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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Agenda Policy N Cape Breton Regional Municipality Council Agenda Policy 1. PREAMBLE: It is the Policy of Council that draft agendas for monthly Council and Committee meetings are reviewed during the agenda consultation meeting. 2. OBJECTIVE: It is the objective of this Policy to outline a process for submitting items for Agendas and to ensure that the business requiring Council/Committee direction proceeds in a methodical and timely manner. 3. Key Points: i. Agendas are constructed during any given month using a pending file. ii. Council members and staff are invited to submit issues to the Clerk's Office prior to the agenda consultation meeting. iii. Resource or appropriate background materials i.e. Issue Papers must be provided for distribution with the draft agenda package. iv. For matters within the jurisdiction of CBRM, Council members shall submit their requests for staff reports using the Councillor Agenda Request Form — Staff Report as outlined in Appendix "A" attached to this Policy. Councillors are encouraged to discuss matters with the Director of the responsible Department prior to submitting their agenda request. V. Requests from Council members for action by Council regarding matters that are within the jurisdiction of the Provincial or Federal Government shall be submitted in the form of a Resolution. Council Agenda Policy 2 vi. The deadline for agenda submissions to the Clerk's Office is 4:30 p.m. seven (7) days prior to the meeting. vii. Approval of the Agenda shall be included in the agenda Order of Business for regular Committee and Council meetings, as well as In Camera meetings. Any items added to or deleted from an agenda during the meeting will require a motion with simple majority vote. This includes New Business items as provided for in this Policy. viii. The agenda review working group consisting of the presiding officer, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Clerk, Solicitor and the Deputy Mayor, or their delegates, may attend the agenda consultation meeting. ix. For those instances when requested agenda items may be outside the jurisdiction of the Municipality, require more research or should be dealt with in a different forum, the agenda review working group shall have the authority to delete, defer or refer such agenda requests. With respect to such deletion, deferral or referral, the Deputy Mayor shall report to the respective Council members, the CAO shall advise staff, and the Clerk shall notify citizens regarding delegation requests. X. In all cases possible, agendas for regularly scheduled meetings would be pre-distributed to Council Members approximately 5 days prior to a meeting. For special meetings, these timelines may be reduced. xi. All agendas for regular meetings are distributed to all Members of Council whether they are members of a Committee or not. xii. In Camera materials that are pre-distributed are only sent to Committee Members, however non-Committee Council members are invited to attend in camera meetings. xiii. In Camera agenda topics and corresponding sections of the Municipal Government Act will be included in the public meeting notice and listed on the CBRM website. xiv. Once an issue has been dealt with by Council, it should not be put before Council again for at least 6 months, unless by proper motion of reconsideration, rescindment or to amend something previously adopted. Council Agenda Policy 3 4. PETITIONS: (1) Every Petition for Council consideration shall: i) Be legibly written, typed or delivered electronically (Note: it is the responsibility of the individual initiating and submitting the Petition to verify that an electronically-generated Petition is from a reliable petition source); ii) Not contain any impertinent or improper matter/language; iii) Be signed by at least one person, or be received from an electronic address which clearly identified the person sending the Petition; iv) State the reasons for the Petition and the remedy sought by Council; v) The date the Petition was commenced; vi) Include the name, civic address and either the telephone number or email address of the person(s) who started the Petition; vii) The name and civic address of every person who signed or electronically submitted their name to the Petition; viii) Be submitted to a member of Council and/or filed with the Clerk. (2) A digital copy of the Petition may be circulated to all members of Council if requested by the petitioner. (3) Once received by the Clerk, the Petition will be reviewed by the agenda review working group prior to inclusion on a meeting agenda. Once approved, receipt of the Petition will be duly noted on the agenda, highlighting the operative clause, and be included under the "Approval of Agenda" order of business. (4) Where an individual wishes to speak to a Petition before Council, any member of Council may move a motion that the individual be heard. Council Agenda Policy 4 5. LATE ITEMS: If an issue arises after the Council package goes out and up to noon on the day before a Council meeting, a Council member can submit the additional item to the Clerk for review by the agenda review working group for a decision on inclusion as an added item. These late items require an issue paper or some kind of background information for distribution before the meeting. A "new" item received on Council Day or without supporting documentation, will not be permitted. Council shall not vote on a motion arising out of an item added to the agenda until a staff report and recommendation is received by Council. Any motion so made shall be deemed to be deferred until such reports and recommendation is received. 6. NEW BUSINESS: New Business in the context of this policy is simply: • Announcements (substantive) • Referrals/questions Submission of Petition • Notice of Motion All are subject to a strict adherence to a 1 minute time limit. No debate. This Policy replaces earlier policies dealing with agenda issues. This Policy is Councils' provision for the process of Agenda composition and New Business matters and supercedes Robert's Rules of Order. It is noted that the MGA in Section 19(3) sets out the procedure on how a Council can deal with an emergency issue. Section 19(3) Where the Mayor or Warden determines that there is an emergency, the Council may meet without notice or with such notice as is possible in the circumstances. Approved by Council: September 19, 2006 Amended: June 26, 2018 February 19, 2019 July 14, 2020 Council Agenda Policy 5 Appendix "A" =4 MW City Hall 320 Esplanade Sydney,NS B1P 7B9 Item No. Councillor Agenda Request Form — Staff Report ❑ Included on Agenda ❑ Late Item ❑ Request from the Floor: (Submitted to Municipal (Submitted to Municipal (New Business) Clerk's Office by 4:30 Clerk's Office by Noon - Announcement pm seven days before the day before the - Referral the meeting) meeting) - Submit Petition - Notice of Motion Date of Council/Committee Meeting: Subject: Motion requesting Staff Report for Council/Committee to Consider: (Note:when drafting the motion,please ensure that it reflects everything that is being requested to be included in the request for a staff report.)—Please ensure this text is deleted in the final version of this form. Reason: Outcome Sought: Councillor District Date: Received by Clerk's Department(date): ❑ Issue has been discussed with Director of Responsible Department