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2007-01 - Process for Items Submitted to City Council

Approval Date: July 2, 2007

Effective Date: September 1, 2007 

Introduction

This policy is intended to provide guidance to City staff regarding the process to be followed for submitting items for the consideration of the City Council or Standing Committees of the City Council.

Policy Statement

The City Council has a strong interest in having information presented in an effective and efficient manner. Information presented must also facilitate the best possible decision-making.

In St. Charles, City Council meetings are considered to be exclusively legislative in nature. This means that items submitted are ready for final action by the Council. The City has Standing Committees that have been established for the purposes of deliberation and discussion of items in appropriate detail. In accordance with this well-organized structure, the following guidelines have been developed to guide staff in determining when and how information will be presented to the City Council.

  1. All items requiring City Council action should be presented to a Standing Committee, and receive a committee recommendation, prior to being added to the City Council agenda.
  2. Standing Committee items that are considered to be routine in nature (i.e. budget revisions, project construction updates, etc.) may be designated as “Omnibus Items” where no discussion will take place, unless a member of the Committee or the audience expresses a desire to do so. All other items should be placed on the regular (non-omnibus) agenda for discussion and a separate vote.
  3. Items that require immediate consideration or approval due to time constraints may be placed directly on the City Council agenda, but this should be used only in limited circumstances. Any item that is placed directly on the Council agenda will be listed as a New Business item.
  4. Any item that receives dissenting votes at the Standing Committee level should not be designated as an “Omnibus Item” on the City Council agenda.
  5. Formal bids that meet the following criteria may be placed directly on the Council agenda as a New Business item:

    a. 3 or more bidders are competing for the award; and

    b. the recommended award is to the lowest, responsible bidder

  6. Items that are being purchased under the Joint Purchasing Program offered through the State of Illinois - Department of Central Management Services (CMS) may be placed directly on the Council agenda as a New Business item.
  7. The attached Agenda Item Executive Summary form is to be utilized for all agenda items that are submitted for the consideration of the City Council or a Standing Committee.

It is also necessary that agenda and agenda item materials be prepared and provided to the members of the City Council with sufficient time for review and preparation. Therefore, the schedule for the preparation of the final agenda and agenda item materials for each standing committee will be as follows:

 

Meeting

Final Agenda

Distribution to Council

Distribution to Media/Public

City Council

Friday prior

Friday prior

Friday prior

Government Operations

2 Fridays prior

2 Fridays prior

Friday prior

Planning & Development

2 Fridays prior

2 Fridays prior

Friday prior

Government Services

2 Fridays prior

2 Fridays prior

Friday prior

The final agenda and meeting materials will be distributed to the City Administrator's Office by the Recording Secretary for public posting and distribution. Any questions regarding this proposed policy statement should be directed to the City Administrator's Office.

 

 


 

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updated Apr 06, 2016