30. GOVERNING BODY AND MAYOR

CHAPTER 30:  GOVERNING BODY AND MAYOR

 

 

Section

 

                                                                    General Provisions

 

30.01     Elections

30.02     Authority of administrators

30.03     Compensation

 

                                                                            Meetings

 

30.15     General

30.16     Regular meetings

30.17     Special meetings

30.18     Emergency meetings

30.19     Initial meeting

30.20     Agenda and order of business

30.21     Quorum and voting

30.22     Adoption of ordinances, resolutions, motions, petitions, and communications

30.23     Minutes

30.24     Presiding officer

 

 

 

                                                             GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

 

§ 30.01 ELECTIONS.

 

Municipal elections, when required, shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each year for the election of the following officers for the term as indicated below.

 

(A)  Mayor. The Mayor’s term shall be for two years, with elections every two years.

(Prior Code, § 201.1)

 

(B)  City Council member. A City Council member’s terms shall be for four years, with two members elected every two years.

(Prior Code, § 201.2)

 

§ 30.02 AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATORS.

 

(A)  Authority of the City Council. The City Council has complete authority over all administrative affairs of the city. It is responsible for adopting and enforcing ordinances, establishing policies, directing department heads, creating boards and commissions, overseeing the city’s financial operations, and transacting all other city business as required by law.

(Prior Code, § 203.1)

 

(B)  Authority of City Council members. A Council member directs the city’s conduct of daily affairs and plans for the future development of the city. A Council member has no authority outside of a Council meeting.

(Prior Code, § 203.2)

 

(C)  Authority of the Mayor. The Mayor is the symbolic head of a city and is the presiding officer at Council meetings. The Mayor has all the powers and duties as a Council member. The Mayor is a voting member of the City Council.

(Prior Code, § 203.3)

 

(D)  Authority of the Mayor Pro Tem (Acting Mayor). In the case of the absence or disability of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tem shall perform the duty of the Mayor during the period of the absence or disability. The Mayor Pro Tem is appointed by the Mayor.

(Prior Code, § 203.4)

 

 

§ 30.03  COMPENSATION.

 

Officials and employees of the city shall be compensated at a rate as established from time to time by the City Council.

 

(A)  Mayor’s salary. The compensation of the Mayor shall be $1,500 per year and $25 for special meetings, committee meetings, or a meeting to discuss city business, with a minimum duration of one hour in length and a maximum of 60 paid meetings per year.

(Prior Code, § 213.1)

 

(B)  Council salary. The compensation of the Council shall be $1,200 per year and $25 for special meetings, committee meetings, or a meeting to discuss city business, with a minimum duration of one hour in length and a maximum of 60 paid meetings per year.

(Prior Code, § 213.2)

 

 

 

 

                                                                         MEETINGS

 

 

§ 30.15  GENERAL.

 

All Council meetings, including special and adjourned meetings of city boards, shall be conducted in accordance with the state’s Open Meeting Law, being M.S. Ch. 13D, as it may be amended from time to time, and be open to the public unless specifically closed by Council or board action.

(Prior Code, § 202)

 

 

§ 30.16  REGULAR MEETINGS.

 

Regular meetings of the Council shall be held on the third Tuesday of each calendar month at 7:00 p.m. All meetings, including special and recessed meetings, shall be held in the Council Chamber unless otherwise designated by the Council.

(Prior Code, § 202.1)

 

 

§ 30.17  SPECIAL MEETINGS.

 

The Mayor or any two members of the Council may call a special meeting of the Council upon at least 24 hours’ written notice to each member of the Council. Notice shall be delivered personally to each member or left at her or his usual place of residence. Attendance at a special meeting by a Council member shall waive all requirements of notice. A public notice of a special meeting shall be posted at City Hall and the post office.

(Prior Code, § 202.2)

 

 

§ 30.18  EMERGENCY MEETINGS.

 

Notice of emergency meetings shall be given as required by state statutes.

(Prior Code, § 202.3)

 

 

§ 30.19  INITIAL MEETING.

 

At the first regular Council meeting in January of each year, the Council shall designate the depositories of city funds, designate the official newspaper, appoint the officers and employees and the members of boards and committees as may be necessary, and make any other designations or appointments as necessary.

(Prior Code, § 202.4)

 

 

§ 30.20  AGENDA AND ORDER OF BUSINESS.

 

(A)  An agenda of business for each regular meeting shall be prepared not later than three calendar days before the date of the meeting. The agenda shall be posted at City Hall, on the city’s website, and the post office.

 

(B)  The agenda shall be prepared in the following order:

 

(1)   Call to order;

 

(2)   Approval of agenda;

 

(3)   Public forum;

 

(4)   Department and committee reports;

 

(5)   Petitions;

 

(6)   Requests and communications;

 

(7)   Unfinished business;

 

(8)   New business; and

 

(9)   Consent agenda.

 

(C)  The order of business may be varied by the Council, but all public hearings shall be held at the time specified in the notice of hearing.

 

(D)  No item of business shall be considered unless it appears on the agenda for the meeting or is approved for addition to the agenda by the majority vote of the Council members present.

(Prior Code, § 202.5)

 

 

§ 30.21  QUORUM AND VOTING.

 

At least three members of the City Council must be present to constitute a quorum. The votes of all members of the Council shall be recorded in the minutes. If any member is present but does not vote, the minutes shall reflect them being present and not voting. A majority vote of all members of the Council shall be necessary for the approval of any ordinance unless a larger number is required by statute. Except as otherwise provided by statute or ordinance, a majority vote of a quorum shall prevail in all other cases.

(Prior Code, § 202.6)

 

 

§ 30.22  ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, MOTIONS, PETITIONS, AND COMMUNICATIONS.

 

(A)  Regulations. Every ordinance and resolution shall be presented in writing. Every ordinance shall receive at least one reading before the Council, prior to final adoption, but shall not be adopted at the same meeting unless the rules are suspended for that purpose. An ordinance or resolution shall be considered to have been read by the furnishing of a written copy to each member of the City Council.

 

(B)  Signing and publication proof. Every ordinance and resolution passed by the Council shall be signed by the Mayor, attested by the Clerk/Treasurer, and filed by the Clerk/Treasurer in the Ordinance or Resolution Book. Proof of publication of every ordinance shall be attached and filed.

 

(C)  Repeals and amendments. Every ordinance or resolution repealing a previous ordinance or resolution or a section or subdivision thereof shall give the number, if any, and the title of the ordinance or code number of the ordinance or resolution to be repealed in whole or in part. Each ordinance or resolution amending an existing ordinance or resolution or part thereof shall set forth in full each amended section or subdivision as it will read with the amendment.

 

(D)  Meetings, petitions, communications. Every motion shall be stated in full before it is submitted to a vote and shall be recorded in the minutes. Every petition or other communication addressed to the Council shall be read in full upon presentation to the Council, unless the Council dispenses with the reading. Each petition or other communication shall be recorded in the minutes by title and filed with the minutes in the office of the Clerk/Treasurer.

(Prior Code, § 202.7)

 

 

§ 30.23  MINUTES.

 

Minutes of each Council meeting shall be kept by the City Clerk/Treasurer or his or her designee. Ordinances, resolutions, and correspondences need not be recorded in full in the minutes if they appear in other permanent records of the Clerk/Treasurer and can be accurately identified from the description given in the minutes. The minutes of each meeting shall be reduced to typewritten form and shall be signed by the Clerk/Treasurer and the Mayor (or Presiding Officer, if the Mayor was not present at the meeting). At the next meeting of the Council, approval of the minutes shall be considered. The minutes need not be read aloud, but the Mayor shall call for any additions or corrections. If there is an objection or a proposed change to the minutes, the Council shall vote upon the correction or addition. If there are no corrections or additions, the minutes shall stand approved.

(Prior Code, § 202.8)

 

 

§ 30.24  PRESIDING OFFICER.

 

The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the City Council. In the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tem shall preside. In the absence of both, the Clerk/Treasurer shall call the meeting to order and shall preside until the Council members present at the meeting choose one of their members to act temporarily as presiding.

(Prior Code, § 202.9)