20-229ORDINANCE NO. ZO-229
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON AMENDING THE CITY OF DENTON
CODE OF ORDINANCES (CODE) SECTION 2-29 (CITY COUNCIL RULES OF
PROCEDURE) SUBSECTION (D) (TYPES OF MEETINGS) ADDING LANGUAGE TO
OFFICIALLY ADOPT LONG STANDING PRACTICES FOR SCHEDULING REGULAR
MEETINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND FOR ADDRESSING HOLIDAYS; PROVIDING
FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, all official meetings of the Denton City Council, with the exception of
closed meetings permitted by the provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act, shall be open to the
public; and
WHEREAS, each year the City Secretary's Office prepares a City Council meeting
schedule in consultation with members of the City Council; and
WHEREAS, there are several longstanding practices that the City Secretary's Office uses
to determine how to schedule meetings occurring on or near official City of Denton holidays;
and
WHEREAS, in practice the City of Denton City Council traditionally does not schedule
regular meetings on paid City holidays or the day immediately following paid City holidays; and
WHEREAS, in observation of winter holidays, the Denton City Council does not meet
during the last two weeks of November and December; and
WHEREAS, the Denton City Council traditionally has their summer break in July and
does not meet for the first two weeks of July; and
WHEREAS, Denton City Council meetings are conducted in accordance with the
Councr] Rul�s of Procedure set forth in Section 2-29 of the Denton City Code of Ordinances;
WHEREAS, the Denton City Council wishes to officially ad�pt said standing practices
into the Denton City Code of Ordinances Section 2-29 (Council Rules of Procedure); NOW
THEREFORE,
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. That Section 2-29 (d) of the Denton Code of Ordinai¢ces, known as the
Denton City Council Rules of Procedure, is hereby amended to read as follows:
(d) Types of ineetings.
(1) Regular meetings: The council shall meet on the first and third Tuesday of each
month, at such time as may be set by the city council, unless the meeting is
postponed or cancelled for valid reasons. All regular meetings of the council will
be held in City Hall at 215 East McKinney Street, Denton, Texas or at such other
location as the city council may, from time to time by proper posting under the
Open Meetings Act and so long as the location is open to the public, designate. In
the event a regular meeting falls on a day the city observes a paid holiday, or the
day after, no regular meeting shall be scheduled. Furthermore, no regular
meetings shall be held the first two weeks in July, nor the last two weeks of
November and December. The limitations in this provision do not apply to other
types of ineetings which may be called under Section 2-29(d).
(2) Special meetings: Special meetings may be called by the mayor, the city
manager, or by any three (3) members of the council. The city secretary shall post
notice thereof as provided by the Texas Open Meetings Act. The mayor, city
manager, or three (3) of the council members may designate a location for the
special meeting other than City Hall, as long as the location is open to the public.
(3) Workshop sneetings: Workshop meetings (also referred to as "work sessions")
may be held on the iirst and third Tuesday of each month at such time as may be
set by the city council, or on such other day as the city council may designate and
at such time as may be set by the city council, to discuss near to mid or long range
issues and to answer city council questions concerning all agenda items.
Workshops or work sessions may be called using the same procedure required for
special meetings as provided for in subsection (2) above. The purpose of the
workshop meeting is to dis���s or explore matters of interest to the city, to meet
with city boards, commissions, or committee members, city staff or ofiicers 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. However, the city council may, by consensus, provide general
direction to staff with regard to matters of interest or concern, understanding such
matters ultimately may require a formal vote of the council for implementation.
(4) Luncheon meetings: Luncheon workshop or work session meetings may be held
on the first Monday of each month at such time as rr�ay be set by the city council,
or on such other day as the city council may designate. Such meetings may be
called using the same procedure required for special meetings as provided for in
subsection (2) above. The purpose of the luncheon meeting is to discuss or
explore matters of interest to the city, to meet with city boards, commissions, 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. However, the city council
may, by consensus, provide general direction to staff with regard to matters of
interest or concern, understanding such matters ultimately may require a formal
vote of the council for implementation.
(5) Emergency sneetings: 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.
(6) Closed meetings: The council may meet in a closed meeting pursuant to the
requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
(7) 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 business
day.
(8) Notice of ineetings: 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.
SECTION 2. The provisions of this ordinance are severable, and the invalidity of any
phrase, clause, or part of the ordinance shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the
remainder of the ordinance.
SECTION 3. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and
approval.
The motion to a�prove this ordinance was made by m m
A� //1�G� �,���;- w�
and seconded by ���� `�% , the ordinance was passed and �
approved by the following vote [� -�:
Chris Watts, Mayor:
Gerard Hudspeth, I7istrict 1:
Keely Briggs, District 2:
Jesse Davis, District 3:
John Ryan, District 4:
Deb Armintor, At Large Place 5:
Aye Nay
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✓
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Abstain Absent
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Paul Meltzer, At Large Place 6: �
PASSED AND APPROVED this the ���, day of �� +,r^��, , 2020.
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CHRIS WATTS, MAYOR
ATTEST:
ROSA RIOS, CITY SECRETARY
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BY: �. ..M. °o�„
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM:
AARON LEAL, CITY ATTORNEY
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BY: " ... �