Village of Osceola, WI Chapter 59 Village Board

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Osceola 8-10-1993 by Ord. No. 7-93 as Ch. 2 and Sec. 3.08 of the 1993 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 59-1 Membership; terms of office.

The Village Board shall consist of the Village President and six Trustees who shall be elected for two-year terms.

§ 59-2 Meetings.

A. Regular meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be held on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. or at such other times as the Board may direct, except that where a regular meeting falls on a legal holiday such meeting shall be held on the following evening.

[Amended 11-14-2017 by Ord. No. 17-01]

B. Recessed meetings. The President may recess any regular meeting until further notice. Notice to the Trustees of the time and place of the recessed meeting shall be given by the Clerk in writing, in person or by telephone.

C. Special meetings. The Village President or any two Trustees may call a special meeting, subject to posting requirements and notification of other Board members.

[Added 1-12-1999 by Ord. No. 99-01]

D. Remote attendance.

[Added 11-9-2021 by Ord. No. 21-06]

(1) Remote attendance permitted. When a meeting is held in person, the Village President or designee may allow one or more members of the body, or any Village employee, officer, consultant, contractor, or any other person, to appear at the meeting, as defined in § 19.82, Wis. Stats., by telephonic, video conference, or other remote method of participation. Upon direction of the Village President or designee, the body may on a case-by-case basis conduct an entirely virtual meeting, in which no member of the body is present at Village Hall, subject to the requirements of this section. This includes a state of emergency or public health emergency being proclaimed by a federal, state, or local authority; a lack of quorum being able to be physically present in a Village-owned building; or other unique circumstance.

(2) Notice required. Any member who is unable to be physically present at an in-person meeting of the Board may notify the Village Clerk no later than 4:00 p.m. on the day prior to the meeting that he or she intends to participate in a meeting by telephonic or electronic means unless advance notice is impractical due to an emergency. If the Village Clerk receives the member's request in a timely manner, he or she shall attempt to facilitate the request by contacting the member in a manner during the Board meeting that allows the member to participate in the proceedings. The member shall be entitled to participate and vote and shall count toward a quorum.

(3) Limits on utilization. No member shall utilize the participation methods referenced in Subsection A of this section for two or more meetings consecutively unless the member demonstrates, in writing, good cause, as determined in the Village President or designee's sole discretion; or, if the Village President is the member requesting, the Chair of the Administration and Finance Committee's sole discretion; or if a state of emergency has been proclaimed by a federal, state, or local authority.

(4) Virtual meeting. The public shall be given access to the system implementing the virtual meeting platform. Information about access to the meeting shall be provided to citizens in a timely manner as part of the meeting agenda notice in a specific and conspicuous manner. Best efforts shall be used to ensure that members of the public lacking access to the virtual meeting platform are provided alternative reasonable methods to attend.

(a) Technical requirements and malfunctions. Each person attending remotely is responsible for his or her audio and internet connections; no action shall be invalidated on the grounds that the loss of, or poor quality of, a member's individual connection prevented participation in the meeting.

(b) Forced disconnections. The Village President may cause or direct the disconnection or muting of a member's connection if it is causing undue interference with the meeting. The President's decision to do so, which is subject to debatable appeal that can be made by any member, shall be announced during the meeting and recorded in the minutes.

(c) Proper equipment. Appropriate equipment shall be used so that the attending public can readily observe or hear such person's participation in the meeting.

(5) References. This subsection shall also apply to other Village committees and commissions as defined and outlined in Chapter 6, "Boards and Commissions."

(6) Severability. The several sections of this subsection are declared to be severable. If any section or portion thereof shall be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, such decision shall apply only to the specific section or portion thereof directly specified in the decision and shall not affect the validity of any other provisions, sections or portions thereof of the subsection. The remainder of the subsection shall remain in full force and effect. Any other ordinances whose terms conflict with the provisions of this subsection are hereby repealed as to those terms that conflict.

§ 59-3 Presiding officer.

A. The Village President shall preside. In case of absence of the President, the Clerk shall call the meeting to order and the Trustees present shall elect one of their number President Pro Tem.

B. Duties. The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum, decide all questions of order and conduct the proceedings of the meeting in accordance with the parliamentary rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order, unless otherwise provided by statute or by these rules. Any member shall have the right to appeal from a decision of the presiding officer. An appeal shall be sustained by a two-thirds vote of the members present, excluding the President.

§ 59-4 Roll call; quorum.

A. Roll call; procedure when quorum not in attendance. As soon as the Board shall be called to order, the Clerk shall proceed to call the names of the members in alphabetical order, noting who is present and who is absent, and record the same in the proceedings of the Board. If it shall appear that there is not a quorum present, the fact shall be entered on the journal and the Board may adjourn or the presiding officer or, in case of his or her absence, the Clerk may issue a process to any constable or police officer commanding him or her forthwith to summon the absentees.

B. Quorum. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The President shall be counted in computing a quorum.

§ 59-5 Order of business.

[Amended 1-12-1999 by Ord. No. 99-01; 9-12-2023 by Ord. No. 23-06]

At each regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, the order of business shall be as follows:

A. Approval of the agenda.

B. Approval of consent agenda.

(1) Minutes of previous month's meeting(s).

(2) Licenses and permits.

(3) Board, committee, and commission minutes.

(4) Vouchers payable.

C. Receive input from citizens.

D. Receive and review reports from departments and agencies.

E. Other business.

F. Future agenda items and updates.

§ 59-6 Conduct of deliberations.

The deliberations of the Board shall be conducted in the following manner:

A. When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the President or read by the Clerk previous to debate. All resolutions should be made and submitted in writing.

B. When the question is under discussion no action shall be in order, except to adjourn, to lay on the table, to move the previous question, to postpone to a certain day, to refer to a committee, to amend or to postpone indefinitely. These motions shall have precedence in the order listed.

C. 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 majority of the members present vote in the affirmative, the main question shall be taken without further debate and to bring the Board to a direct vote, first upon any pending amendments and then upon the main question.

D. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, and a motion to adjourn or to lay on the table and a call for the previous question shall be decided without debate.

E. A roll call shall not be necessary on any questions or motions except as follows:

(1) When the ayes and noes are requested by any member.

(2) On confirmation and on the adoption of any measure assessing or levying taxes, appropriating or disbursing money or creating any liability or charge against the Village or any fund thereof.

(3) When required by the Statutes of Wisconsin.

F. All aye and nay votes shall be recorded in the journal.

G. The Board shall in all other respects determine the rules in its procedure, which shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, unless otherwise provided by ordinance or statute.

§ 59-7 Reconsideration of questions.

When a question has been once decided, any member of the majority or, in case of a tie, any member voting in the affirmative may move a reconsideration thereof at the same or at the next succeeding meeting, but if a motion to reconsider is made on a day subsequent to that on which the ordinance question was decided, a vote of the majority of the entire Board shall be required to sustain it.

§ 59-8 Call of the Board.

A call of the Board shall be ordered at any time by the request of two or more members and absent members shall be sent for, but a call cannot be made after voting has commenced. When a call of the Board has been requested and ordered, the door shall be closed until the report of the police officer has been received and acted upon or until further proceedings under the call are dispensed with by a majority of the entire Board.

§ 59-9 Disturbances and disorderly conduct.

Whenever any disturbance or disorderly conduct shall occur in any of the meetings of the Board, the President may cause the room to be cleared of all persons guilty of such disorderly conduct, except the Trustees. In case any Trustee shall be guilty of disorderly conduct, the President or presiding officer may order the police to take him or her into custody for the time being or until the meeting shall adjourn. Such member shall have the right to appeal from such order to the Board as in other cases.

§ 59-10 Accounts.

All demands or accounts shall be acted upon at the time of presentation, unless one or more members shall demand a reference. In the latter case the accounts shall be referred to the Finance Committee and lay over until the next ensuing meeting, unless the Board, by a two-thirds vote of all the members present, otherwise disposes of the same.

§ 59-11 Standing committees.

A. The standing committees of the Village Board shall consist of the following:

[Amended 5-11-2004 by Ord. No. 04-12; 2-14-2012 by Ord. No. 12-01; 6-12-2012 by Ord. No. 12-04]

(1) Water and Sewer.

(2) Fire and Police.

(3) Public Works.

(4) Administration and Finance.

B. Committee members shall be appointed by the Village President annually.

§ 59-12 Publication and effect of ordinances.

A. All general ordinances of the Village and all regulations imposing any penalty shall be published in the official paper of the Village once and shall be immediately recorded, with the affidavit of publication, by the Village Clerk in a book kept for that purpose. A printed copy of such ordinance or regulation in any book, pamphlet or newspaper and published or purporting to be published therein by direction of the Village Board shall be prima facie proof of due passage, publication and recording thereof.

B. All ordinances shall take effect and be in force from and after passage and publication, unless otherwise provided, and published copies thereof shall have appended the date of first publication.

§ 59-13 Amendment of rules.

These rules shall not be rescinded or amended unless the proposed amendment or motion to rescind has laid over from a regular meeting, and then it shall require a vote of 2/3 of all the members of the Board.

§ 59-14 Suspension of rules.

These rules shall not be suspended except by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the Board.

§ 59-15 Salaries and compensation.

[Amended 11-10-1998 by Ord. No. 5-98; 1-12-1999 by Ord. No. 1-99]

A. Compensation for elected officials shall be as follows:

(1) Village President: $3,000 per year, to be paid quarterly.

(2) Trustees: $2,000 per year, to be paid quarterly.

B. Additionally, expenses for meetings, conventions etc., shall be reimbursed following the reimbursement policy, as it then exists, for all Village employees.

§ 59-16 Letting of contracts.

A. As a complete alternative to the requirements established by §§ 61.54, 61.55, and 62.15, Wis. Stats., shall be applicable to Village contracts.

B. The authority vested in the Board of Public Works by § 62.15, Wis. Stats., shall be exercised by the Village Board or as delegated by the Village Board.