Council Rules and Procedures
Section 200 - Council Rules And Procedures
200.01- Regular and special meetings
Regular meetings of the council are held on Tuesday of each month in the council chambers of the city hall at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise specified by council resolution. Meetings may be adjourned from time to time to a specified date or subject to the call of the mayor. Meetings of the council must be open to the public. A meeting falling on a legal holiday is held the next following business day.
200.03 - Quorum
A majority of council members elected constitutes a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time.
200.05 - Presiding officer and secretary
The mayor presides at the meetings of the council. The council must choose from its members an acting mayor. The city clerk-treasurer is the secretary of the council.
200.07 - First meeting
At the first regular meeting of the council in each year, the council must designate an official newspaper and depositories for official funds. The council may appoint such committees as it deems necessary.
200.09 - Council rules; presiding officer
The presiding officer must preserve order and decorum, decide questions of order, and conduct meetings in accordance with these rules. The city council is governed in its procedure by the provisions of Roberts Rules of Order (Newly Revised Edition) except where otherwise provided by law or by this chapter. The council may make and change its own rules from time to time by resolution duly adopted and any such changes supersede Roberts Rules of Order (Newly Revised Edition). The presiding officer may speak on any question being considered, and has the rights, privileges, and duties of any other member of the council.
200.11 - Motions reduced to writing
A motion must be reduced to writing at the request of any member present. Ordinances and resolutions must be presented in writing and read in full before a vote is taken thereon unless the reading is dispensed with by unanimous consent.
200.13 - Signing and publishing of ordinances
Ordinances must be signed by the mayor, attested by the clerk-treasurer, published after its passage by the council, and recorded by the clerk-treasurer in a property indexed book kept for the purpose.
200.15 - Special meetings
Special meetings of the council may be called by the mayor or by any other two members of the council. The call is made by filing a written statement with the clerk-treasurer containing, s a minimum, the following information:
- The names and positions of the person or persons calling the meeting.
- The time and place of the special meeting.
- A request asking the clerk-treasurer to give the council members proper notice.
The clerk-treasurer must then mail, at least one day before the meeting, notice to all the council members stating the time and place of the meeting. Special meetings will be held without such notice when all members of the council are present in person, or when the absent members have consented in writing to the holding of the meeting. A special meeting attended by all members of the council is to be conducted in the same manner as a regular meeting for the purpose of transacting business.
200.17 - Agenda
An agenda of business to come before the council must be prepared by the clerk-treasurer by the Thursday immediately preceding a regular city council meeting. The clerk-treasurer must furnish each member of the council with a copy of the agenda prior to the council meeting and as far in advance of the meeting as time for preparation will permit. A person desiring to be heard by the council must make the intention known to the clerk-treasurer of the substance of the matter to be presented so that it can be included in the agenda. Matters that have not been placed on the agenda will not be considered by the council unless the council is satisfied that the omission of the item from the printed agenda was inadvertent, or unless the matter is of such urgency that the council, by unanimous vote, suspends the rules for the consideration of the matter.
200.19 - Addressing council
A person addressing the council is limited to five minutes, unless further time is granted by a majority vote of the council. Remarks must be addressed to the council as a body and not to any member thereof. Questions may not be asked of council members, only through the presiding officer.
200.21 - Decorum
A person making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous while addressing the council, may be barred from further audience before the council by presiding officer unless permission to continue be granted by a majority vote of the council. Meetings must be conducted in an orderly manner and proper decorum must be maintained throughout the meetings.
Section 205 - Salaries Of Elected Officials
205.01 - Council salaries
Subdivision 1 - Mayor
The salary of the mayor is $95.00 for each regular council meeting attended.
Subd. 2 - Council members
The salary of each member of the council is $65.00 for each regular council meeting attended.
Subd. 3 - Payments
The salaries of the mayor and council members are payable annually on or before December 31.
Subd. 4 - Special meetings
The mayor and each council members are to be paid an additional $50.00 for each special council meeting attended.
Subd. 5 - Other meetings and seminars
The mayor and each council member is to be paid an additional $50.00 for each council approved meeting (other than a council meeting) and training or informal seminar attended.
205.03 - Workers’ compensation
The mayor and council members, elected or appointed to an unexpired term, are covered by the city’s workers’ compensation insurance.
Section 210 - City Elections
210.01 - General
Elections in the city are conducted in accordance with the general laws of the state of Minnesota.
210.03 - Election dates
General elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even numbered years. The council may set the date for the special or primary election by resolution.
210.05 - Filing of office
The council must by resolution fix the dates within which candidates for municipal office must file in any municipal election, except that in the case of primary elections, the filing dates are those provided by law for cities of the same class as the city.
