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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-325NOTE Amended & consolidated by Ordinance No 2001-193 ORDINANCE NO q 0 '2c:� AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO 94-183, AS AMENDED, THE RULES AND PROCEDURE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, BY ESTABLISHING THE TIME FOR REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, the City Council deems it in the public interest to establish rules to change the times of regular City Council meetings, NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS SECTION I. That Ordinance No 94-183, as amended, is hereby amended by amending Section 4 1 "Regular Meetings" to read as follows 4-11 Regular Meetings The Council shall meet at six o'clock p in on the first and third Tuesday of each month, with executive sessions (closed meetings) of the Council commencing at five fifteen o'clock p m , or at any other time set by the Council, unless the meeting is postponed or cancelled for valid reasons All regular meetings of the Council will be held in the Municipal Building at 215 East McKinney Street, or at such other location as the City Council may, by motion, resolution or ordinance from time to time designate SECTION II That save and except as amended hereby, all of the sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, and phrases of Ordinance No 94-183, as amended, shall remain in full force and effect SECTION III That this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and approval PASSED AND APPROVED this the 6 — day of �tYh , 1998 Li��iLµ71�s� JAC LLER, MAYOR ATTEST JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY BY APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY F �D\DOPMGL\Our Dmumente\0rdinenmW ftpeekmg time limits dm PAGE ORDINANCE NO JOe - AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO 94-183 AND SECTION 2-29 OF THE CITY CODE RELATING TO RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, AND ALL AMENDING ORDINANCES AND REPEALING AND CONSOLIDATING ORDINANCES 76-48, 81-35, 90-026, 90-150, 90-150, 92-115, 93-073, 94- 183, 96-045, 96-057, 96-085, 96-257, 98-246, 98-325, 98-415, 99-028 AND 2000-420, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas, and Section 2 07 of the City Charter of the City of Denton, Texas, authorize the City Council of said City to promulgate and establish rules of procedure to govern and conduct meetings, order of business, and decorum, while acting as a legislative body representing said City, and WHEREAS, because of its desire to more effectively and efficiently serve the public through the medium of public meetings, it has become necessary to amend and consolidate all amendments of the City Council Rules of Procedure, NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS SECTION 1 _ That Ordinance Numbers 94-183, 96-045, 96-057, 96-085, 96-257, 98-246, 98-325, 98-415, 99-028, and 2000-420 and Section 2-29 of the City Code (Rules 6-2-6-7)are hereby amended and consolidated into one Ordinance known as the Denton City Council Rules of Procedure to read as follows 1 1 Cbmter. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 07 of the Charter of the City of Denton, Texas, the City Council hereby enacts these rules of procedure for all meetings of the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas During any meeting, a reasonable opportunity shall be given for citizens to be heard under these rules These Rules of Procedure are enacted as guidelines to be followed by all persons in the Council Chamber including the city administrative staff, news media, and visitors 21 Meetings to he Publi All official meetings of the Council and Council committees and subcommittees, except closed meetings permitted by the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, TEX GOV'T CODE ANN (Vernons Annotated Texas Civil Statutes 1999 (Vernon), as amended, shall be open to the public s \wr mcomenc.Noramanca.\m\ccauusoaom aoc PAGE 1 22 Quorum Four members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business (Charter, Section 2 06) 23 Compelling Attendance No member shall be excused from attendance at a Council meeting except for good and valid reasons 24 Miscandnct The Council may punish its own members for misconduct 25 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 Council A certified agenda shall be prepared for all closed meetings and shall be approved by the Mayor in accordance with Chapter 552, TEX GOV'T CODE ANN (Vernon 1999), as amended 26 Questions to Contain One Subl All questions submitted for a vote shall contain one subject, except the City Council may approve all items which are on the consent agenda in one motion, regardless of how many subjects are contained in the consent agenda, so long as all items have been properly posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act and have not been removed from the consent agenda by a Councilmember If two or more points are involved, any member may require a division, if the question reasonably admits of a division 27 Rights of Finn r Any member desiring to speak shall be recognized by the Chairperson, and shall confine his or her remarks to the subject under consideration or to be considered No member shall be allowed to speak more than once on any one subject until every member wishing to speak shall have spoken 2 g City Man Pager The City Manager, or Acting City Manager, shall attend all meetings of the Council unless excused He or she may make recommendations to the Council and shall have the right to take part in all discussions of the Council, but shall have no vote (Charter, Section 5 03 (d)) 29 Cam,W Attu The City Attorney, or Acting City Attorney, shall be available upon request for all meetings of the Council unless excused and shall, upon request, give an opinion, either written or oral, on questions of law The City Attorney shall act as the Council's parliamentarian 210 CQ Secretary The City Secretary, or Acting City Secretary, shall attend all meetings of the Council unless excused, and shall keep the official minutes and perform such other duties as may be requested by the Council 211 Officers and Employees Any officer or employee of the City, when requested by the City Manager, shall attend any meeting of the Council If requested to do so by the City Manager, such employee may present information relating to matters before the Council s gar W—enca\Ordineneee\el\OC MRMR0e1 aov PAGE 2 212 Rules of Order These rules govern the proceedings of the Council in all cases, except that where these rules are silent, the most recent Edition of Robert's Rules of Order revised shall govern 213 $nunension of Rules Any provision of these rules not governed by the City Charter or Code may be temporarily suspended by the affirmative vote of four members of the Council The vote on any such suspension shall be taken by yeas or nays and entered into the minutes of the Council 214 Amendment of Rules These rules may be amended, or new rules adopted by the affirmative vote of four members of the Council, provided that the proposed amendments or new rules shall have been introduced before the City Council at a prior Council meeting a During Council meetings, Councilmembers shall preserve order and decorum and shall neither by conversation or otherwise delay or interrupt the proceedings nor refuse to observe the rules of the Council b A Councilmember, once recognized, shall not be interrupted while speaking unless called to order by the Mayor or presiding officer, unless a point of order is raised by another member or the parliamentarian, or unless the speaker chooses to yield to questions from another member If a Councilmember is called to order while he or she is speaking, he or she shall cease speaking immediately until the question of order is determined If ruled to be in order, he or she shall be permitted to proceed If ruled not to be in order he or she shall remain silent or shall alter lus or her remarks so as to comply with rules of the Council a Members of the Administrative staff and employees of the City shall observe the same rules or procedure and decorum applicable to members of the Council, and shall have no voice unless and until recognized by the Chair b While the presiding officer shall have the authority to preserve decorum in meetings as far as staff members and City employees are concerned, the City Manager also shall be responsible for the orderly conduct and decorum of all City employees under his or her direction and control c The City Manager shall take such disciplinary action as may be necessary to insure that such decorum is preserved at all times by City employees in Council meetings . \Mu wevmvnc.�aratnencee�oi�ccrtu�esaxnoi aoc PAGE 3 d All remarks and questions addressed to the Council shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any individual member thereof e No staff member, other than a staff member having the floor, shall enter into any discussion either directly or indirectly without permission of the presiding officer 33 Citizens Citizens and other visitors are welcome to attend all public meetings of the City Council, and will be admitted to the City Council Chamber or other room in which the City Council is meeting, up to the fire safety capacity of the room b All meeting attendees shall conduct themselves with propriety and decorum Conversations between or among audience members should be conducted outside the meeting room Attendees will refrain from excessively loud private conversations while the Council is in session c Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of the feet, applauding, whistles, yells, and similar demonstrations shall not be permitted d Placards, banners, or signs will not be permitted in the City Council Chamber or in any other room in which the City Council is meeting Exhibits, displays, and visual aids used in connection with presentations to the City Council, however, are permitted e Audience members may not place their feet on any chairs in the City Council Chamber or other room to which the City Council is meeting f Only City Council members and City staff may step on to the dais g All people wishing to address the City Council shall first be recognized by the presiding officer and shall limit their remarks to the matter under discussion h All remarks and questions addressed to the City Council shall be addressed to the City Council as a whole and not to any individual members Any person addressing the City Council in the City Council Chamber shall do so from the lectern unless physically unable to do so People addressing the City Council shall not be permitted to approach the dais If they wish to hand out papers or other materials to the City Council, they should express that desire to the presiding officer, and the City Manager shall direct a staff member to hand out 5 \Our Wcumen[e\OMlneneee\O1\CCRULB80P001 aoc PAGE 4 the materials When the time has expired for a presentation to the City Council, the presiding officer shall direct the person speaking to cease A second request from the presiding officer to cease speaking shall be cause of the removal of the speaker if that person continues to speak k Equipment, apparatus, or paraphernalia such as camera tripods, easels, or wheelchairs shall not obstruct, block, or otherwise be located in the doorway, entranceway, or walkways of the City Council Chambers or of any other room in which the City Council may choose to meet Representatives of the electronic media may setup cameras and other equipment only in the back of the room It is permissible for television camera operators to film for short periods of time (several minutes) from the entranceway to the City Council Chambers using hand- held cameras only Any radio station, which broadcasts the regular City Council meetings live may hook their equipment up at the front of the room as long as it remains out of sight and out of the way There will be a uniformed City of Denton police officer present at all regular meetings of the City Council This police officer shall act in the capacity of a security officer/sergeant-at-arms, and shall enforce the meeting rules and act upon the direction of the presiding officer in Any person making personal, impertinent, profane, or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous while addressing the City Council or who otherwise violates any of the above -mentioned rules while attending a City Council meeting shall be removed from the room at the direction of the presiding officer, and the person shall be barred from further audience before the City Council during that session of the City Council If the presiding officer fails to act, any member of the City Council may move to require the offending person's removal, and the affirmative vote of a majority of the City Council shall require the presiding officer to act The sergeant -at -arms, if so directed by the presiding officer or an affirmative vote of the majority of the City Council, shall remove the offending person from the meeting 34 Enforcement The City Manager, in the absence of a designated law enforcement officer, shall act as Sergeant -at -Arms for the Council, and shall furnish whatever assistance is needed to enforce the rules of decorum herein established 35 Seating Arrangement The City Secretary, City Manager and City Attorney shall occupy the respective seats in the Council Chamber assigned to them by the Mayor, but any two or more members of the Council may exchange seats s dour ooam.nu�omm.ncee�oi�ccxwesoxoon aoc PAGE 5 41 Regular Meetings The Council shall meet at six o'clock p in on the fast and third Tuesday of each month, with executive sessions (closed meetings) of the Council commencing at five fifteen o'clock p in , or at any other time set by the Council, unless the meeting is postponed or cancelled for valid reasons All regular meetings of the Council will be held in the Municipal Building at 215 East McKinney Street, or at such other location as the City Council may, by motion, resolution or ordinance from time to time designate 42 Special Meetings Special meetings may be called by the Mayor, the City Manager, or by any three members of the Council The call for a special meeting shall be filed with the City Secretary in written form, and he or she shall post notice thereof as provided by the Texas Open Meetings Act, [Chapter 55] TEX GOV'T CODE ANN , (Vernon 1999, as amended) The Mayor, City Manager, or three of the council members may designate a location for the special meeting other than the Municipal Building as long as the location is open to the public 43 Workshop Mew Workshop meetings or work sessions may be called using the same procedure required for special meetings (See Sec 4 2) The purpose of the workshop meeting is to discuss or explore matters of interest to the City, to meet with City Board, Commission, or Committee Members, City staff or officers of civic organizations, governing bodies or individuals specifically invited to the session by the Mayor, Council or City Manager These meetings are informational and normally, no final action shall be taken unless the posted agenda indicates otherwise Citizens or other interested persons attending the work session will not be allowed to participate in the session unless invited to do so by the Mayor Citizens should be advised of the nature of the work session and that their input may be received and considered at a regularly scheduled council meeting where the agenda provides for final action to be taken on the matter The purpose of this procedure is to allow the citizens attending the regular meeting the opportunity of hearing the views of their fellow citizens in a more formal setting Any citizen may supply the City Council a written statement or report regarding the citizen's opinion on a matter being discussed in a work session If the Mayor invites citizens to participate in a work session, their participation will cease at the point the Mayor closes the session to public input to allow the Council to give City staff direction as to needed information for the possible future meeting without distracting comment from the audience 44 Fmergenr} Meetings In case of emergency or urgent public necessity, which shall be expressed in the notice of the meeting, an emergency meeting may be called by the Mayor, the City Manager or by three members of the Council, and it shall be sufficient if the notice is posted two hours before the meeting is convened 45 Clnsed Meetings The Council may meet in a closed meeting pursuant to the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, TEX GOV'T CODE ANN (Vernon 1999), as amended a \wr mamence\ommnancea\m\cc MUORoai aoc PAGE 6 46 Recessed Meetings Any meeting of the Council may be recessed to a later time, provided that no recess shall be for a longer period than until the next regular meeting 47 Notice of Meeting g The agenda for all meetings, including Council Committee or Subcommittee meetings, shall be posted by the City Secretary on the City's official bulletin board and notice of all meetings shall be given by the City Secretary pursuant to the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, TEX GOV'T CODE ANN (Vernon 1999, as amended) �.DI a_.ni 5 1 Presiding Officer The Mayor, or in the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro- Tem, shall preside as chairman, or presiding officer at all meetings of the Council In the absence of both the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem, the Council shall elect a temporary presiding officer (Charter, Section 2 03) 52 Call to Order The meetings of the Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, or in his or her absence, by the Mayor Pro-Tem In the absence of both the Mayor and the Mayor Pro-Tem, the meeting shall be called to order by the City Secretary, and a temporary presiding officer shall be elected as provided above 53 Preservation of Order The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum, and confine members in debate to the question under discussion The presiding officer shall call upon the Sergeant -at -Arms as necessary to enforce compliance with the rules contained herein 54 Points of Order The presiding officer shall determine all points of order, subject to the right of any member to appeal to the Council If any appeal is taken, the question shall be, "Shall the decision of the presiding officer be sustained?" If a majority of the members present vote "No", the ruling of the chair is overruled, otherwise, it is sustained 5 5 Questions to he Stated The presiding officer shall state all questions submitted for a vote and announce the result A roll call vote shall be taken upon the request of any member, and upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions 56 Substitution for Presiding Officer The presiding officer may call any other member to take his or her place in the chair, such substitution not to continue beyond adjournment 57 Call for Recess The presiding officer may call for a recess of up to fifteen (15) minutes at regular intervals of approximately one hour at appropriate points in the meeting agenda, or if requested by any two members s \our Wo Mence\ommancee\02\= ,eeoaooi aoc PAGE 7 6 ORDER OF BUSINESS (Section 2-29 of the City Code "City Council Procedures, Order of Business") 6 1 (2-29(a)) Agenda The order of business of each meeting shall be as contained in the agenda prepared by the City Manager, which shall be reviewed and approved by an Agenda Committee composed of the Mayor, one other member of the City Council selected by the Council, and the City Manager The agenda shall be a listing by topic of subjects to be considered by the Council When items are removed from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda by members of the Council, the removed items shall be taken up in the order of removal right after the consent agenda Placement of items on the agenda shall be governed by this Section and Section 6 3, provided that if a Councihnember has an "emergency" item that the Councihnember believes should be placed on the next regular or special meeting agenda, the placement must be approved by two members of the Agenda Committee Conduct of business at special meetings and Council Committees and subcommittees will likewise be governed by an agenda and these Rules of Pro- cedure 6 2 (2-29(b)) Pledge of f Allegiance Each agenda shall provide an item for the recital of the "Pledge of Allegiance" at the regularly scheduled city council meetings This item shall begin with the recital of the pledge of allegiance for the United States flag and shall follow with a recital of the pledge of allegiance for the Texas state flag in accordance with article 6139 (b) of Vernon Annotated Texas Civil Statutes 6 3 (2-29(c)) Presentations by Members of Council The agenda shall provide a time when the Mayor or any Councihnember may bring before the Council any business that he or she feels should be deliberated upon by the Council These matters need not be specifically listed on the agenda, but discussion and formal action on such matters shall be deferred until a subsequent Council meeting Any member may suggest an item for discussion at a future work session The City Manager or city staff shall only respond preliminarily on this item at the work session If the City Council believes the item requires a more detailed review, the Council will give the City Man- ager or City Staff direction to place the item on a future regular meeting agenda and advise staff as to the background materials to be desired at such meeting 6 4 (2-29(d)) Presentation by Citizens a (2-29(d)(i)) Citizen Reports Any person who wishes to place a subject on the Council agenda at regular City Council meetings shall advise the City Manager's office of that fact and the specified subject matter which he or she desires to place on the agenda no later than 5 00 p in Wednesday prior to the Council meeting at which he or she wishes the designated subject to be considered A time for such citizen reports shall be provided on the agenda after the pledge of allegiance, approval of the minutes, and the presentation of proclamations Any speaker providing a citizen report shall speak for no longer than five (5) minutes on all items that he or she may bring before the Council at each meeting, unless the Mayor or the majority of the Council grants an extension of time No citizen may fill out a "request to speak" form or have an opportunity to s \wr wr menra\Or*ie neee\OINCMUsssonoDI aoc PAGE 8 speak or comment on another citizen's report winch is given at the same Council meeting b (2-29(d)(11)) Speaking on Regular and Consent Agenda items Any person who wishes to address, the Council regarding an item that is on the Council's agenda for a regular or special meeting, shall complete a "request to speak" form asking to speak regarding the item and return it to the City Secretary before the Council considers the item The Mayor will call upon the citizen to speak for no longer than three (3) minutes as that particular agenda item is considered by the City Council The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to persons appeanng at a public hearing in response to an official agenda notice or publication The provisions of this paragraph also do not apply to workshop meetings, and a citizen's right to speak and provide input at those meetings shall be limited and controlled by Section 4 3 "Workshop Meetings" of this ordinance c (2-29(d)(ni)) Any person who wishes to address the Council at a public hearing shall complete a "request to speak" form and return it to the City Secretary before the applicable hearing The Mayor will call upon the citizen to speak for no longer than five (5) minutes 6 5 (2-29(e)) Time Limits Speakers before the Council shall limit their remarks to five (5) minutes or less for public hearing items and citizen reports Citizens speaking to a non-public hearing agenda item shall limit their presentations to three (3) minutes or less 6 6 (2-29(f)) Oral Presentations by City Manager Matters requiring the Council's attention or action which may have developed after the deadline for delivery of the written communication to the Council may be presented orally by the City Manager If formal Council action on a subject is required, such action may be taken only if the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act have been satisfied 6 7 (2-29(g)) Presentation of Proclamations The agenda may provide a time for the presentation of proclamations The Mayor or presiding officer may deliver and present proclamations upon the request of citizens Proclamations may encompass any activity or theme except that proclamations with a theme religious or partisan in nature shall not be presented Moreover, proclamations shall not be used for any commercial or advertising purpose 7 CONSiDF,RATiON OF ORDiNANCES, RESOLUTIONS, AND MOTIONS 71 Pnnted or Typewritten Fenn All ordinances and resolutions shall be presented to the Council in printed or typewritten form The Council may, by proper motion, amend any ordinance or resolution presented to it and direct that the amended ordinance be placed on the next Council Agenda for adoption 72 Cry Attorney to Approve All ordinances, resolutions, and contracts and amendments thereto, shall be approved as to form and legality by the City Attorney, or he or she shall file a written opinion on the legality of such ordinance, resolution or contract prior to submission to the Council (Charter, Section 6 02) s \wr Wrumenre\Ordinencee\Ul\@HU RDOI aoc PAGE 9 73 Distnhntion of Ordinannes and Resolution.,; The City Manager shall prepare copies of all proposed ordinances and resolutions for distribution to all members of the Council at the meeting at which the ordinance or resolution is introduced, or at such earlier time as is expedient 74 Reenrdmg of Votes The yeas and nays shall be taken upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions and the vote of each member shall be recorded in the minutes (Charter, Section 2 06 (b)) 75 Msijonty Vote Required An affirmative vote of four (4) members is necessary to repeal any ordinance or take any official action in the name of the City except as otherwise provided in the Charter or by the laws of the State of Texas (Charter, Section 2 06) 75 1 Tie -Vote Matters voted on by the City Council which end in a tie -vote shall automatically be placed on each subsequent Council meeting agenda until a full Council is present 76 Demand for Roll Call Upon demand of any member, the roll shall be called for yeas and nays upon any question before the Council, With the exception of those circumstances set forth in Section 7.12,, The Previous Question It shall not be in order for members to explain their vote during the roll call 77 Personal Privilege The right of a member to address the Council on a question of personal privilege shall be limited to cases in which his or her integrity, character, or motives are assailed, questioned, or impugned 78 Dissents and Protests Any member shall have the right to express dissent from or protest against any ordinance or resolution of the Council and have the reason therefore entered upon the minutes Such dissent or protest may be filed in writing, and presented to the Council not later than the next regular meeting following the date of passage of the ordinance or resolution objected to 79 Voting Required No member shall be excused from voting except for lack of information and except on matters involving the consideration of his or her own official conduct, or where his or her personal interests are involved in accordance with Chapter 171, TEX GOWT CODE ANN (Vernon 1999, as amended), and in these instances he or she shall abstain Any member prohibited from voting by personal interest shall announce this at the commencement of consideration of the matter and shall not enter into discussion or debate on any such matter and shall leave the meeting room The member having briefly stated the reason for his or her request, the excuse from voting shall be made without debate s \wr ooco nu\ommaucee\OINCM ,esoaom aoc PAGE 10 neVirlyffs Me a The following motions shall have priority in the order indicated 1 Adjourn (when unqualified) and is not debatable and may not be amended, 2 Take a recess (when privileged), 3 Raise a question of privilege, 4 Lay on the table, 5 Previous question (2/3 vote required), 6 Limit or extend limits of debate (2/3 vote required), 7 Postpone to a certain time, 8 Commit or refer, 9 Amend, 10 Postpone indefinitely, 11 Main Motion b The first two motions are not always privileged To adjourn shall lose its privilege character and be a main motion if in any way qualified To take a recess shall be privileged only when other business is pending c A motion to adjourn is not in order 1 When repeated without intervening business or discussion, 2 When made as an interruption of a member while speaking, 3 While a vote is being taken d Only certain motions may be amended as provided in the most current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, revised A motion to amend shall be undebatable when the question to be amended is undebatable 711 Reconsideration A motion to reconsider any action of the Council can be made s \wr WCUMmte\omimnnee\oi\MRMESoaooi aoc PAGE 11 not later than the next succeeding official meeting of the Council Such a motion can only be made by a member who voted with the prevailing side It can be seconded by any member In order to comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act, any Counctlmember who wishes to make such a motion at a meeting succeeding the meeting where the action was taken shall notify the City Manager to place the item for reconsideration on the Council agenda No question shall be twice reconsidered, except by unanimous consent of the Council, except that action related to any contract may be reconsidered at any time before the final execution thereof A matter which was not timely, reconsidered in the manner provided by this section or was reconsidered but the action originally taken was not changed by the Council cannot be reintroduced to the Council or placed on a Council meeting agenda for a period of six (6) months unless this rule is suspended as provided for in these Rules of Procedure 712 The Previous Question When the previous question is moved and seconded, it shall be put as follows "Shall the main question be now put9" There shall then be no further amendment or debate, exrepi that nothing herein shall allow the nrevinus question to he called prior to a least one op nn rhmity for each member of the Council to speak on the question before the Council Any 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 Council An affirmative vote of 2/3 of the Council shall be required to move the previous question To demand the previous question is equivalent in effect to moving "That debate now cease, and the Council shall immediately proceed to vote on the pending motion" In practice, this is done with the phrase "Call for the question", or simply saying "Question" 713 Withdrawal of Motions A motion may be withdrawn, or modified, by its movant without asking permission until the motion has been stated by the Presiding Officer If the movant modifies his or her motion, the seconding councilmember may withdraw his or her second After the question has been stated, the movant shall neither withdraw it nor modify it without the consent of the Council The subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment A motion to amend an amendment shall be in order, but one to amend an amendment to an amendment shall not be in order 714 Appmpnatinns of Monet Before formal approval by the Council of motions providing for appropriation of money, information must be presented to the Council showing purpose of the appropriation In addition, before finally acting on such an appropriation, the Council shall obtain a report from the City Manager as to the availability of funds and his or her recommendations as to the desirability of the appropriation 715 Transfer of Azpmnap t,nnc At the request of the City Manager, at any time during the fiscal year, the Council may by resolution transfer an unencumbered balance of an appropriation made for the use of one department, division, or purpose, but no transfer shall be made of revenues or earnings of any non -tax supported public utility to any other purpose s \wr roCv to\oraeim 8\01NCMwseoxuoi aoo PAGE 12 81 Council Committees The Council may, as the need arises, authorize the appointment of the "ad hoc" Council committees Any committee so created shall cease to exist upon the accomplishment of the special purpose for which it was created or when abolished by a majority vote of the Council 82 Citizen Boards, Commissions, and Committees The Council may create other Committees, Boards and Commissions to assist in the conduct of the operation of the City government with such duties as the Council may specify not inconsistent with the City Charter or Code Memberships and selection of members shall be as provided by the Council if not specified by the City Charter or Code Any Committee, Board, or Commission 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 vote of the Council No Committee so appointed shall have powers other than advisory to the Council or to the City Manager, except as otherwise specified by the Charter or Code a Individual City Councilmembers making nominations for members to citizen boards and commissions will consider interested persons on a citywide basis b The City Council will make an effort to be inclusive of all segments of the community in the board and commission appointment process City Councilmembers will consider ethnicity, gender, socio-economic levels, and other factors to ensure a diverse representation of Denton citizens c The City Council will take into consideration an individual's qualifications, willingness to serve, and application mformation in selecting nominations for membership to each board and commission d In an effort to ensure maximum citizen participation, City Councilmembers will continue the general practice of nominating new citizens to replace board members who have served three consecutive, full terms on the same board e Each City Councilmember will be responsible for making nominations for board and commission places assigned to him or her, which may correspond to the City Councihnember's place Individual City Councilmembers will make nominations to the full City Council for the governing body's approval or disapproval 84 Rules of Procedure Board and Commission members shall comply with the provisions of Article III of Chapter 2 of the Code of Ordinances Each Board shall be provided a copy of these rules of procedure and each advisory board shall adopt rules of procedure governing s \wr ooC—t.\o dina—\01 cCMMesonooi m. PAGE 13 the operation of its board, incorporating Sections 2, 3, 5, and 7 hereof insofar as is possible Questions on which the voting requirement is vaned by the Charter, State Statutes and these rules are listed below a Charter Amendment - Five Votes Ordinances submitting proposed Charter amendments must be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Council (Article XI, Section 3, Texas Constitution and Chapter 9, Texas Local Government Code (Vernon 1999, as amended) For a seven member Council, this means five members must vote affirmatively b Le=ng Taxes - Five Votes Ordinances providing for the assessment and collection of certain taxes require the approval of two-thirds of the members of the Council (Section 302 101, Texas Tax Code) (Vemons, 1999, as amended ) c Changing Paving Assessment Plans - Five Votes Changes in plans for paving assessment require a two-thirds vote of the Council (Section 313 053(e) Transportation Code, Vemons 1999, as amended) Changes in Zoning Ordinance or Zoning Classifications In cases of a written protest of a change in a zoning regulation or zoning classification by the owners of twenty (20%) percent or more either of the area of the lots included in such proposed change, or of the lots immediately adjoining the same and extending two hundred feet (200) therefrom, such amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of three -fourths (3/4) of all members of the City Council, six (6) votes of the City Council is required to override the decision of the Planning and Zoning Commission that a zoning change be denied Amendment of Tax Abatement Policy The guidelines and criteria adopted as the City's Tax Abatement Policy may be amended or repealed by a vote of three -fourths (3/4) of all members of the City Council (Section 312 002(c)) Texas Tax Code (Vemons 1999, as amended ) That if any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word in this ordinance, or application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas, hereby declares it would have enacted such remaining portions despite any such invalidity s \wr Mo menu\ommanceo\m\cexwesoanoI eoc PAGE 14 SECTION 2. That Ordinances 74-48, 81-35, 90-026, 90-150, 92-115, and 93-073 are hereby repealed SECTION 3- That this Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and approval PASSED AND APPROVED tlus the /sfday of 2001. ATTEST JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY BY APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY s \air ooc menea\aa1nencee\01\=ULMMD01 d., &-Aec'4e- EULINE BROCK, MAYOR PAGE 15