City Council Meeting Date: January 4, 2022
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 the amendments to the attached City Council Rules of Business and related Appendices.
Summary Report:
The City Council annually reviews City Council Rules of Business and related Appendices and incorporates any amendments as necessary. Staff has incorporated feedback received from staff and the Council discussion at the November 16, 2021 meeting into the attached redlined version of the Rules of Business.
The following are some notes on the proposed added revisions to certain sections for consideration:
The following changes have been made to the City Council Meetings section:
City Council Meetings
Adding the following underlined sentences to clarify remote attendance notification by City Council Members:
Remote attendance must be requested to the City Clerk a minimum of six days in advance of the meeting to ensure compliance with proper notice of the meeting as well as preparing for the electronic needs of remote attendance. For example, for a Tuesday Council Meeting, a Council Member would need to notify the City Clerk by the end of the business day on the Wednesday before the meeting. The City is required to post notice of meetings at least 3 days prior to the scheduled meeting. In calculating the number of days for providing notice, the first day the notice is given should not be counted, but the last day should be counted. Members must provide the address of the remote location which must be accessible to the public, a phone number where they can be contacted, and arrange for a time to test the connections with the IT Department at least 4 hours prior to the meeting. The City’s policy is to restrict remote attendance and is limited to up to two members unless it is not practical due to a health pandemic or emergency declared under chapter 12.
Adding the following language:
City Council Members can appear and participate in a meeting remotely using “interactive technology,” defined as “a device, software program, or other application that allows individuals in different physical locations to see and hear one another.” Skype, Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting and similar programs with an audio and video connection satisfy this requirement.
The City Council must meet the following six requirements to meet using interactive technology:
• At least one member is physically present at the regular meeting location;
• All members must be able to hear and see each other and all discussion and testimony presented at any location at which at least one member is present;
• All members of the public at the regular meeting location must be able to hear and see all discussion, testimony and votes of all members;
• All votes are conducted by roll call so each member’s vote can be identified and recorded; and
• Each location at which a member is present must be open and accessible to the public.
• The minutes for the meeting must reflect the names of any members appearing by interactive television technology and state the reason or reasons for the appearance by interactive television technology.
A meeting satisfies the requirements of open meeting law even though a member of the public body participates from a location that is not open to the public if the member has not participated more than three times in a calendar year from a location that is not open or accessible to the public, and:
• The member is serving in the military and is at a required drill, deployed or on active duty; or
• The member has been advised by a health care professional against being in a public place for personal or family medical reasons. This clause only applies when a statewide state of emergency has been declared under section 12.31, and expires 60 days after the removal of the state of emergency.
The following changes have been made to the Meeting Agenda section:
Meeting Agenda
• Take out Approval of Minutes as this is done on the Consent Agenda
• Add under Public Comment: Remote Public Comment. Persons attending virtually may take one opportunity to address the City Council for two (2) minutes on any topic, even if on the agenda, with the condition that they may not speak on the same item later in the meeting. No notification of the Mayor is required. Persons should follow the Rules of Etiquette for Hybrid Meetings listed in Number 8.
• Add under Regular Agenda:
o Mayor Intro/Staff Report
o Council Questions
o Public Comment (See procedural instructions below)
o Mayor Requests Motion/2nd (If action item)
o Council Discussion
o Vote
Add heading:
Public Comment Procedural Instructions for Regular Agenda Items:
Add the following language:
Persons attending virtually may also speak and should follow the Rules of Etiquette for Hybrid Meetings listed below.
The Zoom option is for those who intend to speak (not for just watching the meeting):
Rules of Etiquette for hybrid meetings:
§ Please identify yourself once in the Zoom meeting (type your name in Zoom window).
§ Camera must be off and audio must be muted unless speaking.
§ Only speak when directed to by the mayor or other meeting chair.
§ There is a two minute limit for addressing the Council.
§ Rules of business applies for decorum.
§ The City of Northfield reserves the right to mute any meeting participant.
§ The City of Northfield reserves the right to remove any meeting participant for not following Rules of Business.
§ The City of Northfield reserves the right to turn off any meeting participant’s camera and/or audio if they on while not addressing the Council.
The following changes have been made to the Citizen Participation section:
Citizen Participation
Add the following language:
• Public comment via electronic video/audio as provided for during hybrid City Council Meetings with interactive technology.
The following changes have been made to the Live Stream/Recording section:
Live Stream/Recording
Add the following language:
Off-site meetings are not recorded, however may be on an as-needed staff basis.
The following board and commission meetings are recorded based on their duties and responsibilities pursuant to Charter, State law and City Code as applicable: Charter Commission, Economic Development Authority, Heritage Preservation Commission and Housing and Redevelopment Authority, and Planning Commission and Zoning Boards of Appeals.
In addition to the language changes/additions, staff is recommending the addition of the following new sections:
Mic Etiquette for Council and Citizen Participation
• Mute your microphone when you are not speaking. This is to help keep the background noise to a minimum.
• Be mindful of background noise. Also, be mindful during the meeting if someone else is talking and their microphone is muted, alert then that they are muted and ask them to unmute themselves.
• Position your microphone in a comfortable position (6-12 inches away from your mouth) and remember to speak towards the microphone when speaking.
• When speaking into the microphone, speak at a normal volume.
AV Protocol for Breaks
When the City Council calls for a break AV will do the following:
• Mute all microphones during the break.
• Project a visual “Council is on Break” image on camera for those watching at home.
• Unmute Mayor’s microphone in preparation for calling meeting back to order.
Capacity of Council Chambers
The Council Chambers will be set up not to exceed the legal occupancy as set by the Building Official. The room set up will take into account all current Minnesota Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in place. If needed, additional conference room space will be available for seating showing the live stream of the meeting for the public to view.
Board & Commission Remote Meetings
In reviewing board and commission governance effectiveness, staff will be exploring the possibility of offering hybrid meetings for boards and commissions. They would be subject to the same legal requirements and initially thinking if we moved to that platform many of the policies could be the same with some modifications.
Alternative Options:
The Council could leave the Rules of Business as is and not amend and the current Rules of Business would remain in place.
Financial Impacts:
Not applicable.
Tentative Timelines:
Discussion of Draft Rules of Business - November 16, 2021
Approval of Rules of Business - January 4, 2021