At its regular session on Tuesday, March 21, the Town Council unanimously approved a resolution making changes to the Town Council Rules of Procedure.

The changes seek to clarify situations that have arisen lately regarding getting items on the agenda and dealing with citizen presentation to the council. There were also a number of minor language corrections updates.

Town Clerk Linda Mendenhall walked the council through the proposed changes.

Starting with the process for placing items on the agenda for a future meeting, the new language reads, “The Mayor or a Councilmember with the support of two additional councilmembers may direct the Town Manager through the Future Agenda Item Category to place an item on the next available agenda for consideration and possible action.”

In the instance of a citizen requesting an item for agenda consideration, “a citizen or group may request an item be placed on an agenda through the Manager, Mayor, or a Councilmember as indicated (with the council process language.)” This language simplifies the process for a citizen to request an agenda discussion.

There was new language added to prescribe a process for distribution of materials/handouts related to proposed agenda items.

That section states, “the Mayor and Councilmembers may submit a written document/handout for councils’ consideration regarding an item on the next council agenda. The document/handout must be presented to the Town Clerk no later than 3 p.m. the day of the council meeting. Handouts submitted after the deadline will not be disseminated to the council for consideration at that meeting.

“The Town Clerk will place any Councilmember’s handout(s) along with any online public comment cards at each station on the dais prior to the council meeting and will announce the documents when that agenda item is under consideration.

“This process will ensure the Town Clerk has the written document/handout for the permanent record, solve any transparency issues, minimize any potential open meeting violations, and avoid any disruption during the council meeting.”

There was some discussion by council members regarding the timing for distribution of such materials. Some wanted the material distributed by 5 p.m. the day prior to the meeting. There were also some who believe such items could wait until just before the meeting was scheduled to begin (5:30 p.m.).

The council ultimately approved Mendenhall’s language, setting the time at 3 p.m. the day of the meeting.

The council also added new language related to public participation in the council meetings. This is a statement to be read following roll call: “Anyone wishing to address the council regarding items listed on the agenda or under ‘Call to the Public’ should fill out a request to comment card located in the back of the council chambers and hand it to the Town Clerk prior to consideration of that agenda item. When your name is called, please approach the podium, speak into the microphone, and state your name and if you are a resident for the public record. Please limit your comments to three minutes. It is the policy of the Mayor and Council to not comment on items brought forth under ‘Call to the Public.’ However, staff can be directed to report back to the council at a future date or to schedule items raised for a future council meeting.”

This has been a standard procedure but has not been explicitly stated in the Rules of Procedure document.

A clarification was written to simplify the “presentations” portion of the meeting agenda.

“The Town Manager may use the ‘Presentations’ section to provide the council with an update from Department Directors, contracted service providers, neighboring jurisdictions, and regional organizations.”

An additional significant addition was made to the rules related to citizen use of the online request to provide input on an agenda item.

“Residents may also use the online request form to provide input regarding an item on the agenda. The online form is found on the Town’s website. The resident must completely fill out the online form and submit it no later than 3 p.m. on the day of the council meeting for this item. The Town Clerk will place copies at each councilmembers station on the dais, and when the item is up for discussion, after all of the in-person comments have concluded, will read the speaker’s name and whether or not they are ‘for’ or ‘against’ the item for the public record. Written comments provided through the online form, will not be read out loud at the meeting.”

Various other changes were made related to direction to the town manager, roll call voting process and application to citizen advisory commissions.

The Rules of Procedure document is approximately 30 pages and is available entirely on the Town’s website, fountainhillaz.gov, by clicking on “Your Government,” “Town Council,” “Overview.”