RESOLUTION NO. 2025-017 – A RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH THE TIME AND PLACE FOR REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETINGS; THE PROCEDURE FOR CALLING SPECIAL MEETINGS; ESTABLISH A QUORUM; ESTABLISH CONDUCT AND PROCEDURES FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS OF THE TOWN OF BERLIN, ALABAMA

RESOLUTION NO. 2025-017
A RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH THE TIME AND PLACE FOR REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETINGS; THE PROCEDURE FOR CALLING SPECIAL MEETINGS; ESTABLISH A QUORUM; ESTABLISH CONDUCT AND PROCEDURES FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS OF THE TOWN OF BERLIN, ALABAMA

BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Berlin, Alabama, in session duly assembled and by authority thereof as follows:

GENERAL PURPOSE

SECTION 1.  That the rules or order of procedure herein contained shall govern deliberations and meetings of the Town Council of the Town of Berlin, Alabama.

DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF REGULAR MEETINGS

SECTION 2.  Regular meetings of the Town Council shall be held on the third (3^rd) Monday of each month at seven o’clock (7:00) PM in the Council Chambers at Berlin Town Hall. In the      event that a regular meeting falls on a holiday, the Council may pass a resolution to set a new time and date for said meeting.

SPECIAL MEETINGS

SECTION 3.  Special meetings may be held at the call of the Mayor by serving notice to each member of the Council not less than 24 hours before the time set for such special meetings; or special meetings may be held as provided by §11-43-50, of the Alabama Code, 1975, whenever two Council members, or the Mayor request, in writing, that the Mayor call such meeting. Upon the failure or refusal of the Mayor to call such meeting when requested, the two Council members making the request shall have the right to call such meeting. Only those items of business for which the special meeting is convened shall be voted upon at said special meeting. All written notice shall state the specific purpose or purposes for such special meetings.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

SECTION 4.  All meetings of the Town Council shall be open and public, except when the Council meets in executive session as authorized by §36-25A-7, of the Alabama Code, 1975.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

     SECTION 5.  The Council may meet in executive session only for those purposes authorized by state law. When a Council member makes a motion to go into executive session for an enumerated purpose, the presiding officer shall put the motion to a vote. If the Council shall unanimously vote in favor of the motion, the body shall then move into executive session to discuss the matter for which the executive session was called. No action may be taken in an executive session. When the discussion has been completed, the Council shall resume its deliberations in public.

QUORUM

SECTION 6.  The attendance of four members of the Town Council, at any regular or special meeting, is necessary to constitute a quorum.

AGENDA

SECTION 7.  Any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other entity with business or applications to present to the Town Council at a regular meeting must first make application with the Town Clerk by noon on Wednesday preceding the Town Council meeting on the following Monday. The purpose of such applications is to provide the public and members of the Town Council with advance notice of the presentation and to afford them the opportunity to study and investigate the matter prior to the meeting. General comments from the public are invited at the beginning of each meeting.

All items of a general or permanent nature or that include the expenditure of unbudgeted funds shall be announced at a first reading and heard at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Council or shall be approved by a unanimous consent vote of the Town Council members present prior to the commencement of said item of business.

Matters regarding the following subjects shall not appear on an agenda or be discussed during a public meeting of the Town Council:

1. Personnel matters
2. Matters regarding the general reputation and character of an individual.
3. Pending criminal investigations
4. Matters the disclosure of which would be detrimental to the best interest of the public.

ORDER OF BUSINESS

SECTION 8.  The order of business shall be as follows:

1. Call to Order
2. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call
4. Public Hearings
5. Public Comments
6. Announcements, and special recognitions
7. Approval of minutes of prior meeting(s)
8. Resolutions, ordinances, and orders of old business
9. Resolutions, ordinances, and orders of new business
10. Motion for Adjournment

MOTIONS

SECTION 9.

1. Motions shall be reduced to writing when required by the presiding officer or any other member of the Town Council.
2. No member shall speak on the same motion or subject without permission from the presiding officer.
3. No person, not a member of the Town Council, shall be allowed to address the same while in session without permission from the presiding officer.
4. Motions to reconsider must be made by a member of the Town Council who voted with the majority, and at the same or next succeeding meeting of the Town Council.

RULES OF ORDER

SECTION 10.

1. All questions of order shall be decided by the presiding officer of the Town Council with the right to appeal to the Town Council by any members.
2. The presiding officer of the Town Council may, at his discretion, call any member to temporarily assume the chair in order to allow the presiding officer to address the Council, make a motion, or participate in discussion on any matter before the body.
3. Unless otherwise stated, the latest edition of “Robert’s Rules of Order” shall govern the conduct of the meetings of the Town Council.

ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS

SECTION 11.

1. All ordinances and resolutions shall be in writing.
2. No ordinance or resolution intended to be of permanent nature shall be adopted by the Town Council at the same meeting which it is introduced, unless unanimous consent of those present is given for the immediate consideration of such ordinance or resolution, such consent to be shown by a vote taken by “yeas” and “nays”, and the names of the members voting shall be entered upon the minutes, and no ordinance or resolution intended to be of permanent operation shall become a law, unless on its final passage of a majority of the members elected to said Town Council of the Town of Berlin, Alabama, shall vote in its favor.
3. All ordinances and resolutions intended to be of permanent nature shall be subject to the laws of the State of Alabama regarding veto of ordinances and resolutions and passage over veto as specifically set forth in 11-45-3 and §11-45-4, et. seq., Code of Alabama, 1975.

AMENDMENT OF RULES OF PROCEDURE

  SECTION 12. The procedural rules of the Town Council may be altered, amended, or temporarily suspended if a majority of the members of the Town Council present at the meeting shall vote in favor to do so.

SECTION 13. The provisions of this Resolution are hereby declared severable. If any provision or portion of this Resolution is for any reason held to be invalid, such provision or portion shall be deemed a separate and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remainder thereof.

EFFECTIVE DATE

SECTION 14. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its approval and adoption. Any and all resolutions and ordinances, which are contrary to or in conflict with the terms and provisions of RESOLUTION NO. 2025-017, are hereby rescinded and repealed.

ADOPTED AND APPROVED BY THE BERLIN TOWN COUNCIL this 3^rd day of November 2025.