09/23/1999 - City Council Special t
AGENDA
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 23, 1999
5:00 P.M.
EAGAN MUNICIPAL CENTER LUNCHROOM
I. ROLL CALL & AGENDA ADOPTION
H. VISITORS TO BE HEARD
III. REVIEW PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE
(Robert's Rules of Order) APPLICABLE TO CITY
COUNCIL MEETINGS
IV. OTHER BUSINESS
V. ADJOURNMENT
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- city of eagan MEMO
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES
DATE: SEPTEMBER 17, 1999
SUBJECT: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23,
1999
At a recent Special City Council workshop, official action was taken to schedule a workshop on
Thursday, September 23, for the purpose of reviewing and addressing parliamentary procedure
questions. As the City Council may recall, action was taken at the regular City Council meeting on
January 19 as a part of Organizational Business to adopt new rules of procedure which included a
handout and distribution making reference to Robert's Rules of Order. Copies of those handouts
are enclosed on pages _ through _ for your review and use in preparation for the
meeting on Thursday.
As a result of several retreats led by our facilitator, Lonnie Helgeson, there were various
clarifications made to the operating procedures and rules of order and for additional information
and a copy of that information,refer to pages 5- through—J—.
In response to a question about Robert's Rules of Order, City Attorney Jim Sheldon provided
clarification regarding the Chair's authority at City Council meetings. A copy of the response is
included on page$.
There was no specific direction given to staff regarding the Thursday, September 23 meeting other
than to invite the City Attorney as the City Council Parliamentarian, to provide some background
on overall rules of procedure and answer any questions and provide clarification to the City Council
regarding guidelines for conducting City Council meetings.
/S/ Thomas L. Hedizes
City Administrator
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AGENDA FORMAT
1. Call to Order
1.1 Mayor customarily tolls city bell and returns to place at Council table.
1.2 Mayor states, "The Month, Day, Year meeting of the Eagan City Council is called to
order."
2. Roll Call
2.1. Mayor states,"The Secretary will please take note of the role."
2.2. If appropriate,Mayor also states, "The Secretary will please note that
[Mayor/Councilmember] has provided notice by [written
correspondence/telephone message] that [he/she] is unable to attend this meeting.
3. Pledge of Allegiance
3.1. Mayor states,Please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance."
3.2. Mayor leads in the Pledge.
4. Adopt Agenda*
4.1. Mayor states, "The Council will now consider adoption of the agenda."
4.1.1. If no Member requests recognition, Mayor prompts,"Is there a motion to adopt
the agenda?"
4.2. Member requests recognition, "Mayor Awada, (may I be recognized) for(the purpose
of making) a motion?"
4.3. Mayor recognizes Member, "Member (has the floor)."
4.4. Member makes motion, "Mayor Awada, I make the following motion."
4,4.1. "To adopt the agenda as printed."or
4.4.2 "To adopt the agenda as printed with the following change(s)."
4.4.2.1. "To delete item [item identification letter] under[agenda category]."or
4.4.2.2. "To add item [item identification letter] under [agenda category], which
should read, [text of proposed new item]". or
4.4.2.3 "To substitute for item [item identification letter] under[agenda category]
the following item,which should read, "[text of proposed item]."
5. Approval of Minutes*
5.1. Mayor states, "The Council will now consider approval of the minutes. Does any Member
have any changes on the minutes?"
5.2 Member makes motion with changes.
5.2.1 "To approve the minutes as printed"or "as amended."
6. Visitors to be Heard (10 minute total time limit)
7. Department Head Business*
8. Consent Agenda*
8.1 If items are pulled, it must be by motion, subject to regular motion practice.
9. Public Hearings (7:00 PM)*
10. Old Business*
11. New Business*
12. Legislative/Intergovernmental Affairs Update*
13. Administrative Agenda*
14. Visitors To Be Heard a
15. Adjournment*
15.1 Mayor asks, "Is there any further business?"
15.2 If not, "There being no further business, a motion to adjourn is in order."
16. Executive Session
*Regular motion practice is observed.
Eagan City Council-Procedure and Motion Practice on Business Items
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I. Mayor introduces item
A. Brief introduction of item.
H. Staff Report
A. Mayor gives staff the floor,"The Council will now hear from[Title and name]for the staff
report.
B. Staff concludes,"Mayor Awada,that concludes the staff report."
C. Mayor,"The Council must now make a motion to frame the item for consideration. What is the
pleasure of the Council?"
III. Motion
A. Member requests recognition from the Mayor.
1. "Mayor,(I request recognition)for(the purpose of making)a motion."
B. Mayor recognizes Councilmember.
1. "Member[member's last name],(for a motion)."
C. Member makes motion.
1. "Mayor Awada,I make the following motion."
2. "[text of motion]."(usually ended by, "as printed in the Council packet.")
3. If the motion is not included in the packet,a written sample motion should be prepared
for distribution to Members,the Secretary and staff.
4. Similarly, if a business item is one that a Member has added to the agenda,the Member
should provide a sample motion for the packet.
D. For very controversial items,a Member may move simply to open up the item for public input.
I. In this case,the Mayor asks the Council,"If there is no objection?"
2. If a Member objects,the motion requires a second and is subject to debate.
3. If no Member objects,the Mayor may pronounce, "the motion carries,and the item will
now be opened to the public for input."
4. Procedure picks up at VI.B.
IV. Second
A. Seconding Member need not request recognition or obtain the floor.
B. "I second the motion,"or just"second." Procedure goes on to VI.
C. If no second is forthcoming,the Mayor asks, "Is there a second to the motion?"
1. If not,the Mayor says,"Since there is no second,the motion is not before the Council."
2. And then moves to next item or asks,"Is there any further business?"
3. Procedure begins again at III.
D. If the motion is out of order,the Mayor makes the appropriate ruling,and procedure begins
again at III.
V. Revisions may be immediately suggested(in accordance with City policy attached)-see
procedure at VIII
A. "The motion has been made and seconded,and the item is now framed for consideration by the
Council. Before the item is placed before the Council,it will be opened up to the public for input.
B. "Does the applicant wish to be heard on this matter?"
C. "If there are any present who wish to speak to this item,please come forward to the podium.
Please state your name and address,and spell your name for the record."
D. Mayor manages public input. Questions or responses from Council Members are not
appropriate until the item has been brought back before the Council.
E. Mayor continues to prompt for input,"Does anyone else wish to be heard on this matter?"
VII. Mayor closes public forum a
A. If no one else wishes to be heard,Mayor states,"Seeing no one else,the public forum is now
closed,and the item will be brought back to the Council.
VIII. Before the Mayor States the Question,any Member may suggest a revision
A. Members may offer revisions from right after motion is made until the public forum is opened
and from after the forum is closed until the Mayor states the question on the motion.
1. Member asks, "Mayor Awada,for a revision?"
2. Mayor recognizes speaker, "Member hast name],(for a revision)."
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3. Member asks,"Mayor Awada,would the Member accept the following modification to
the motion?"
a) Speaker states an addition,a deletion,a substitution,or combination thereof.
4. Mayor recognizes maker of motion.
5. Maker of the original motion may:
a) Decline"Mayor Awada,I decline the modification."
b) Accept"Mayor Awada,I accept the modification."
(1) If accepted,the person who suggested the modification counts as a seconder.
(2) If the modifier is the one who made the original motion,the original seconder
must second it.
6. The Mayor states,"The Member has [accepted/declined]the modification."
IX. Mayor States the Question on the motion
A. Mayor states,"The motion has been made and seconded and the motion is now before the
Council.
B. Once the Mayor has stated the question,further revisions are out of order.
C. Mayor asks,"Is there any discussion?"
X. Discussion
1. Members may speak 2 times each,with a 2-minute limit each time.
2. Questions and requests for input count against the speaker's time.
3. Members must request recognition from the Mayor before speaking,and all comments
and discussion are directed through the Mayor. Even if a question is directed to staff or another
Member,the question is asked through the Mayor. (Ex.,"Mayor Awada,is the Member
suggesting that...?"or"Mayor Awada,would City Administrator Hedges please clarify what is
meant by ...T')
4. Maker of motion may not speak against the motion,but the seconder may.
5. Maker of motion speaks first; seconder speaks second; other discussion is in the order
recognized by the Mayor.
XI. Putting the Question
A. Once debate appears to have stopped,the Mayor asks,"Is the Council ready to vote on the
question?"or"Is there any further discussion?"
B. If not,the Mayor says,"Seeing none,the question is now before the Council."
1. This ends debate. At this point,one cannot"explain his or her vote,"since that is the
same as debate.
C. "All those in favor(of the motion)say aye."
D. "All those opposed(to the motion) say no."
XII. Mayor announces the voting result
A. "The vote is is favor and opposed,and the motion is [adopted/lost]."
B. "(and staff is directed to take the appropriate action.)"
C. After the vote is announced,there can be no further discussion on the item!
D. A Member can change a vote up until the Mayor announces the result. After the Mayor
announces the vote,a Member can change a vote only with the permission of the Council,either by
unanimous consent or adoption of a motion to grant the permission,which is not debatable.
E. If the motion is lost,and the business has not been dispensed with,a new motion is in order.
Procedure begins anew at III.
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city of eagan MEMO
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES
DATE: MAY 27, 1999
SUBJECT: RECAP MAY 25 CITY COUNCIL RETREAT
The May 25 City Council retreat was held from 4:30 to 8:15 p.m. at the Fire Administration
building. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the following items:
➢ Check-in/City Council discussion of accomplishments and expectations for retreat.
➢ Value statements
➢ Mission
➢ Goals
➢ Matrix prioritization of goals
➢ Assessment
➢ Agenda setting/action plan
After reviewing the agenda, the City Council agreed that goal setting and prioritization of goals was
the highest priority for the retreat. Other items that were listed included: 1)Duties/roles of Council
and 2)Round Table and Consent Agenda.
Lonnie Helgeson facilitated a discussion of the Council Mission, which included the following:
➢ Represent the City at public functions
➢ Determine needs of community
➢ Improve and evaluate program needs that are of interest/expectation to the community
➢ Provide and secure funding for public service for future, when possible.
There were several individual Council Mission Statements offered. These are presented as follows:
➢ "Serve and protect the public with the most effective performance, based on trust and
commitment."
➢ "To make Eagan the best place pra9tical in the metro area for businesses and residents to locate
by providing quality services and amenities to make Eagan an excellent place to live, work and
raise a family."
➢ "To encourage and support the strength and growth of our community by protecting our
citizens' assets and creating excellence in community service."
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➢ Same as above; however add at the end, "by balancing the needs and expectations of our
citizens."
The majority of the retreat was spend discussing and prioritizing the 25 goals that were presented
by the individual City Councilmembers. After comments and presentation on all 25 goals, each
City Councilmember prioritized the goals using a form entitled, "Individual City Councilmembers
Goals Prioritization Matrix" as prepared by the facilitator. The City Administrator and facilitator
compiled the results. For a copy of the goals prioritization and current status of the top 15 goals,
refer to the attachment entitled, "Eagan City Council Goals." At the retreat it was agreed that the
City Council would work on the top 11 goals.
There was some additional time spent on discussing the Consent Agenda, criteria for Consent
Agenda and Round Table.
Regarding the Consent Agenda,the following comments were made:
➢ How do we deal with it?
➢ The process for reviewing Consent items is too sloppy and confusing.
➢ Suggestion that Consent items that are to be removed as separate action items would be
determined when the regular City Council agenda is adopted.
City Councilmembers gave consensus to the following:
➢ If a City Councilmember would like to discuss a Consent item, the motion to adopt the regular
agenda would require that the item be pulled from the Consent Agenda and placed either under
New Business or Old Business, as agreed by the City Council.
➢ As another choice, if it is the intention of a Councilmember to provide a brief comment on an
agenda item, this could occur during the discussion period, following a motion and second, for
approval of the agenda.
Regarding criteria for the Consent Agenda, it was agreed, as a guideline, that staff would not place
any items on the Consent Agenda that include the following:
➢ The item has never had review or been seen by the City Council.
➢ Do not include controversial issues.
➢ Needs some suggestions from staff/alternatives.
➢ Council may direct staff not to put an item on the Consent Agenda.
There was also discussion regarding Round Table, ranging from it should be informational only,
restrict any policy action, consider Council reports at beginning of meeting and consider setting a
limit, possibly 10 minutes for Round Table whether it occurs at the beginning or end of the
meeting. After further discussion, it was agreed to place the Round Table discussion in the parking
lot for further consideration.
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There was some discussion regarding whether the process that allows a motion to be made at the
beginning of an item should continue. It was noted that the Dakota Board of Commissioners uses
this process, similar to how the City of Eagan is conducting its business, and it has worked very
well. There was a brief discussion and no direction was taken to change or place in the parking lot
for future discussion when motions are made at regular City Council meetings.
This concludes notes from the City Council retreat held on May 25.
City Administrator
cc: Lonnie Helgeson
TLH/vmd
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$ENT BY: 9- 2-99 10:31 ; SEVERSON SHELDON- 6516814612;# 3/ 3
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MEMORANDUM
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TO: Tom IIedgcs, Eagan City Administrator
J FROM: City Attorney's Office
RE: Council Member's Questions-Robert's Rules of Order
DATE: August 30, 1999
You stated a council member has asked; "If two council members choose
not to follow Robert's Rules of Order, what option does the Chair have for
proceeding"
State law requires that the Mayor preside at the meeting. The same state
law says s the council may preserve order at its meeting mid shall have the
power to regulate its own procedure.. The City Council has adopted
Robert's Rules of Order for its procedure at regular council meetings.
Also, the council has agreed to some modifications of Robert's Rules (for
exatllple, if the maker of a motion agrees to a "friendly amendment," then
the "friendly amended mots n" is the new motion). Te5 and as Chair under Roberatlr has the
's Rules of
authority to preside at the meetin g
Order has significant authority.
While Robert's Rules of Order contain a chapter on disciplinary
procedures, without more specifics, it is difficult to know which
provisions, if any, apply. In addition, as mentioned earlier, state law
provides that the council has the right to preserve order at its meeting
and regulate its own procedure. Again, without specifics, it is difficult to
know what options the council or chair mayemploy.
r If you have specific questions or instances where you would like specific
rulings or advice, please feel free to contact us.
JFS/h (attoll)Cyx/jts)
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