[HISTORY: Adopted by the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Monroeville 1-5-1976 by Ord. No. 992; amended in its entirety 6-8-2010 by Ord. No. 2482. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 9-11-2012 by Ord. No. 2558]
Any regular meeting or special meeting of the Municipal Council, including Citizens' Night Meeting shall commence at the hour of 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. Any regular meeting falling upon a legal holiday shall be held on the third Tuesday evening of the calendar month at the same time and place.
Special meetings may be called by the Mayor whenever he/she may deem it expedient and shall be called by the Mayor upon written request of three of the Council members. Should the Mayor neglect or refuse to issue a call for a meeting desired by Council members, the Manager shall do so on written request of three Council members. The Mayor, Manager, Department of Law (solicitor), and all Council members shall have at least 24 hours' written notice given by the Manager or other person of the time, places and primary business to be conducted at the meeting. Such notice shall also be given to the public at the same time by advertisement and by posting such notice in a prominent place on the Municipal Building premises 24 hours prior to a meeting. Only the primary business as presented on the agenda prepared by the Mayor or Manager may be considered and acted upon at the special meeting, whether called by the Mayor or after written request of the three Council members.
The Council may adjourn from time to time to a specific hour and a date, but no public meeting shall be adjourned, begun, recessed or interrupted in any way for the purpose of an executive session except for the purpose of considering dismissal or discipline of, hearing complaints or charge brought against a public elected officer, employee or other public agent, or considering action with respect to labor negotiations or any other exception to the Sunshine Act, Act 84 of 1986, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Sunshine Act of 1986, Act 84 (65 P.S. § 271 et seq.), was repealed 10-15-1998 by P.L. 729, No. 93; see now 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 701 et seq.
At any meeting, the reading of the minutes may be dispensed with upon majority vote of the members present and voting. In each instance in which the reading of the minutes has been dispensed with, copies of the unread minutes shall be mailed by the Manager to all members at least three days prior to the next regular meeting. Alternatively, e-mailing of said unread minutes three days prior will also satisfy this rule if the Councilperson indicates that he would desire to receive the minutes in this fashion. The Manager may e-mail said unread minutes if the Councilperson indicates in writing that he/she would prefer such an alternative. In the absence of the Manager, the Mayor shall appoint a person to prepare a reading and recording of the minutes.
The Mayor, at the stated hour, shall call the meeting to order. He/She shall preserve order and decorum in the office of Mayor and Council, decide all questions of order, and conduct the proceedings of the meeting in accordance with parliamentary rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised. Any member shall have the right to appeal from a decision of the presiding officer or to request information or question the order of business. No appeal shall be debatable, and the appeal may be sustained by a majority of the members present. In the event of a conflict between Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, and these rules, these rules shall prevail.
The business of Council shall be conducted according to an agenda prepared by the Municipal Manager and approved by Mayor and Council.
A. 
The agenda and order of business shall be closed at the end of the work session prior to the regular scheduled Council meeting.
B. 
Debate and Council action is limited to those items on the agenda after the agenda is closed.
C. 
The public shall have the opportunity to address Council, as established by the agenda during the public business meeting. A written statement shall be prepared by the individual(s) addressing Council and received and filed with the Manager. Persons wishing to address Council shall inform the Manager up to the close of the agenda and will be placed on the agenda with the topic of discussion. Presentations will be limited to five minutes except if extended by a majority vote of Council. The Mayor or a majority of Council may limit debate on any item within a reasonable time frame.
D. 
The Council will conduct Citizens' Night and the work session on Thursday before the second Tuesday (regular business meeting) of each calendar month at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. Any regular Citizens' Night or work session falling on a legal holiday shall be rescheduled and duly advertised. Any person or persons wishing to address Council may do so at Citizens' Night or the work session and every effort will be made to accommodate the individual(s) or group(s) wishing to be heard by all of Council. No formal action may be taken at Citizens' Night or the work session. The presiding officer and majority of Council may limit discussion within a reasonable time frame. Minutes will be kept of the names, addresses and nature of problems, important items of discussion, and final disposition of matters brought before Council at Citizens' Night.
E. 
The work session agenda shall be established by the Municipal Manager and distributed three days prior to the work session. No minutes shall be taken at the work session.
If the Mayor is absent at the designated time for any meeting, the duly elected Deputy Mayor of Council shall preside, and if both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are absent, the senior majority member, by party, of Council (by rotating ascending ward number if two or more majority members are equal seniority) shall serve as Mayor pro tempore and have the same authority as is vested in the Mayor and shall serve in such capacity only for such time as the Mayor or Deputy Mayor is absent, but shall not cast the Mayor's deciding vote in cases of tie votes of Council.
Whenever the presiding officer, other than the Mayor, shall desire to make any motion, he/she shall vacate this chair and designate his/her Deputy or the senior majority member in the Deputy Mayor's absence to preside temporarily.
Committees and committee chairpersons shall be appointed by the Deputy Mayor of Council on an ad hoc basis when authorized by majority of Council.
There shall be no standing committees of Council except that Council shall meet at least once monthly in a public work session as a committee of the whole to consider business which may come before Council at the regularly scheduled business meetings.
Special committees may be created as occasions may require by the majority of Council. The Deputy Mayor still retains the right to make committee appointments in the above case.
No vote by proxy will be considered legitimate at any meeting of Council.
All ordinances and resolutions shall be read aloud in their entirety by the Manager unless presented to the Mayor, the Law Department (Municipal Solicitor) and all Councilpersons at least 24 hours prior to the meeting at which its adoption is sought, in which event the ordinance or resolution may be read aloud by number and title. Any member of Council, or the Mayor, may require the reading aloud in full or in part of any ordinance or resolution whether or not it is submitted in writing 24 hours in advance. Only members of Council may present ordinances, resolutions, or motions, except as provided by petition in Article XX of the Home Rule Charter.
The Mayor and all Councilpersons shall receive a listing of all bills and contractual payments. Payment of the bills shall only be authorized by the majority vote of Council. Any Councilperson may question or investigate any bills or requests before payment, if he/she so desires, but any delay in the vote to approve or reject such bill in order to permit such investigation shall be for not longer than the interval between the time the request to investigate is made and the next regular or adjourned meeting. After each investigation, a report by the investigating member shall be made at the next regular or adjourned meeting.
The deliberations of the Council shall be conducted in the following manner:
A. 
No Councilperson shall address the Council until he/she has been recognized by the presiding officer. He/She shall thereupon address himself/herself to the Chair and confine his/her remarks to the question under discussion and avoid all personalities.
B. 
When two or more members simultaneously seek recognition, the presiding officer shall name the member who is to speak first.
C. 
No person other than a member of Council or other Municipal official shall address the Council unless he/she has first given to the Manager notice of his/her intention to address Council and the exact nature of the matter he/she wishes to bring up prior to the close of the agenda of the meeting he/she wishes to address.
D. 
When a question is under discussion, no action shall be in order except: 1) to lay on the table; 2) move the previous question; 3) to postpone to a certain day; 4) to refer to a committee; 5) to amend; 6) to postpone indefinitely. These motions shall have precedence in the order listed.
E. 
Any member desirous of terminating the debate may move the previous question, in which event the presiding officer shall announce the question as "shall the main question now be put?" If a two-thirds majority of the members present vote in the affirmative, the main question shall be taken without further debate, its effect being to put an end to all debate and bring the Council to a direct vote, first upon pending amendments, and then upon the main question.
F. 
The presiding officer shall have the right to limit debate in any uniform and fair manner, which limitation may be altered by a two-thirds vote of the Council, but in no event shall any Councilperson who is in order and speaking on the particular agenda item be limited to less than 15 minutes on each subject of debate if the Councilperson so desires.
G. 
All votes on ordinances and resolutions shall be by roll call. Any member may request a roll call vote at any time. A majority vote of any quorum present in favor of a proposed ordinance, motion, resolution or appointment shall be necessary for passage or approval, unless a larger number is required by statute.
H. 
A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, and a motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, and a call for the previous question shall be decided without debate.
I. 
A quorum (four) shall consist of a majority of all the members of Council. A majority shall consist of one more than half of those voting. Abstention shall be considered a non-vote. No ordinance or resolution shall be adopted without at least four affirmative votes. Actions of the Council, other than ordinances and resolutions, shall be effective and binding by the affirmative vote of majority of the votes cast, provided at least three affirmative votes are cast. Section C-19, Quorum; § C-20, Votes required for action; and § C-21, Form of action by Council, of the Home Rule Charter shall apply.
It shall be in order for any member voting in the majority to move for a reconsideration of the vote of any question at that meeting. A motion to reconsider, being put and lost, shall not be renewed at that meeting.
These rules or any part thereof may be suspended temporarily in connection with any matter under consideration by a recorded 2/3 of the members present and all motions for the suspension shall be without debate.