than a notation in the Council minutes. A resolution
proposed in writing shall be introduced in the same manner as an ordinance.
Written and oral resolutions may be adopted on one reading unless
a public hearing is set by a majority of the members of Council present.
[Adopted 5-16-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-11]
The City shall maintain the following standing committees:
D. Parks and Recreation Committee;
E. Street and Sanitation Committee;
F. General Government and Finance Committee; and
G. Community
Development Committee.
The standing committees shall formulate policies, investigate
departments and make recommendations to Council concerning the operation
of each department. Temporary committees shall make recommendations
to Council.