§ 2-36. Council agenda and order of business.

(a)

Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following words are defined as follows:

(1)

Persons means person, firm, corporation, other business entity, civic, political and religious associations or organizations.

(2)

Regular meeting means a meeting scheduled in accordance with the legislative calendar.

(3)

Representative means one (1) person duly authorized to appear on behalf of any person, firm, corporation, other business entity, civic, political and religious associations or organizations.

(4)

Special meeting means any other meeting of the council conducted in accordance with law which is not scheduled on the legislative calendar.

(b)

The agenda for meetings of the parish council are hereby instituted as follows:

(1)

Proclamations.

(2)

Call to order.

(3)

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.

(4)

Roll call.

a.

Council members and parish president.

b.

Directors of departments.

(5)

Parish president address to council.

(6)

Persons appearing before the council for public comment on resolutions on the agenda. The name of any person who objects to an item being included on the consent agenda and the reasons for said objection shall be recorded in the minutes of the council meeting.

(7)

Ordinances to be deferred. This segment in the order of council business shall be for the chairman to entertain motions to postpone any proposed ordinance on the meeting agenda to be scheduled for a subsequent meeting; this segment may also include motions to postpone or cancel any resolution or other item on the agenda.

(8)

Professional services. This segment in the order of council business shall include consideration and approval of persons or firms to be selected to perform professional services for the parish.

(9)

Executive sessions, which shall be taken up at and considered by the Council at around 11:00 a.m. at all regular council meetings which are scheduled to commence at 10:00 a.m., unless the council votes to change the scheduling of an executive session for a time earlier or later in the meeting.

(10)

Consent agenda parts one and two and public appearance agenda.

a.

Consent agenda part one. This segment in the order of council business shall be for resolutions which do not necessarily require individual debate, discussion or consideration. The consent agenda shall be in two parts. The first part of the consent agenda shall appear prior to the public appearance portion of the agenda and shall include:

1.

Approval of minutes;

2.

Approval of alcoholic beverage permit applications;

3.

Resolutions, correspondence and reports such as authorization for the advertisement for bids, acceptance of streets and/or utilities, authorization of grants, authorization for overhead service, and correspondence and reports from the parish president and directors;

4.

Resolutions for acceptance and rejection of bids, change orders, letters of no objection, acceptance of completed contracts and approving line item transfers, establishments or deletions, all of which have been approved and forwarded by the office of the parish president.

5.

Resolutions designating enterprise zones.

6.

Resolutions approving polling places.

7.

Resolutions by council members:

i.

Granting permission for special events and public gatherings, including, but not limited to, fairs, fun runs, tent sales, picnics, haunted houses, craft sales and Mardi Gras concession stands;

ii.

Approving appointments to boards and committees;

iii.

Relative to traffic regulations;

iv.

For congratulatory or commemorative purposes; and

v.

Advertising for public bids or for statements of qualifications.

8.

Resolutions notifying recommendations of the Old Metairie Commission regarding development proposals within the Old Metairie Neighborhood Conservation District.

b.

Public appearance agenda. This segment in the order of council business shall be for ordinances and other matters which require a public hearing and otherwise permit comments from the public prior to council action. The public appearance agenda shall include:

1.

Public bid openings.

2.

Election promulgations.

3.

Front foot assessment public hearings.

4.

Ordinances scheduled for final adoption.

i.

Resubdivision ordinances.

ii.

Reclassification of zoning.

iii.

Other property matters.

iv.

Traffic regulations.

v.

Other ordinances.

5.

Public hearings other than those in section 2-36(b)(10)(b)(3).

6.

Veto override.

c.

Consent agenda part two. This segment in the order of council business shall be for resolutions or motions which do not require a public hearing but may require individual debate, discussion or consideration by the council prior to council action. The second part of the consent agenda shall follow the public appearance portion of the agenda and shall include:

1.

Temporary alcoholic beverage permits (dealer permits).

2.

Resolutions and motions by council members except for those listed in section 2-36(b)(10)(a)(7), and any items removed from the consent agenda.

3.

Items added to the agenda by means of the procedure established under section 2-35 for the agenda addendum.

4.

Change orders which, when added to previously approved change orders for the affected contract, cumulatively increase the original contract amount by twenty-five (25) percent or more.

5.

Other resolutions which are not included in the other categories of the agenda as established by this section, for which the parish clerk may create a subcategory of "other resolutions parishwide" to follow the remaining other resolutions on the agenda.

6.

Any business item of any special service districts. This segment in the order of council business shall be for business items pertaining to special service districts for which the council is the governing authority.

d.

Other matters. This segment in the order of council business shall be for matters not listed elsewhere on the agenda under this section and shall include:

1.

New business.

2.

Status reports from parish departments, agencies, districts, boards and commissions as requested by the Jefferson Parish Council.

3.

Persons appearing before the council on special subject matters not related to items on the agenda.

(11)

Ordinances for introduction and publication in summary. The final segment in the order of council business shall be the written introduction of proposed ordinances and passage on first reading as required by section 2.07 of the Charter.

(c)

Items in the public appearance agenda shall be taken up in appropriate sequence following consideration of part one of the consent agenda. Items may be taken out of sequence upon a majority vote of the council.

(d)

Judgmental decisions as to which items are appropriate for inclusion in either classification shall be made by the parish clerk in consultation with the council chairman.

(e)

An individual council member may have an item transferred from the consent agenda to the public appearance agenda by request without a vote of the council.

(f)

Items under section 2-36(b)(10)(c)(1), temporary alcoholic beverage permits (dealer permits), may be presented from the floor by a councilman, notwithstanding the provisions of section 2-34.1, if not included in the agenda addendum.

(g)

The "other resolutions parishwide," category on the agenda as allowed by section 2-36(b)(10)(c)(5) shall consist of those resolutions which have parishwide effect or significance and which would otherwise be properly placed in the "other resolutions" category on the agenda.

(h)

The Jefferson Parish Council may consider and adopt any and all resolutions under either part one or part two of the consent agenda in a single motion in globo, except for any such resolution that a council member has requested to have considered for adoption or discussion individually. Resolutions on part one of the consent agenda for which a council member has requested individual consideration shall be considered after adoption of the items adopted in globo on that part of the agenda. Resolutions on part two of the consent agenda for which a council member has requested individual consideration shall be considered after adoption of the resolutions adopted in globo under the "other resolutions parishwide" category.

(i)

Time limitation on public address to council:

(1)

The opponents and proponents who wish to appear in connection with an ordinance on the agenda of a regular meeting shall be limited to not more than thirty (30) minutes per topic, fifteen (15) minutes of which shall be allotted to each side with the proponents having the right to make use of not more than five (5) minutes of the time for rebuttal.

(2)

Individual persons wishing to address the council who have submitted their requests to the parish clerk before the deadline for the agenda or agenda addendum of a regular meeting shall be allowed no more than five (5) minutes in their address to the council.

(3)

By the majority consent of the council members present at a regular meeting, a person may appear before the council at said regular meeting without appearing on the agenda, subject to the same time limitations as provided on section 2-36(i)(2) hereof.

(4)

No interruptions of the person addressing the council by any of the council members shall be allowed, and all questions shall be addressed to such person only at the conclusion of his or her remarks.

(5)

The time limitation set forth herein shall be strictly enforced, except when suspended by majority vote of the council members present.

(j)

Procedure on emergency ordinances. On emergency ordinances or legislation the requisite of written request is hereby waived and persons shall be allowed to be heard, but not to exceed time limitation in section 2-36(i)(1) hereof.

(Code 1961, § 2-2.2; Ord. No. 15267, § 1, 8-25-82; Ord. No. 15816, §§ 1, 2, 12-14-83; Ord. No. 16450, § I, 6-5-85; Ord. No. 16750, §§ 1, 2, 1-8-86; Ord. No. 16816, § 1, 3-5-86; Ord. No. 17141, § I, 1-21-87; Ord. No. 17426, §§ I, II, 1-13-88; Ord. No. 18122, § 1, 10-24-90; Ord. No. 18123, § 1, 10-24-90; Ord. No. 18506, § 1, 4-22-92; Ord. No. 18993, § 3, 2-23-94; Ord. No. 19099, § 2, 6-8-94; Ord. No. 19241, §§ 1, 2, 11-16-94; Ord. No. 19259, § 1, 12-7-94; Ord. No. 19504, § 1, 10-11-95; Ord. No. 19767, §§ 2—6, 7-17-96; Ord. No. 20399, §§ 1, 2, 3-11-98; Ord. No. 21063, § 1, 8-23-00; Ord. No. 21325, § 2, 7-18-01; Ord. No. 21733, § 1, 12-11-02; Ord. No. 22531, §§ 1, 2, 6-22-05; Ord. No. 23765, § 4, 3-3-10; Ord. No. 23894, § 3, 9-22-10; Ord. No. 24531, § 1, 7-24-13)

Cross reference

Parish council sitting as communications district board, § 13-63.