Attending a council meeting for the first time can often be very confusing. There is a specific order in which events occur and only specific times that the public are to make comments. Hopefully this little guide will help you understand what you can expect when you attend a meeting.
Borough Council meetings are held promptly at 6:30pm on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month. Council consists of 7 members who are elected to 4 year terms. For any council meeting to occur, at least 4 members of council must be present to have a quorum. If there is not a quorum, a meeting cannot take place.
When you arrive at the meeting, the first thing you want to do is get a copy of the meeting’s agenda. The agenda will usually be located on the podium nearest to the entrance. If the agenda is not located on the podium, it will be distributed prior to the meeting or council will make available a reason why an agenda is not present for the public.
Council Votes
The way in which voting happens can be very confusing. An item is brought up and 15 seconds later it will have been voted on and is over. The reason for this is typically items are brought up as new business at a prior meeting and discussed. During the discussion, council will refer the item to a committee. The committee will research the item with all parties, determine what they feel is the best course of action and present their findings to council. Council will receive this information prior to the meeting and is able to review and develop questions if needed. If all members of council are in agreement with the findings of the committee, the only thing left to do is to have a vote.
The perception to the public who were not in attendance at the previous meeting or the committee meeting can be that items are quickly just pushed through, without discussion, whereas this item may have been in discussion for weeks or months.
Please keep this in mind when attending and following a council meeting.
Meeting Structure
Council meetings are broken down into the following parts in this order:
- Call Meeting to Order
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Moment of Silence
- Minutes of the Previous Meeting
- Notification on Executive Session between Council Meetings
- Approval of Schedules of billing, requisitions, and change orders for previous month (Only on 3rd Mondays meeting)
- Approval of Department Reports (Only on 3rd Mondays meeting)
- Public Comment on Agenda Items Only
- Presentations
- Communication
- Unfinished Business
- New Business
- Audience Participation
- Council Concerns
- Executive Session
- Other Business
- Adjournment
In bold are the two times during a council meeting that the public has the ability to address council on concerns.
Call Meeting to Order
The president of council calls the meeting to order. A roll call is conducted to determine if a quorum is present.
Pledge of Allegiance
(Self-Explanatory)
Moment of Silence
The mayor will ask for a moment of silence for reasons of his choosing.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Minutes from the previous meeting or meetings are presented for approval.
Notification on Executive Session between Council Meetings
If council met for an executive session after the last council meeting but prior to the current meeting, they will let the audience know that they had meet to discuss business. See below for more information on executive sessions.
Approval of Schedules of billing, requisitions, and change orders for previous month
Council will accept the schedules as presented or address issues and concerns they have.
Approval of Department Reports
Each department will present a report to council and council will accept the reports and address issues and concerns they have.
Public Comment on Agenda Items Only
The agenda that is distributed prior to the start of the meeting will list any business that is to be discussed during the meeting. The items for discussion are any items on the agenda listed in the presentation, unfinished business, or new business sections of the agenda.
At this time, any member of public may address council and ask questions specific to any item listed on the agenda, and only items listed on the agenda.
When addressing council, be prepared to announce your name and your address of residence. You must be a resident of the borough of Steelton to address council at this time.
Presentations
Various presentations will be presented to council. These can range from education information to engineer’s activities. Usually the presentation will be given and council will address the presenter and ask questions.
During this time, if you have any questions, please refrain from interrupting the speaker’s presentation. Later during the meeting, you will be provided time to address council.
Communication
Any correspondence sent to council will be read at this time. Council will discuss the information within the correspondence and address them as they see fit.
Unfinished Business
This part of the meeting is for any outstanding issues or motions that had previously been tabled by council or left unresolved. If council felt at the last meeting that they would need more time to think about or research information about the issue or motion, this is the time when they go back to it and follow up with their findings.
New Business
New business is where anything not already presented to council is presented to council for consideration. New business items are usually brought to council prior to the meeting and are asked to be included on the agenda.
This may include such items as bid openings, consideration of new ordinances or discussion of new public works programs. During this portion of the meeting, council may discuss any appropriate subject or make announcements of importance to other officials or those in attendance.
Audience Participation
This allows residents of the borough in attendance to be recognized even though they had not previously been placed on the agenda by the manager or secretary. A time limit of 3 minutes is placed on an individual’s presentation and any resulting discussion.
Council Concerns
Council will address each other and/or the public about information they would like to share or voice their concerns over events included or not included in the meeting.
At this time, these conversations are from council to the public. This is a one way communication and the public is not allowed to address council at this time, unless directed to.
Executive Session
At this point in the meeting, if council has items to address that require confidentiality, they will let the public know that they are going to go into an executive session. At this time, all members of the public are to exit council chambers.
While the council is in executive session the council meeting is on hold, but not adjourned. If you wish, you may wait in the lobby until council has completed their session and reenter council chambers for the remainder of the council meeting.
Other Business
This time is usually used to address items that require a vote that were discussed during the executive session. A good example of this would be if council had discussed personal issued during executive session and it had been decided that they wanted to hire an applicant. At this time the vote to hire said employee would take place.
Adjournment
The meeting has concluded.
Tips for addressing council
When addressing council, you are provided 3 minutes to present information to council or ask a question. I suggest using this time wisely by asking short specific questions. This way you allow ample time for council to address your questions and concerns. One of the best ways to get your concerns addressed is to be specific enough that your question requires a direct yes or no answer.
Obviously not every concern will be as simple as yes or no. If council feels that more time is needed to understand the question or to answer properly, they may set aside additional time above the 3 minutes provided.
Council, the borough staff, engineers, and the solicitor might not always have the answer to your question available instantaneously. They may need time to research the borough code, laws, or records to answer your question. Usually a council member will let you know that your question will need to be researched and will get back to you. Make sure this council person has a way of contacting you after the meeting has concluded.
Another way to get complicated questions answered is to visit the borough office and ask the staff. If they cannot answer your questions and refer you to council, try submitting a correspondence to them prior to the meeting. This will allow them to review your questions and address any research prior to the meeting. You may get the question answered during the correspondence portion of the meeting at the beginning and not have to sit through the whole meeting.
For more complicated matters, see if you can be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. This way council will have time to prepare for your request. It will also provide you ample time to address council.
If you don’t want to be in the spotlight during a meeting or if you would like a direct one on one interaction with a council member, they have all made their email addresses and phone numbers public on steeltonpa.com. Send them an email or call them. I have always found that each of them are willing to discuss any concerns the public has.
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