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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 0984 ORDINANCE NO. 984 AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, TARR&~T COUNTY, AMENDING THE RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS AND ADOPTING THE SAME AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY BE IT THEREFORE ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS; That the Rules of Procedure as amended and a copy of which is attached and made a part of this Ordinance are hereby adopted and approved by this Council. That these Rules as amended supercedes any other set of rules so adopted prior to this date. That there exists a state of emergency due to the time element and the necessity for these Rules to go into effect which will be to the good of the general welfare of the people and City of North Richland Hills, Tarrant County, Texas, thus an emergency is declared. PASSED AND APPROVED this 25th day of October ,1982. 0£~-~~ ATLEST: ()d~ -?-1-¿-ZZ;~ .¡y¡ f).4J~ ~~tte Moore - c~~:'iecretary v City of ~orth '"Rich land WIls ~tar of the ~etroplex CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS Council Rules of Procedure (817) 281-0041/7301 N. E. LOOP 820 / P. O. BOX 18609 / NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS 76118 1. Authority. 1.1 Charter. Article VI, Section 1 of the Charter of the City of North Richland Hills provides that "all powers and authority which are expressly or explicitly conferred on or possessed by the City Council..." In order to provide the framework for the execution of these powers and authority the following set of rules shall be in effect upon their adoption by the City Coun- cil and until such times as they are amended or new rules adopted in the manner provided for by these rules. 2. General Rules. 2.1 Meetings to be Public. All meetings of the City Council shall be open to the public (Charter, Article XVIII, Section 4). 2.2 Quorum. Four members of the City Council shall constitute a quorum. When the Mayor is absent and the Mayor Pro Tem is serving in his capacity as a non-voting member, four Council members in addition to the Mayor Pro Tern shall be required to constitute a quorum. 2.3 Minutes of Meetings. An account of all proceedings of the Council shall be kept by the City Secretary and shall be entered in a book constituting the official record of the City Council. 2.4 Questions to Contain One Subject. All questions submitted for a vote shall contain only one sub- ject. If two or more points are involved, any member may re- quire a division, if the question reasonably admits of a division. 2.5 Right of Floor. Any member desiring to speak shall be recognized by the Chairman, and shall confine his remarks to the subject under discussion or to be discussed. No member shall be allowed to speak more than once on anyone subject until every member wishing to speak shall have spoken. Page 1 2.6 City Manager. The City· Manager shall attend all City Council meetings unless expressly excused. He may make recommendations to the City Council and shall have the right to take part in all dis- cussions of the Council, but shall have no vote. 2.7 City Attorney. The City Attorney shall attend all meetings of the City Council unless expressly excused and shall upon request give an opinion, either written or oral, on questions of law. The City Attorney shall act as the City Council's Parliamentarian. 2.8 City Secretary. The City Secretary shall attend all meetings of the City Council unless expressly excused, and shall keep the official minutes and perform such other duties as may be requested by the Council. 2.9 Officers and Employees. Any officer or employee of the City, when requested by Manager, shall attend any meeting of the City Council. quested to do so by the City Manager, they may present tion relating to matters before the City Council. the City If re- in forma- 2.10 Rules of Order. Roberts Rules of Order Revised shall govern the proceedings of the City Council in all cases unless they are in conflict with these rules. 2.11 Suspension of Rules. provisions of Section 8 shall not be suspended. Any other provi- sions of these rules not governed by State law, the City Charter, or City Code may be temporarily suspended by a unanimous vote of all members of the City Council present and voting. 2.12 Amendment of Rules. These rules may be amended, or new rules adopted by a majority vote of all members of the City Council, provided that the pro- posed amendments or new rules shall have been introduced into the record at a previous meeting of the City Council. Page 2 3. Types of Meetings. 3.l Regular Meetings. The City Council shall meet in the Council Chamber of the City Hall on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise officially established by the City Council. The call for and conduct of all meetings of the City Council, both regular and special as provided in Section 3.2 hereof shall be in accordance with Article 6252-17, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, known as the Texas Open Meeting Act. 3.2 Special Meetings. Special meetings may be called by the Mayor or any four members of the City Council. The call for a special meeting shall be filed with the City Secretary in written form, except that announcement of a special meeting, during any regular meeting at which all members are present, shall be sufficient notice of such special meeting. The call for a special meeting shall specify the day and the hour of the special meeting, and shall list the subject or subjects to be considered. No special meet- ing shall be held until at least two (2) hours after the call is issued and the notice thereof is posted. 3.3 Recessed Meetings. Any meeting of the City Council may be recessed to a later time provided that no recess shall be for a longer period than until the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting. 4. Chairman and Duties. 4.1 The Mayor, if present, shall preside as Chairman at all meetings of the Council. In the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tem shall preside. In the absence of both Mayor and Mayor Pro Tern, the City Council shall elect a Chairman. 4.2 Call to Order. The meetings of the City Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, or in his absence, by the Mayor Pro Tem. In the absence of both Mayor and Mayor Pro Tern, the meeting shall be called to order by the City Secretary. 4.3 Preservation of Order. The Chairman shall preserve order and decorum, prevent clash of personalities or the impugning of members' motives to occur and confine members in debate to the question under discussion. Page 3 4.4 Points of Order. The Chairman shall determine all points of order, subject to the right of any member to appeal to the City Council. If any appeal is taken, the question shall be, "Shall the decision of the Chairman be sustained?" 4.5 Questions to be stated. The Chairman shall state all questions submitted for a vote and announce the result. 4.6 Substitution for Chairman. The Chairman may call any other member to take his place in the chair, such substitutions not to continue beyond adjournment. 5. Order of Business. 5.1 Agenda. The order of business of each meeting shall be as contained in the City Council agenda prepared by the City Manager. The agenda shall be a listing by topic of subjects to be considered by the City Coun- cil, and shall be delivered to members of the City Council each Thursday preceding the Monday evening meeting to which it pertains. 5.2 Consent Agenda. In preparing the agenda, the City Manager shall give consideration to the number and degree of complexity of items to be considered by the City Council for the purpose of conserving the Council's time in meetings. Items which are anticipated to be routine and require little or no consideration by the Council shall be desig- nated by an asterisk, and shall be considered as a part of the "Consent Agenda." Prior to taking up the Consent Agenda, the Mayor shall determine if there are any items thereon which should be removed from the Consent Agenda for discussion. Any Council member may, upon request, remove any item from the Consent Agenda for discussion and individual action. Thereafter, all remaining Consent Agenda items may be acted upon by a single motion approv- ing the Consent Agenda. 5.3 Council Communications. The city Manager shall provide the City Council with a written analysis of and recommendation of items to be acted upon by the City Council at its meetings. These communications shall be Page 4 delivered to city Council members each Thursday preceding the Monday meeting at which time they will be discussed, unless an emergency condition makes it necessary to deliver the communica- tion on a subsequent day. 5.4 Oral Presentations by City Manager. 5.5 5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.5.4 Matters requiring the Council's attention or action which may have developed since the deadline for delivery of the written Council Communication (Section 5.3) may, upon approval of the City Council, and after satisfying the requirements of the Open Meetings Act, be presented orally by the City Manager. Citizen Presentations. Any person desiring to present a subject for City Council considera- tion shall advise the City Manager's office of the fact not later than 5:00 p.m., on Wednesday preceding the meeting at which he wishes to have the subject to be considered. Said person shall make himself available for a conference with the City Manager at the Manager's re- quest at some time prior to said Council meeting. At the end of each agenda any person who has not been listed on the agenda as provided under 5.5.1, above, but who desires to speak at a Council meeting will be recognized by the Mayor and allowed to speak provided said person completes a form furnished inquiring as to name, address and topic. Presentation by citizens shall be limited to a time period of not more than three (3) minutes for each speaker. Any time spent by the citizen in responding to direct questions by City Council members will not be counted against the citizen's time allotment. These rules shall not apply to anyone appearing at a public hearing in response to official notice. 6. Consideration of Ordinances, Resolutions, and Motions. 6.1 Printed or Typewritten Form. All ordinances and resolutions shall be presented to the City Council only in printed or typewritten form. 6.2 City Attorney to Approve. All ordinances and resolutions shall be approved as to form and legality (Charter, Article VI, Section 6) by the City Attorney. Page 5 6.3 Ordinances - When Effective. Unless otherwise provided by applicable law, all ordinances, except those prescribing a fine or penalty, shall be effective from and after the date of passage, which may be upon one read- ing only; any ordinance prescribing a fine or penalty shall be effective from and after the publication thereof, in the offi- cially designated newspaper of the city. 6.4 Distribution of Ordinances. The city Secretary shall prepare copies of all proposed ordinances for distribution to all members of the City Council at the meeting at which the ordinance is introduced, or at such earlier time as is expedient. 6.5 Recording of Votes. The vote of each Council member shall be taken upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions and entered upon the official record of the city Council. 6.6 Majority Vote Required. Approval of every ordinance, resolution, or motion shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the City Coun- cil, except as otherwise provided for in these rules. 6.7 Tie Vote. In the event of a tie vote on any motion the Mayor shall vote to break the tie. 6.8 Voting Required. No member shall be excused from voting except on matters involving the consideration of his own official conduct, or where his finan- cial interests are involved, or unless excused by the Mayor for other valid reasons (Ordinance Number 318, Paragraph 6.8). 6.9 Order of Precedence of Motions. The following motions shall have priority in the order indicated: l. Adjourn (when privileged) 2. Take a recess (when privileged) * 3. Raise a question of privilege 4. Lay on table Page 6 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 5. Previous question (two-third vote required) 6. Limit or extend limits of debate (two-third vote required)* 7. postpone to a certain time* 8. Commit or refer* 9. Amend* 10. postpone indefinitely 11. Main motion* * Can be amended - others cannot Reconsideration. A motion to reconsider any action of the city Council can be made not later than the next succeeding official meeting of the City Council. Such a motion can only be made by a member who voted with the majority. It can be seconded by any member. No question shall be reconsidered twice except by unanimous consent of the City Coun- cil, except that action relating to any contract may be reconsidered at any time before the final execution thereof. The Previous Question. When the previous question is moved and seconded it shall be put as follows: "Shall the main question be now put?" There shall be no further amendment or debate; but pending amendments shall be put in their order before the main question. If the motion for the previous question is lost, the main question remains before the City Council. An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the City Council shall be required to move the previous question. withdrawal of Motions. A motion may be withdrawn, or modified by its mover without asking permission until the motion has been stated by the Chairman. If the mover modifies his motion, the seconder may withdraw his second. After the question has been stated, the mover shall neither withdraw it nor modify it without the consent of the Council. Amendments to Motions. No motion or proposition of a subject différent from that under con- sideration shall be admitted under color of amendment. A motion to amend an amendment shall be in order, but more than one amendment to an amendment shall not be in order. Page 7 6.14 Appropriation of Money. Before formal approval by the City Council of motions providing for the appropriation of money, information must be presented to the City Council showing the purpose of the appropriation and the account to which it is to be credited. In addition, before finally acting on such an appropriation, the city Council shall obtain a report from the city Manager as to the availability of the appropriation. 6.15 Transfer of Appropriations. Upon written recommendation of the City Manager, the City Council may at any time transfer an unencumbered balance of an appropria- tion made for the use in one department or division to any other department or division. 7. Cr~ation of Committees, Boards and Commissions. 7.1 City Council Committees. The City Council may, as need arises, authorize the appointment of "ad hoc" Council committees. Except where otherwise provided by the City Charter, the Mayor shall appoint members of the City Coun- cil committees, subject to the approval of the Council. Any com- mittee so created shall cease to exist upon the accomplishment of the special purpose for which it was created or when abolished by a majority of the City Council. 7.2 Citizen Boards, Commissions and Committees. The City Council may create and establish other committees, boards and commissions to assist in the conduct of the City government with such duties as the City Council may specify, not inconsistent with the City Charter or City Code. Memberships and selection of members shall be as provided by the City Council if not specified by the City Charter. Any committees, boards or commissions so created shall cease to exist upon the accomplishment of the spe- cial purpose for which they were created, or when abolished by majority vote of the City Council. No committee so appointed shall have powers other than advisory to the City Councilor the City Manager, except as otherwise provided for in the City Charter. Page 8 8. Consideration of Zoning Matters. The City Council shall consider matters referred by the Planning and Zoning Commission only after the following steps have been taken. 8.1 Where the Planning and zoning Commission recommends approval of a proposed change in the zoning classification of property, the City Secretary shall cause to be published at least fifteen (15) days prior to said City Council consideration, notice of the time and place of such hearing and cases to be heard in an offi- cial paper of the City or in a paper of general circulation in the City. 8.2 All property owners within 200 feet of the property to be rezoned shall be notified in writing by depositing such notice, properly addressed and posted, in the United States mail at least ten (10) days prior to such hearing, stating the time and place of such hearing (Article 1011f, T.R.C.S.). 8.3 In the event twenty (20) percent or more of the owners of real property within the area rezoned, or twenty (20) percent of the owners of real property adjacent within 200 feet of said revision protest against such change in the zoning in writing to the City Council through the City Manager, provided said written petition is filed with the City Secretary or City Manager by 12:00 o'clock noon the Thursday prior to the Council meeting at which said zoning matter is scheduled to be heard, such amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all members of the City Council (Article 10113, T.R.C.S.). 8.4 When the Planning and Zoning Commission recommends the disapproval of a requested rezoning of property to the City Council, before the City Council can reverse the recommendation of the Planning and Zon- ing Commission the City Council must: I. Set a special hearing. 2. Give notice as provided in Sections 8.1 and 8.2 of these Rules of Procedure. 9. Cumulative Clause. 9.1 These City Council Rules of Procedure shall be cumulative of all other City Council Rules of Procedure of the City of North Richland Hills relating to the subject matter hereof, except where ordinances or other rules are, or parts thereof are, in conflict with the pro- visions of these rules, in which event such rules or parts of rules so conflicting are hereby expressly repealed. Page 9 10. Effective Date. 10.1 The City' Council Rules of Procedure shall take effect and be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage by the City Council of North Richland Hills. Page 10