(a)
The town
is a type A general law municipality and, as such, is governed by
specific provisions of the Texas Local Government Code. The provisions
of these rules of procedure are intended to aid in the orderly transaction
of the affairs of the town and regulation of the conduct of the meetings
of the town council. In the event of a conflict between the provisions
of these rules and state law, the latter will prevail. In no event
shall any deviation from or violation of these rules operate to invalidate
or otherwise annul any action properly taken by the council.
(b)
The town
council, hereinafter referred to as “the council” consists
of a mayor and five (5) council members (referred to in state law
as aldermen), elected at large for uncompensated two-year terms of
office. The council will be served by the town secretary at all scheduled
meetings and its open proceedings will be recorded in their entirety.
The business conducted in executive or closed sessions will either
be recorded or will be preserved by a certified agenda.
(Ordinance 43 adopted 11/3/98)
(a)
Regular
Meetings.
Regular meetings of the council will be held
on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the council
chambers at town hall. Should the date of a regular meeting fall on
a recognized town holiday, the regular meeting will be held on the
next day, the Tuesday following that holiday, at 7:00 p.m. in the
council chambers at town hall. A temporary adjustment of this schedule,
for exigent reasons, will require a majority vote of the council.
(b)
Special
Meetings.
Special meetings as may be required from time
to time shall be called by the mayor or, in his/her absence, the mayor
pro tem, or upon the request of any three (3) council members. Special
meetings require the presence of four (4) council members to constitute
a quorum.
(c)
Emergency
Meetings.
Emergency meetings may be called by the mayor,
or any council member to address an imminent threat to public health
or safety or other urgent public necessity as the law may allow. The
chiefs of the police and fire departments (or their representatives)
may be in attendance or on call. During an emergency period, if warranted,
the town hall will remain open and manned 24-hours a day by at least
two council members on an 8-hour shift basis.
(d)
Extended
Meetings.
Any regular, special or emergency meeting may
be, for good reason, and vote approval, extended by recess of the
initial meeting and reconvened at a later time not exceed twenty-four
(24) hours after the recess time of the initial meeting.
(e)
Posting
Meeting Agendas.
Agendas for regular and special council
meetings will be posted at town hall in a conspicuous, easily accessible
place at least seventy-two (72) hours prior to the meeting. Agendas
for emergency meetings will be posted at least two (2) hours in advance
of the meeting.
(f)
Executive
Sessions.
An executive session is closed to the general
public. The council may admit select individuals to attend and participate
during such sessions. Executive sessions may only be convened after
the council has first convened in open session. The agenda of the
open meeting should identify the statutory provision for which the
executive or closed session is called and should enumerate the basis
and topic thereof.
(g)
Quorum.
A minimum of three (3) council members (exclusive of the mayor)
constitutes a quorum for the transaction of the town’s affairs.
To achieve a necessary quorum, the commencement of the meeting may
be delayed at the presiding officer’s discretion, for a maximum
of thirty (30) minutes. If a quorum is not then obtained, the presiding
officer shall adjourn the meeting, and indicate to the town secretary
that the agenda items will be posted upon the agenda for the next
regularly scheduled council meeting.
(h)
Council
Attendance and Voting.
All members of the town council
will, as a matter of public duty, be expected to attend all regularly
scheduled council meetings. Excused absences for health, employment,
family vacations or other reasons will be authorized without specific
permission; however, the town secretary should be notified of any
absence as far in advance of the scheduled meeting as possible. Attendance
of council members at council meetings is maintained as a matter of
public record.
Council members are expected to vote on all issues coming before
the council unless that member: (1) must abstain from participation
because compelled to do so by law; or (2) should abstain from voting
in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Where a council member
is required by law to abstain from participation, the abstention will
be considered to be an absence on the item for which abstention is
required and the presence at the meeting of that member will not be
counted towards a quorum. Where a council member abstains from voting
for reasons other than being compelled by law to do so, the presence
of that member will be counted towards a quorum; the abstention will
be considered as a “non-vote” and will not be counted
as a vote in favor of or against any motion or item including but
not limited to those items for which a supermajority vote is required.
(i)
Dress
Code.
Council members shall appear at council meetings
in neat, clean attire. Although strict business-like attire is not
required, the conduct of the town’s official business deserves
the dignity of appropriate dress.
(j)
Succession
of Office.
In the absence or disability of the mayor,
the mayor pro tem will preside over the council. During the absence
of both, a deputy mayor pro tem shall preside. The mayor pro tem and
deputy mayor pro tem shall have and exercise the powers and duties
of the mayor when serving in the absence of the mayor or mayor pro
tem, respectively. The mayor pro tem and deputy mayor pro tem shall
be appointed by the council to serve terms of one year to coincide
with the town’s annual general elections; provided however,
that the council may appoint or replace the mayor pro tem or deputy
mayor pro tem by majority vote at its sole discretion. For purposes
of meetings of the council, in the absence of the mayor, mayor pro
tem and deputy mayor pro tem, if a quorum is present, the meeting
shall be called to order by the senior-most councilmember present.
Seniority will be determined by the total length of time served as
a member of the council. The council shall then elect one of its members,
upon nomination and vote, for the purpose of serving as the presiding
officer of the meeting. Further succession because of prolonged or
permanent absence or disability of elected officials, will, in order
to maintain council viability, be determined by the provisions of
the Texas Local Government Code.
(k)
Special
Duties of Council Members.
In addition to the broad duty
of council members to establish policy and laws, a member of the town
council may be appointed to assume responsibility as liaison to staff
or to a town board or commission. Such assumption of responsibility
may be continuous or occur on a one-time (project) basis. Such appointment
may be effected simple majority vote during open session wherein the
mayor shall only vote in the event of a tie. Such appointment will
be duly reflected in the minutes of the meeting.
(l)
Meeting
Agendas.
All regular and special meetings of the town
council will convene only after an agenda for such meeting has been
posted in a readily and continuously accessible location at town hall
for at least seventy-two (72) hours before the scheduled time of the
meeting. The town secretary shall be responsible for posting the agenda
and distributing the agenda and the supporting documentation to the
mayor and each councilmember. The mayor or any councilmember may place
an item or items on the agenda for consideration and/or action. Citizens
may request that a matter be placed upon the agenda after request
and consultation with the mayor or any councilmember. The person requesting
that a matter be placed on the agenda will be identified as the sponsor
of the subject and may, at the mayor’s request, introduce the
matter to the council. If during a meeting of the council, a citizen
or a councilmember inquires about a subject not on the agenda, any
deliberation about the subject of the inquiry shall be limited to:
(1)
A proposal
to place the item on the agenda for a subsequent meeting;
(2)
A statement
of factual information, e.g., “This matter has been settled”;
or
(3)
A recitation
of existing policy, e.g., “The town council does not get involved
in raising funds for a political candidate.”
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The format of the agenda will correspond to the order of business
schedule as indicated under procedural rules of this article.
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(Ordinance 43 adopted 11/3/98; Ordinance 05-28 adopted 12/5/05; Ordinance 08-01 adopted 2/25/08; Ordinance
09-03 adopted 3/16/09; Ordinance 12-03 adopted 6/4/12)
(a)
Council
Minutes.
All open sessions of all council meetings shall
be recorded and the recordings shall be preserved for a period of
at least one (1) year. From the recordings, the town secretary will
prepare a brief summary and result of each item on the agenda. The
summary, or minutes of the meeting, will be presented to the council
at the next scheduled meeting for council approval and signature of
the mayor. Until council approval and signature, the minutes are not
an official transcript. Copies of meeting minutes, stamped “preliminary,”
or verbatim taped recordings of the meeting may be released upon citizen
request, before the official minutes are approved.
(b)
Executive
Session Minutes.
A summary of deliberations in closed
executive session will not be published in the minutes of the open
meeting, however the tape recording or certified agenda of the executive
session must be maintained in confidence for at least two years. Certified
agendas or tape recordings of executive sessions may only be released
in accordance with law. All final actions, decisions or votes as a
result of closed executive sessions must be made in an open meeting,
and the results reflected in the minutes.
(c)
Release
of Information.
In accordance with the provisions of
the Texas Public Information Act, any citizen may request copies of
council minute transcripts and/or actual verbatim recordings of open
council meetings or any other public town information to the extent
authorized by law. Such requests will be governed by the following:
(1)
All
citizen requests for information will be treated uniformly and courteously.
(2)
The
request for information must be in writing to identify the particular
information being sought, along with the requestor's name, address
and phone number. The request will be date and time stamped upon receipt.
(3)
The
reason for a citizen's request will not be required, nor will any
inquiry into motives be made.
(4)
The
request for information will be accepted during normal business hours,
when town hall is open for business, and should be provided in the
medium requested, within ten business days, unless alternative arrangements
have been made with the requestor.
(5)
Under
the Texas Public Information Act, the town is not obligated to conduct
research, collect data or construct new records.
(6)
A reasonable
fee for staff time and copies may be charged if the request for information
incurs an effort that exceeds 30 minutes, and materials in excess
of five dollars ($5.00) value. Such fee, if any, will be based upon
a log of actual time and materials consumed. Guidance for the fee
amount charged may be obtained from the fee schedule published by
the Texas General Services Commission (GSC).
(Ordinance 43 adopted 11/3/98; Ordinance 04-06 adopted 4/5/04)
(a)
Order
of Business.
The order of business for regular council
meetings should be as follows:
(b)
Rules
of Order.
All meetings of the town council will be guided
according to the rules in the latest edition of "Robert's Rules of
Order, Newly Revised."
(c)
Decorum.
When the meeting is called to order by the presiding officer,
the following rules of decorum will apply:
(1)
Only
one person may speak at any one time during council meetings. This
rule will be strictly observed and enforced.
(2)
No
person may speak until recognized by the mayor.
(3)
Remarks
shall be confined to the question before the council.
(4)
When
a council member is speaking, other members will not hold private
discourse, nor in any manner interrupt or distract from attention
to the speaker.
(5)
Disrespectful
personal remarks, profane language and disorderly or distracting conduct
by any person in the council chambers after the call to order will
not be tolerated.
(6)
All
persons in attendance at council meetings will be seated except the
speaker at the lectern. Should the seating capacity of the council
chambers be exceeded, the council may recess the meeting and move
its proceedings to a location that will accommodate a larger number
of seated participants.
(7)
At
times, widespread public interest in a controversial agenda item will
generate a large, spirited citizen audience. As a result, decorum
may be difficult to maintain. To promote order, the mayor should take
the opportunity to address the audience, preferably before the call
to order, and inform them in a cordial, sincere manner of the procedural
rules that apply directly to them both as an observer and as a speaker.
(8)
No
persons in attendance at a council meeting will refuse to obey the
orders of the presiding officer when he exercises his responsibility
to maintain the decorum and dignity of the proceedings.
(d)
Presiding
Officer.
The mayor serves as the presiding official over
all council meetings. His primary duties in that role are as follows:
(1)
Insure
that the rules of procedure are followed and to maintain order and
dignity at all meetings.
(2)
Insure
that after the call to order, only one person in the council chambers
may speak at any one time.
(3)
Introduce
each agenda item in the order published and confine discussion to
that order of business. The mayor may, however, in the best interest
of efficiency and order, realign the sequencing of agenda items but
shall not table, remove or cancel any action item on the agenda unless
a majority of the quorum then present so votes.
(4)
Recognize
citizens to speak at appropriate times.
(5)
Insure
that each council member has an opportunity to speak to the agenda
item under consideration at least once.
(6)
Rule
on actions or motions which are out of order.
(7)
Insure
that a roll call is executed on all votes, and that the result is
announced.
(8)
In
the event of a tie vote, exercise the mayoral voting privilege to
break the tie.
(e)
Seating
of the Council.
Prior to the call to order, the council
will be seated facing the audience of citizens. The mayor will be
seated in the center, with mayor pro tem to his right, and the senior
council member to his left. The remaining council members, in order
of seniority, will be, alternatively, seated from right to left so
that the junior council members will be positioned to the far right
and left. The town secretary may be seated to the outermost right
or left of the council. Each person on the council will be identified
by a name plate visible to the citizenry.
(f)
Conduct
of the Town Council Meeting.
(1)
Opening.
At the exact time of the meeting the mayor shall assume the
chair, call the meeting to order, and ask the town secretary to call
the roll. The roll will be called in alphabetical order of last names,
by reciting the full name and title of each person elected to the
council. A quorum being present, the secretary will so state.
(2)
Presentation
of Minutes.
After the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance,
the town secretary will present the minutes of the last preceding
council meeting. After consideration by the council and corrections,
if any, a motion should be made, seconded and voted upon to approve
or disapprove the minutes as presented and/or corrected. Upon approval
by majority vote, the mayor will then sign the minutes.
(3)
Reports
of Town Officials.
Such reports are designed to keep
the citizens and council informed as to the activities, operations,
status, plans and exceptional happenings of each department of operations
and special projects. The reports will be brief, and contain factual
information of interest to the council and the general public.
The format and subject of such reports will be at the discretion
of each official but may not address agenda items at this stage of
the meeting. Reports from the town secretary and town treasurer may
be given at each meeting, and reports from the following officials
should be rendered on a quarterly basis.
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Police Chief
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Fire Chief
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Presiding Official - P & Z
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Presiding Official - BOA
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Special Project Official (s)
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Other officials may be directed by the council
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The council may question each town official by asking
for recognition to speak from the mayor, however, prolonged discourse
will be avoided so as to keep the report items of business to a maximum
of 15 minutes overall.
(4)
Citizen
Comments - Non Agenda Items.
Citizens are encouraged
to attend council meetings, and express their views. The following
rules will apply to citizens wishing to address the council:
(A)
They must sign the log provided in the council chambers, give their
address and cite the subject. The log will be given to the mayor so
that he may recognize each citizen to speak by name.
(B)
The mayor will announce that this segment of the council meeting
is intended for citizen comment on any subject except those matters
that appear on the agenda. Those citizens wishing to address an agenda
item will be recognized at the appropriate time. He will further state
that any citizen comments at this time will not receive any verbal
council response, nor must the citizen expect any discourse with the
mayor or any council member. The mayor may further explain that this
is a procedural rule, not intended to convey a lack of interest or
discourtesy, but rather to provide time for all citizens to speak,
and to move on to the new business of the council. He may further
advise that all proceedings of the town council, including citizen
comments, are recorded for record purposes. A citizen's request to
turn off the recording mechanism shall be denied.
(C)
Upon recognition by the mayor, a citizen wishing to address the council
will approach the speaker's lectern and give their name and address
before speaking.
(D)
The entire council will give their undivided attention to the citizen
speaking until he/she has completed their address.
(E)
Each citizen will be limited to five minutes to address the council
or as otherwise prescribed by the presiding officer.
(F)
No personal attacks, profane language or disorderly, disruptive conduct
will be permitted by any citizen speaker or any citizen member of
the audience in support or opposition to the speaker's remarks.
(G)
Should there be any violation of good order, dignity and these procedural
rules, the mayor will maintain firm control by sounding his gavel
and may take the following action as appropriate:
(i)
Call the transgressing person(s) to order and advise of their infraction.
(ii)
Inform the transgressing person(s) that unless the transgression
ceases immediately, the person(s) will be ordered to leave.
(iii)
Order the person(s) to leave.
(iv)
Failure to leave immediately upon order may result in arrest.
(5)
Agenda
Items - New Business.
This is the most significant portion
of the council meeting. For that reason, particular attention must
be paid to the following:
(A)
The recording mechanism is on and in good working order and additional
tapes are available as required.
(B)
All persons present in the council chambers observe the rules of
order and decorum.
(C)
Introduce each subject on the agenda in a clear, succinct and unbiased
manner by the mayor and/or the sponsoring council member.
(D)
Limit the testimony of citizens and "experts" to five (5) minutes
each and take care to solicit opposing views.
(E)
Insure that the council has sufficient information from the introduction
and outside testimony so they may base an announcement of a main motion
before council debate. For clarification and/or additional information
the council may ask for "points of information" at this time.
(F)
Only one council member may speak at any one time during debate or
deliberation and only after being recognized by the mayor to do so.
(G)
The mayor and all council members must confine the debate or deliberation
to the question before the council.
(H)
Recognize each council member to speak at least once on each subject.
(I)
Employ the following parliamentary procedure terms during debate,
as discussed in Robert's Rules of Order.
(i)
Main Motion
- A proposal that introduces a subject for
debate is a Main Motion.
(ii)
Second
- An indication by a second member to have the
motion debated.
(iii)
Subsidiary Motion
- A motion, usually applied
to the main motion for the purpose of changing it or to defer discussion
(lay on the table).
(iv)
Point of Information
- A request for specific information
pertaining to the question before the council.
(v)
Point of Order
- A motion that calls upon the mayor
for a ruling.
(vi)
Executive Session
- A meeting or a portion of a meeting,
at which the proceedings are confidential.
(vii)
Out of Order
- A motion, request or behavior which
is in violation of the rules.
(viii)
Previous Question
- A motion to stop debate.
(ix)
Putting the Question
- Placing the motion before the
council for a vote.
(x)
State the Question
- A repeat, by the mayor, of a council
member's motion to begin debate.
(6)
Agenda
Items.
Old Business and Consent Agenda Matters which
were deliberated upon at a prior meeting but which were not concluded
may be discussed during this portion of the meeting only where the
matters are adequately identified on the agenda. The posted agenda
may also contain a portion designated for consent items which may
be passed and approved in one motion without discussion. However,
any one council member may upon request made prior to the vote have
any specific consent agenda item removed from the consent agenda portion
for full deliberation.
(8)
Adjournment.
At the conclusion of business, the mayor may ask for a motion
to adjourn which should be seconded and approved by majority vote.
The time of adjournment will be noted.
(Ordinance 43 adopted 11/3/98)
