§ 2-29. General conduct of meetings and activities.

(a)

Compliance with state law. All statutes of the state relating to the conduct of city council activities in a Type A general law city shall be complied with at all times.

(b)

Regular meetings. Regular meetings will be held on the third Monday night of each month. Except for unusual circumstances these meetings will be at the council chambers of city hall commencing at 6:30 p.m. In the event a regular meeting falls on a holiday, during spring break, Thanksgiving or Christmas week, the meeting for that day may be rescheduled as determined by council.

(c)

Special meetings.

(1)

The mayor may call a special meeting on the mayor's own motion or on the application of three councilmembers. The agenda for such meetings shall be established at the discretion of those calling the meeting. Except for unusual circumstances, special meetings will be held at city hall at a stated time. Each member of the governing body, the secretary, and the municipal attorney must be notified of the special meeting. The notice may be given personally or left at the person's usual place of residence. The purpose of such meetings is to act upon matters of an emergency nature or of a time-sensitive nature which should not be delayed until a regular meeting.

(2)

Workshop meetings are subject to call by the mayor or of three or more councilmembers. The agenda for such meetings shall be established at the discretion of those calling the meeting. Except for unusual circumstances, workshop meetings will be held at city hall at a stated time. Each member of the governing body, the secretary, and the municipal attorney must be notified of the workshop meeting. The notice may be given personally or left at the person's usual place of residence. The purpose of such meetings shall be to hear reports and discuss matters of interest to the city, such as a meeting with one of the city's appointed committees, or the council alone may wish to explore and learn about a matter or matters in great detail without taking action.

(3)

Normally, no official council action will be taken at such meetings. While the public may attend, the public will not participate in the discussions or proceedings unless invited to do so. Occasionally, public hearings may be held at the workshop meeting for the convenience of the public. Items to be discussed at a workshop meeting must be placed on an agenda for that meeting and the agenda posted as required.

(d)

Executive or closed session. The council may retire into executive session as authorized by the Open Meetings Act V.T.C.A., Government Code ch. 551 (Open Meetings Act) at any meeting, regular, special or workshop. These rules of procedure shall apply to the conduct of councilmembers in an executive session, provided they do not conflict with the provisions of V.T.C.A., Government Code ch. 551 (Open Meetings Act).

(e)

Emergency items or meetings. Emergency meetings are subject to call by the mayor or of three or more councilmembers. The agenda for such meetings shall be established at the discretion of those calling the meeting and shall be called in accordance with V.T.C.A., Government Code § 551.045 and V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 22.038, as amended. The media must be informed of emergency meetings.

(1)

In the event that a situation arises in which the mayor or councilmembers can, an emergency item may be added to the agenda as late as two hours before any regular, special or workshop meeting in accordance with V.T.C.A., Government Code § 551.045.

(2)

The nature of the emergency must be specified in the agenda and notices given as required by law and to any who have filed a written request for same

(f)

Attendance, absences and disorderly conduct. The governing body may compel the attendance of absent members and punish them for disorderly conduct as provided by the Texas Local Government Code. A councilmember shall be fined as provided by the Texas Local Government Code for each meeting that the councilmember fails to attend unless the absence is caused by the councilmember's illness or the illness of a family member. The fine is waived if the absence is excused by the city council.

(Ord. No. 2009-10-19, § 1, 10-19-2009)

State law reference

Meetings, V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 22.038.