[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Algoma 1-16-2002 by Ord. No. 108. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Town Board has charge of all affairs of the Town not committed
by law to another body or officer or to a Town employee. It specifically
has the powers and duties enumerated in §§ 60.22 and
60.23, Wis. Stats., in addition to any others specifically granted
to it by other applicable law. In exercising these powers, the Board
may employ such assistance as it deems reasonably necessary.
A.
Place of meeting. All regular and special meetings of the Town Board
shall be held at the Algoma Municipal Building, 15 North Oakwood Road,
unless a different place is designated in the call of the meeting
and the notice thereof or the meeting is adjourned to a different
location.
B.
Regular meetings. Regular meetings of the Town Board shall be held
on the third Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m.
[Amended 6-15-2005 by Ord. No. 116]
C.
Legal holidays. Any regular meeting which would otherwise fall on
a legal holiday designated by either federal or Wisconsin law shall
be held on the first business day following the legal holiday, or
another day designated by the Town Board.
D.
Change of meeting date.
(1)
At prior meeting. The Town Board may, at a regular meeting prior
thereto, for good cause, change the date of any regularly scheduled
meeting. Such action shall require a majority vote of the quorum of
the Board present at the meeting. It is intended that such changes
will be made only in unusual circumstances where the interests of
the Town so require. Changes shall not be made merely for the convenience
of Board members. Generally, the community interest lies in regularly
scheduled meetings being held on a predictable basis.
(2)
Notice of changed regular meeting date. In addition to notices necessary
to comply with the Wisconsin Open Meeting Law, § 19.84,
Wis. Stats., and other statutory requirements, the Town Clerk shall
post notice of the changed regular meeting date at the Algoma Municipal
Building at least 10 days before the time when the regular meeting
would normally have been held if it had not been rescheduled and not
less than five days before the rescheduled date. The notice shall
include the newly scheduled date.
E.
Special meetings.
(1)
Special meetings of the Town Board may be called by the Town Chair
or by any two members of the Town Board upon written notice of the
time, purpose and place thereof to each member of the Board delivered
to the member personally or left in a conspicuous place at his or
her usual place of abode at least six hours before the meeting. The
person delivering the notice shall cause an affidavit of service of
such notice to be filed in the office of the Town Clerk prior to the
time fixed for such special meeting.
[Amended 5-21-2003 by Ord. No. 110]
(2)
A special meeting may be held without notice when all members of
the Board consent in writing to the holding of such meeting. Such
consents, bearing the written signature of the member, must be filed
with the Town Clerk prior to the meeting. This may be accomplished
by actual delivery or fax transmission to the Clerk or by United States
Mail received by the Clerk. Attendance at a meeting and participation
therein without objection to the holding of the meeting shall constitute
waiver of notice.
(3)
At a special meeting, no business shall be transacted other than
that for which the meeting was called.
All proceedings of the Town Board shall be governed by Robert's
Rules of Order Newly Revised and pursuant to any interpretations of
the most recent edition of A Guide to Parliamentary Procedure for
Local Governments in Wisconsin by Larry E. Larmer. The latter source
shall control in the event of apparent inconsistencies.
In the event that the Chair is not present at the beginning
of a meeting or for whatever reason does not preside over all or any
portion of a meeting, the Town Clerk shall call the meeting to order
and the Supervisors present shall elect one of their number Acting
Chair for that meeting or until the Chair arrives and is able to resume
the duties of the Chair. In the event there is an even number of Supervisors
present, the Town Clerk shall be entitled to vote on the selection
of an Acting Chair.
All business at any meeting of the Town Board shall be held
in open session and shall be accessible to the public, except as provided
by the State Open Meeting Law, § 19.85(1), Wis. Stats. No
person other than members of the Board shall address the Town Board.
This provision shall not apply to the Town Clerk, Town Treasurer,
Town Administrator, Town Building Inspector, Town Fire Chief, Town
Road/Drainage Coordinator or their representatives.
A.
This provision shall also not apply under the specific orders of
business established to recognize residents of the Town or other persons,
under the specific order of business to recognize members of any Town
office, Town committee, Town agency, Town commission, or a special
board or other Town officers or except if the person has specifically
requested from a member of this Board the right to address the Town
Board and then only after the approval of either the presiding officer
or the Town Board through an affirmative vote by the Town Board. This
provision shall also not prevent a person from addressing the Town
Board in response to a request from a member of the Town Board to
provide factual information or a qualified professional opinion on
a matter that is before the Town Board.
B.
The policy of the Town Board is to conduct its meetings efficiently
while ensuring that it is fully advised on the matters before it.
A.
Members to be recognized. The presiding officer of the meeting of
the Town Board shall recognize any member of the Town Board of the
Town of Algoma prior to that Town Board member addressing the Town
Board.
B.
If the Town Chair or other presiding officer of the Town Board desires
to speak on any question or make any motion, or second a motion, he
or she may do so without vacating the Chair or without designating
a member of the Town Board to preside at the meeting as Town Chair
pro tem.
C.
No meeting of the Town Board may exceed three hours in length without
the consent of the majority of the members present.
For voting upon orders, motions, resolutions, ordinances, action
items, business items or any other question, all individual members
of the Town Board present at the meeting shall vote when that individual
Board member's name is called, unless for special cause a Town Board
member has been excused prior to the vote by an affirmative roll call
of the remaining members. However, no member of the Town Board shall
be excused from voting after the actual voting has commenced. Nothing
in this section shall require a member to vote when his participation
would be illegal because of a conflict of interest. It shall also
not require a member to vote on approval of minutes of a meeting he
did not attend.
No Board member shall withdraw from any meeting without permission
of the presiding officer. Any member withdrawing without permission
may be compelled to return and may be punished by forfeiture not to
exceed $25.
Any member of the Town Board voting in the majority on any matter
may move for reconsideration of the vote at the meeting or at any
succeeding meeting where the topic is an agenda item. A motion to
reconsider being proposed and then defeated shall not be renewed.
Prior to any discussion of a matter, the members of the Town
Board shall be entitled to a clear understanding of the motion before
the Town Board. The person making the motion shall clearly state the
motion. Motions made in writing by a member of the Town Board and
provided to the Town Clerk prior to the meeting shall be provided
priority in the appropriate order of business. The Town Chair shall
restate the motion prior to any vote. Any member of the Town Board,
prior to the vote on the motion, may request that the motion and any
amendments adopted to the motion be reduced to writing and submitted
in writing to the members of the Town Board prior to the final vote
on the matter.
Any member of the Town Board may demand a roll call vote on
any issue in such manner that the vote of each member is known and
entered into the record of the meeting.
No member of the Town Board may change his or her vote on any
action item, business item, motion or question after the final result
has been announced by the Town Clerk, except when granted permission
to do so by a majority vote of the remaining members present.
These rules or any part of these rules or any other rules of
the Town Board may be temporarily suspended at any meeting of the
Town Board, including any special meeting of the Town Board, in connection
with any matter under consideration by the Town Board. Any rule may
be suspended by a recorded affirmative roll call vote of 2/3 or more
of the members of the Town Board present at the meeting.
These rules or any part of these rules or any other rules of
the Town Board may be altered or amended at any meeting of the Town
Board at which such amendment is properly on the agenda, including
any special meeting of the Town Board. Any rules may be altered or
amended by a recorded affirmative roll call vote of a majority of
the members of the Town Board present at the meeting of the Town Board.
[Amended 3-17-2004 by Ord. No. 113[1]]
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the Town Chair
shall be responsible for preparation of the meeting agenda. The Chair
shall place such matters as he or she deems appropriate on the meeting
agenda. In the event the Chair refuses a Supervisor's request to place
an item on the agenda, any two Supervisors desiring the item to be
placed on the agenda can so require by application to the Chair no
later than one week prior to the commencement of the meeting. The
Chair may alter the order in which items appearing on the agenda are
taken up.
