Town of Kittery, ME - Town Council Rules

Council meetings shall be conducted according to Roberts Rules of Order.

SECTION ONE. REGULAR MEETINGS: The regular meetings of the Town Council shall be held in the Council Chambers of the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. on either the second or fourth Monday of each calendar month or both. When said Monday falls on a holiday or as otherwise postponed, the regular meeting shall be held on the following Wednesday, at the same time and place. The date of any regular meeting may be changed upon the vote of four members of the Council, provided, however, that said change in date will still provide for one regular meeting in each month.

SECTION TWO. SPECIAL MEETINGS: Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson or by four members of the Town Council. Notice of such meeting shall, when possible, be given at least twelve hours before the time for holding said special meeting. The call for said special meeting shall set forth the matters to be acted upon at said meeting and nothing else shall be considered at such special meeting. Special meetings include the usual public comment time as provided at regular Council meetings, but such public comment is limited to the matters on the agenda for the special meeting. Notices of said meetings shall include the names of person or persons requesting the meeting.

SECTION THREE. COUNCIL ACTION: The Town Council shall act only by ordinance, order, resolve, or consensus. Actions of the Council shall be recorded in the minutes of the Council meeting.

SECTION FOUR. EFFECTIVE DATE OF COUNCIL ACTIONS: All actions of the Council, except ordinances, shall take effect immediately upon passage. The effective date of ordinances shall be governed by Section 2.14, Paragraph 3 of the Town Charter.

SECTION FIVE. DUTIES OF THE CHAIRPERSON. The Chairperson shall assume the chair at the time appointed for the meeting, call the members to order, provide for introductory and pledge of allegiance, cause the roll to be called, and, a quorum being present, proceed to conduct the business of the Council according to the published agenda. The Chairperson shall preserve decorum and order, speak to points of order in preference to other members, and decide all questions of order subject to an appeal to the Council by motion regularly seconded, and no other business is in order until the question on appeal be decided. The Chairperson shall declare all votes, but if any member doubts a vote, the Chairperson shall cause a return of the members voting in the affirmative and in the negative without debate. All persons wishing to speak, whether they be Council members or members of the general public must first be recognized by the Chairperson. The Chairperson shall enjoy the same rights and privileges as other members of the Council, including the introduction and seconding of motions and participation in debate.

SECTION SIX. VICE CHAIRPERSON. The position of Vice Chairperson is hereby established. The provisions of Charter Sec. 2.05 (1) apply for election to this position. In the temporary absence or disability of the Chairperson, Charter Sec. 2.05 (3) and Section Five of these Council Rules govern the duties of the Vice Chairperson.

SECTION SEVEN. RECONSIDERATION OF THE VOTE. When a vote is passed, it shall be in order for any member who voted on the prevailing side to move a reconsideration thereof at the same or next regular meeting.

SECTION EIGHT. CONDUCT IN ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL. When a

Councilor is about to speak, said Councilor shall respectfully address the Chairperson, and confine such comments to the question under debate, or the issue he/she wants to raise, and avoid personalities. No member shall be interrupted by another, but, for a point of order, or to correct a mistake and only upon recognition by the Chairperson.

SECTION NINE. Every motion shall be reduced to writing if the Chairperson shall so direct.

SECTION TEN. SUSPENSION OF THE RULES. The rules shall not be dispensed with or suspended unless five members of the Council consent thereto. No rules or order shall be amended or appealed without notice in writing, being given at the preceding meeting.

SECTION ELEVEN. VOTING: Voting shall be done by roll call vote. Councilors shall indicate their vote by yes, no, or abstain, when their name is called.

The vote shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting so as to indicate how each Councilor voted. In the event a Councilor intends to abstain from voting, he/she shall so state before the question is put to a vote.

SECTION TWELVE. AGENDA: In order that advance notice of the matters to be discussed at Council meetings be afforded all interested parties, all meetings of the Council shall be conducted according to the agenda. An agenda shall be prepared for each regular meeting and posted by the Thursday preceding said meeting. Posting will be in a public area of the municipal building and of the U.S. Post Offices in Kittery and Kittery Point. When practicable, an agenda shall be prepared at least twelve hours in advance of a special meeting; be delivered to all Council members; and posted as previously provided. All Town Manager's memoranda of interest to the Council members shall be delivered to them at least seventy-two hours before a regular meeting.

The agenda shall consist of the following categories:

3. Pledge of Allegiance

5. Acceptance of previous minutes

6. Interviews for Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Cable Television Rate Regulation Board.

7. All items involving the town attorney, town engineers, town employees or other town consultants or requested officials. Any person or persons who are represented by legal or engineering consultants, who are present and wish to address the Council, shall notify the Chairperson prior to the Council Call to Order of the subject they wish to speak on and shall be heard at this time.

a. Discussion by members of the public (3 minutes per person)

b. Chairperson’s response to public comments.

10. Unfinished business

12. Committee and other reports

a. Communications from the Chairperson

b. Town manager's report

c. Committee reports

13. Executive session, if required

To the extent possible, matters to be discussed at a meeting by the town manager or Chairperson of the Town Council shall be listed on the agenda under the Manager's Report and the Chairperson’s Report respectively. The category of Unfinished Business shall be specifically reserved for Council business discussed at a previous meeting that has been tabled or continued to the meeting for which the present agenda is prepared. The New Business section of the agenda shall be reserved for those matters which a Councilor wishes to introduce anew. In keeping with the policy regarding advance notice, Councilors are encouraged and requested to submit to the Town Clerk those matters which they wish to introduce under New Business by 4:00 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the Thursday that the agenda is to be posted. Those matters shall then be placed by the Town Clerk on the agenda.

SECTION THIRTEEN. DISCUSSION.

A. Discussion by members of the public (3 minutes per person)

Any person wishing to address the Town Council will be given an opportunity to do so in accordance with the following procedures.

1. The Public Discussion section of the agenda shall be reserved for those members of the public who wish to address the Council on any matters listed on the agenda or on other matters they wish to bring to the Council's attention, but only as provided in Section Five of these rules.

Any person wishing to have an item listed on the agenda under Public Discussion shall submit the matter to be discussed in writing to the Town Clerk by 4:00 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the Thursday that the agenda is to be posted.

2. Any person wishing to address the Council during public discussion, section 12 (9) shall signify his or her desire by raising his or her hand and, when recognized by the Chairperson, such person shall thereupon request permission to address the Council, giving his or her name and address, then designating the subject matter on which he or she desires to address the Council. Any person or persons who wish to address the Council and are represented by legal or engineering advisors shall be recognized first.

3. Persons wishing to address the Council on an item which appears on the agenda after public discussion shall wait until the Council Chairperson announces the consideration of such item, at which time, after being recognized, they may address the Council on that particular item. However, once the Council has begun its deliberation on the item, no person shall be permitted to address the Council until the Council Chairperson, having determined that the Council's deliberations appear finished, and also that the item under consideration is of great concern to members of the public gathered, may permit persons in the audience to address the Council before closing the discussion and calling for Council vote.

4. Members of the public, addressing the Council during the public discussion section of the agenda shall limit their statements to the Council, to no more than three minutes per person unless the Chairperson finds it necessary to allow any member of the public more than the allotted time set forth in section five of these rules.

B. Chairperson’s response to public comments.

In order to make certain that the Council is speaking as one voice when responding to public comments, all such responses shall be made by the Council Chair. The Chairperson would be responsible for any subsequent follow-up response to the citizen.

SECTION FOURTEEN. COUNCIL POLICIES: Policies adopted by the Council by resolution, motion, or consensus shall become part of the Council rules and copies of the Council rules and policies shall be maintained by the Town Clerk appropriately indexed, and provided to all Councilors, the Rice Public Library, the Town Manager, and the Town Hall.

To allow for the opportunity for full attendance, all workshops held by the Town Council will be scheduled for a Monday. When this is impossible to do, another night will be chosen by the Council at a regular Monday meeting.

No member of the Town Council shall request a legal opinion relative to Town business from the Town's appointed attorneys without prior approval of a majority vote of the Council. All such requests shall be made through the Town Manager.

A. Authority: Article II Town Charter; Sec. 2:10 (2)

B. Standing Committees

(1) The Financial and Legislative Committees shall consist of the entire Council, as follows:

Financial Legislative

All budgetary matters Approvals: Permits, licenses

Any appropriation ordinance All non_appropriation ordinances

Administrative relations Appointments

Grants, bequests, etc. Property transfers

SECTION FIFTEEN. COPY COSTS: The cost charged at the Town Hall for making copies of any materials, access to which the public is entitled, shall be twenty_five (25) cents a copy. Copies of the Town Council packets are to be made available to the media at ten (10) cents a page.

SECTION SIXTEEN. The Town Council realizes that Councilors should make an effort to broaden and increase their knowledge of information and skills directly related to their responsibility to govern the Town, and that efforts should be made to appropriate funds for this purpose. Prior to incurring and requesting reimbursement for such expenses, however, individual Councilors should obtain the approval of the Council. Such approval is required for any individual expense that would be paid from the Council Contingency or the Council Expense accounts.

Approved 2/27/89 Amended 9/27/99 Amended 12/17/01

Amended 12/28/92 Amended 11/22/99 Amended 9/16/02

Amended 6/26/95 Amended 5/31/00 Amended 10/28/02

Amended 1/3/96 Amended 10/30/00

Amended 1/10/96 Amended 3/19/01

Amended 12/9/96 Amended 7/2/01