City Council Meeting Date: January 7, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Lynette Peterson, City Clerk
Title
Consider Amendments to Council Rules of Business and Appendices.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council approves a resolution to approve the amendments to the attached Council Rules of Business and related Appendices going into effect January 21, 2025.
Summary Report:
The City Council conducts an annual review of the Council Rules of Business and related Appendices, making amendments as needed. Throughout the year staff notes changes to incorporate at the annual review to bring the Rules of Business up to date. A redline version of the updates is attached. This year the following changes/amendments are proposed:
1. Adding to City Council Meetings under Council Listening sessions: Persons cannot gift their two (2) minute speaking time to other members of the public. Persons cannot observe silence for the entire two (2) minutes or any part of their two (2) minute speaking time.
2. Adding to City Council Meetings regarding choosing a Mayor Pro Tem - change wording to President Pro Tem as it is stated in City Charter for consistency.
3. Add under City Council Meetings under remote appearance the Microsoft Teams software as an option.
4. Changing timelines under Preparation of City Council Meeting Agendas to align with internal documents that have been updated.
5. Adding “electronic” to references to voting with the use of VoteCast for Council meetings.
6. Removing the reference to Charter Amendments to be on Regular Agenda as the Electronic Voting Function does list each vote by individual for all items acted on.
7. Adding the following under Public Comment and in the Public Participation Guide: Persons cannot observe silence for the entire two (2) minutes or any part of their two (2) minute speaking time.
8. Moving the Mayor and Council Reports between the Public Hearing and Regular Agenda Items. This was requested by Mayor-Elect Zweifel. Staff is supportive of the move as long as agenda items are completed within the designated maximum three hours. Completing work within the three hours of meetings is a priority for the new year. There is still an option for extending if absolutely necessary during meetings which primarily means completed all agenda items, particularly items that require action.
9. Changing timelines under City Council Packets to align with internal timeline documents that have been updated.
10. Updating Appendix D: Timelines Chart to reflect internal timeline documents that have been updated. Note that staff, under request of Mayor-Elect Zweifel, reviewed considering the early publication time to allow more time for Councilor review. Additionally, staff supports the change as the earlier time will be beneficial for staff that prepare the packets.
11. Updating Appendix E: Listening Session Guidelines to include the following: Persons cannot observe silence for the entire two (2) minutes or any part of their two (2) minute speaking time.
Other - Town Hall Meetings or Other Engagements with Public
Mayor-Elect Zweifel also is requesting to incorporate a Town Hall meeting into the council schedule once a month. The City Council had been discussing adding these types of opportunities into processes at year end and other ideas are still in review. This is still in ideation at this time so not incorporated into the draft Rules. However, if of interest of the full Council staff would incorporate into the Rules and Review the Calendar for 2025. The following is a description of a Town Hall meeting under staff internal meeting conventions:
Town Hall Meeting
Town Hall Meetings are hosted by the City to provide an overview of specific plans and projects with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and provide some level of input via questions, ideas and suggestions. The Town Hall Meetings are designed to be for a set period of time, typically 1.5- 2 hours. The purpose of the Town Hall Meeting is to provide the greatest opportunity for two-way communications between City representatives and key community stakeholders.
The Council in more recent history had three meetings a month to allow for staff and council who regularly are required to be at meetings to have opportunity for personal time off such as vacations at the end of the month. The weeks are often used for other meetings depending on calendars, particularly during election years when additional days are restricted for public meetings. Staff is reviewing and may have additional information supplemental or at the meeting for discussion.
Alternative Options:
The Council could leave the Council Rules of Business as is and not amend and the current Rules of Business would remain in place. The full Council Rules of Business are attached for your information.
Financial Impacts:
Not applicable.
Tentative Timelines:
• January 7, 2025 -Council approves Rules of Business amendments
• January 21, 2025 - Council Rules of Business goes into effect