res-16-2025-rules-of-council.pdf

TOWN COUNCIL OF CENTREVILLE

RESOLUTION 16-2025

A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF CENTREVILLE TO ESTABLISH

RULES OF ORDER THAT GOVERN THE ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES OF

THE TOWN COUNCIL OF CENTREVILLE MEETINGS

WHEREAS, on April 6, 2023 the Town Council of Centreville established Rules of Order which may be amended at any regular meeting by resolution.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF CENTREVILLE:

Section 1.

That the Town Council of Centreville approves the Rules of Order attached hereto as “Exhibit A.”

Section 2.

The date of passage of this Resolution is .

Section 3. This

Resolution shall be effective immediately.

ATTEST: THE TOWN COUNCIL OF CENTREVILLE

____________________________________

R. Gaye Adams Ashley Heffernan Kaiser, Esq., President Town Clerk ____________________________________

Jeffrey D. Kiel, Vice President _____________________________________

Sandra Lee Huffer, Member _____________________________________

Frederick E. Beu, Member ______________________________________

Fred M. McNeil, Member

EXHIBIT A

The Town Council of Centreville – Rules of Procedure Council Agenda

• Development and circulation of the final Town Council meeting agenda is the responsibility

of the Town Clerk and the Town Manager.

• Council Members are encouraged to take an active role in the development of agenda

items. As such, Council requests for agenda items must be submitted no later than noon on the Thursday prior to a Council meeting. Any proposed agenda items that miss this deadline can be brought up during Council Roundtable or wait until the following meeting.

• For staff-initiated agenda items, the Town Manager should coordinate with the Council

President.

• A final agenda will be shared with the Council on Friday prior to a Council meeting and

posted on the Town’s website on the Monday prior to a Council meeting.

• When appropriate, the consent agenda should be used to vote on items that require

Council approval without much discussion. A single Council Member reserves the right to remove any item from the consent agenda.

Public Comment

• Public comment shall be included near the beginning and the end of every meeting and are

limited to three minutes per speaker. Time may be extended at the discretion of the presiding officer. Council Members shall limit their comments to asking the speaker for information or providing them with information.

• A Council Roundtable shall be included at the end of every regular meeting.

• All members should be addressed as Council Member during meetings by all in attendance.

Correspondence

• Correspondence to be read at Council meetings should be included in the meeting packet

when available in time.

• Any communication sent to the Town Manager, Town Clerk, or other Department Heads

that is addressed to the Council should be read into the record as correspondence unless otherwise shared in the public comment period of a meeting.

• Written comments submitted by the public in lieu of appearing before the Council should

be circulated to Town Council and should be so considered part of the record. The reading of written public comments by the Town Clerk is not required. However, the names of those providing comments should be read.

• Written comments for public hearings may be grouped together based on being for or

against the subject of the hearing.

Appearances

• Staff members, representatives of government agencies and non-profit organizations

should coordinate with the Town Manager.

• Representatives of citizen groups can coordinate with the Town Manager or any Council

member.

EXHIBIT A

• Appearances will be considered for inclusion on the agenda by the Town Manager after

approval of the Council President.

• Presentations listed under Appearances on the agenda are limited to 10 minutes unless

otherwise agreed upon by the Council.

• Presentations to the Town Council may not include requests for donations/funding.

• All materials (hand-outs, flyers, letters, PowerPoint presentations) must be submitted to

the Town Clerk no later than Thursday at noon in the week preceding the Town Council meeting. PowerPoint presentations will not be accepted on the night of the Town Council meeting.

• Promotion of events, programs, etc. will be heard under Citizen Comments on the agenda.

Department Heads

• Department Heads should generally be encouraged to attend Town Council meetings and

can be called upon, when necessary, by the Town Manager to provide specific required updates. However, in all other cases, updates from Town staff shall be provided by the Town Manager, Town Clerk, and Town Attorney.

Legislation

• All legislation (resolution or charter amendment) requires a Council sponsor prior to its

appearance on the Town Council agenda.

• Any member(s) who agree to serve as sponsors should be able to review legislation before

it is added to the Town Council agenda.

• Legislation of a clarifying or perfecting nature should be sponsored by the Council

President by title and not by name.

• All legislation should utilize a roll call vote that ensures the intention of each member of

Council is clearly recorded.

Donations

• Requests for donations/support may not be permitted during a Town Council meeting.

• Requests must be submitted via application to the Town’s Finance Office for review and

recommendation to the Town Council.

• Applications requesting a donation must include the following:

o A current Certificate of Good Standing from the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), issued within the last two years.

o For non-profit organizations, proof of 501(c)(3) status or equivalent designation.

• Applications must be received by January 31st each year to be included in the upcoming

fiscal year budget beginning July 1st.

• Applications received after January 31st will be considered on a case-by-case basis

dependent on available funding.

Amendments to these rules can occur at any regular meeting by Resolution or suspended for a limited time by a supermajority of members.