Documents › Board of Trustees Organizational Meeting, 2025-12-02

document 6 pages

Also attached to this agenda item: December 1st Resolution 280-2025 Rules of Procedure

Rules of Procedure for the Board of Trustees I. REGULAR MEETINGS: The Board of Trustees generally conducts Regular Meetings on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Georgianna Grant Meeting Room at the Stanley H. Kellerhouse Municipal Building. Any deviation to this schedule will be announced in advance. II. The Board of Trustees conducts Work Sessions as needed on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Georgianna Grant Meeting Room at the Stanley H. Kellerhouse Municipal Building. Any deviation to this schedule will be announced in advance. a. Work sessions do not follow the same meeting procedures as Regular Meetings and are held for the purpose of discussion amongst the members of the Board. The presiding officer, at their discretion, may invite a member of the public in attendance to offer comment on an agenda topic, but is not compelled to do so. III. SPECIAL MEETINGS: Special meetings of the Board of Trustees are all Board meetings other than Regular Meetings. The Mayor or Village Manager may call a Special Meeting upon notice to the entire Board. IV. QUORUM: A quorum of the Board must be physically present to conduct business in accordance with Chapter 59 of the Village Code. A quorum of the five-member Board of Trustees is three, regardless of vacancies. Board members that anticipate being absent from a meeting should notify the Village Manager as soon as practicable. V. EXECUTIVE SESSIONS: The Board must hold Executive Sessions in accordance with NYS Public Officers Law § 105. All executive sessions must be entered into by a motion made from a properly noticed and conducted open meeting. VI. AGENDAS: The Village Manager’s office will prepare agendas at the direction of the Mayor. Agendas for both Regular and Work Session Meetings will be announced to the public the Monday before the meeting. However, the Mayor, the Village Manager, or a majority of the Board of Trustees may add items at any time. If necessary, a supplemental agenda may be distributed at the beginning of the meeting. a. Any two members of the Board of Trustees may, by motion at a regular meeting, place an item on the agenda for a subsequent meeting. VII. CONSENT AGENDA: A Consent Agenda consists of routine, procedural, informational, and self-explanatory items, as proposed by the Village Manager and accepted or modified in the sole discretion of the Mayor, combined together for a single vote of the Village Board without debate or discussion. a. When the Consent Agenda is reached on the Agenda, the Mayor shall inquire if any member of the Village Board objects to any item or items listed on the Consent Agenda. Such objection, when seconded by another member of the Village Board, shall result in the item or items being returned to the regular portion of the Agenda and taken up as the first item(s) of the resolution portion of the meeting. b. The consideration of the Village Budget (including amendments thereof), the adoption of Local Laws, substantive action on land-use matters (e.g., special permits), the approval of collective bargaining agreements and the hiring of Village employees, may not be placed on a Consent Agenda. VIII. VOTING: Pursuant to the New York State Village Law and General Construction Law, each member of the Board has one vote. The Mayor may vote on any matter but must vote in case of a tie. A majority of the totally authorized voting power (3 or more) is necessary to pass a matter unless otherwise specified by State law. For example, bond resolutions require a supermajority of four or more. A vote upon any question must be taken by ayes and noes, and the names of the members present and their votes must be entered in the minutes. a. Abstentions: Abstentions shall have the same effect as a negative vote for the purposes of determining the final vote on a matter submitted to a vote. Notwithstanding, abstentions shall be recorded as an abstained vote in the meeting minutes. b. Silence: In any vote, silence by any Trustee shall be understood as a positive vote on a matter submitted to a vote. c. Roll Call: All votes on the issuance of bonds, as otherwise required by state law, or when requested by a member prior to the recording of the first vote shall be voted upon a roll call vote of the members. All other votes shall be by voice expressing a vote in favor of or against the motion. IX. ORDER OF BUSINESS: The following is the order of business at all regular Meetings of the Village Board and shall be followed to the greatest extent possible: a. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance b. Approval of Vouchers c. Public Hearings (if scheduled) d. Responses to Questions Submitted via Email e. Public Comment on Agenda Items f. Report from the Village Manager g. Consent Agenda a. Correspondence to the Board b. Resolutions c. Approval of Minutes h. Proposed Resolutions i. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items j. Reports from the Mayor & Board of Trustees k. Adjournment X. GENERAL RULES OF PROCEDURE: a. The Mayor presides at the meeting. In the Mayor’s absence, the Deputy Mayor presides at meetings of the Board. The presiding officer may debate, move and take any action that may be taken by other members of the Board. b. Each board member must be given the opportunity to speak on every issue. Board members are not required to rise, but in the interests of orderly discussion must be recognized by the presiding officer before making motions and speaking. c. Every motion must be seconded before being put to a vote; all motions must be recorded in their entirety in the Board’s minutes. d. Once recognized, a member may not be interrupted when speaking unless it is to call the member to order. If a member is called to order, the member must stop speaking until the question of order is determined, and, if in order, the member must be permitted to proceed. There is no limit to the number of times a member may speak on a question. Motions to close or limit debate may be entertained and require a two-thirds vote to pass. e. Each member shall report to the entire Board any pertinent information from the boards, committees and commissions to which they have been assigned as liaison during a regular meeting. XI. GUIDELINES FOR PUBLIC COMMENT: a. The public may speak only during the Public Comment periods of the meeting or at such other time as a majority of the Board allows. b. Speakers must step to the front of the room, give their name, address and the identity of their organization, if applicable. c. Speakers must be recognized by the presiding officer. d. Speakers must limit their remarks to five minutes per public comment period. Depending on the number of people who wish to speak on a specific subject, at the discretion of the Mayor, shorter time limits of three minutes per person, or other similar time frame, may be applied to each speaker. e. Speakers may not yield any remaining time they may have to another speaker. f. Board members may, with the permission of the Mayor, or presiding officer, interrupt a speaker during their remarks, but only for the purpose of clarification or information. g. All remarks must be addressed to the Board as a body and not to specific members thereof or the audience. h. Speakers must observe the commonly accepted rules of courtesy, decorum, dignity and good taste. i. During the comment period, speakers may address the Board on issues affecting the Village. The Board will respond to specific questions if the information is immediately available during the Report section of the meeting; if not, as soon as it is practical. j. The aforementioned public comment guidelines apply to all regular meetings. However, during public hearings, the Mayor or presiding officer may recognize questions from the floor. k. Written communications. Any member of the public who wishes to have their written communications delivered to the Village Board prior to a regular meeting, must physically deliver a paper copy of said communication, noted as “public comment" in the subject line or title, to the Village Manager’s office by Noon the Wednesday before a meeting. Alternatively, written communications may be transmitted via-email to managersoffice@crotononhudson-ny.gov by Noon the Wednesday before a meeting. Any such communications, except for comments regarding personnel matters or violating the rules of public decorum, that are received by the deadline shall be included in the Village Board agenda packet, those received after the deadline will be included in the next Village Board agenda packet. XII. MINUTES: a. The Clerk or Clerk’s designated representative is responsible for taking the minutes of the Board. Minutes must consist of a record or summary of all motions, proposals, resolutions and any other matter formally voted upon and the vote thereon. Minutes must be taken at executive session of any action that is taken by formal vote. Executive session minutes must consist of a record or summary of the final determination of such action, and the date and vote thereon; provided, however, that such summary need not include any matter which is not required to be made public by the NYS Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Minutes are not recorded for work sessions unless an action is taken by the Board at that meeting. b. Minutes must also include the following: 1. Name of the Board 2. Date, place and time of meeting 3. Notation of the presence or absence of Board members and time of arrival or departure if different from time of call to order and adjournment 4. Name and title of other village officials and employees participating in the meeting and the names of audience members that have signed a voluntary sign-in sheet 5. A summary of communications presented to the Board 6. Record of reports made by Board or other village personnel 7. Time of adjournment; and signature of Clerk or person who took the minutes if not the Clerk. c. The Clerk or Clerk’s designated representative is responsible for creating a draft of the minutes within the timeframe provided for under the New York State Open Meetings Law. The Board of Trustees approves the minutes at the next board meeting. Amendments to the minutes require approval of the Board of Trustee by a majority vote. XIII. GUIDELINES FOR USE OF RECORDING EQUIPMENT: All regular and work session meetings of the Board are webcast and televised to the extent possible. All members of the public and all public officials are allowed to tape or video record public meetings. Recording is not allowed during executive sessions. Recording should be done in a manner that does not interfere with the meeting. The Mayor, or presiding officer, may determine whether the recording is being done in an intrusive manner taking into consideration, but not limited to, brightness of lights, distance from the deliberations of the Board, size of the equipment, and the ability of the public to participate in the meeting. If the recording is determined to be intrusive and interferes with the meeting, the Mayor, or presiding officer, may direct that the recording be stopped or undertaken in a different manner or location. XIV. ADJOURNMENT: Meetings shall be adjourned by motion. XV. AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE: The Board of Trustees may amend the foregoing procedures by a majority vote.