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The City Council receives new business at the Regular City
Council meetings or at Special City Council meetings which may be called by
the President of the City Council or the Mayor from time to time.
Agenda Information
The agenda before the City Council at its meeting is called the Order of the
Day. Items brought before the City Council must be in writing. The deadline
for filing a matter with the Clerk of the Council for presentation to the
City Council is 1:00 p.m. the day before the meeting. The City Council can by
oral motion and by suspension of the rules add matters to the Order of the
Day during the meeting. Five members must be present for a quorum.
Often the items received by the City Council are disposed of at the meeting.
However, some business is referred to various Committees for further review
and investigation. Particular matters are required to be sent to Committee
before final action
by the full City Council including appointments, ordinances, most financial
matters and licenses.
Members
Each committee consists of either three or five members of the City Council.
They are appointed to their positions by the President of the City Council.
There are several standing committees. In addition, special committees may be
formed by the City Council from time to time to deal with particular issues.
The first member named to the committee serves as Chair. In the absence of
the Chair, the next named Alderman serves as Chair. A majority of the
committee members must be present for a quorum.
Resolving Matters
Once a matter is referred to committee, the Chair sets a meeting date and
invites those with an interest in the matter to the meeting. Committee
meetings are generally held in the Committee Room in City Hall.
Actions
The committee can take one of three actions in reporting to the full City
Council. They can recommend that the matter be approved, that the matter be
denied, or that the matter be sent "back for action." A matter sent
back for action in essence receives no recommendation from the committee and
the decision is left to the full City Council. This is generally used for
appointments, the annual budget and particularly controversial matters.
Reports
Once the report of the committee is received by the full City Council, final action
is taken. The report can be accepted, denied or received. If the report is
received, the City Council by its own motion will decide how to handle the
matter. At times a committee report is returned to the committee for further
review if additional information is needed by the full City Council before
final action.
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