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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGUIDE Town Board Meetings 2011    Public Guide to Estes Park Town Board Meetings (Adopted March 2011) The Town of Estes Park holds its regular Board Meetings at 7:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. These meetings provide a public forum for conducting the business of governance of the Town and provide for public input into that process. All residents are encouraged to attend and participate. In order to provide guidance and order to the Town Board meetings the following format is generally followed on the Agenda: • The Mayor calls the meeting to order. • The Pledge of Allegiance is recited on a voluntary basis. • If there are any proclamations or special presentations they will be acknowledged first. • Public Comment. The public is called upon to provide any comment on any item not on the Agenda for further discussion during the meeting. Comment may be limited due to time constraints in the determination of the Mayor. Generally these comments are not addressed by the Board, but may be referred to staff for further follow-up. • The Mayor will ask the Board if they have any comments. • The Mayor will ask the Board if there are any Liaison reports for groups for which they serve. • The Mayor will ask the Town Administrator for any report or follow up to public comment that may need to be made. These reports are informational only and require neither debate nor vote. The public is not asked to comment on Reports. • The Consent Agenda items are next addressed. The Mayor announces each item on the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda items are not open for public comment. However upon request of the Mayor, any Trustee, staff, or member of the public an item shall be removed from the Consent Agenda and moved to the Action Items Agenda which would then allow for public comment. • Action Items. Each Action Item is announced and the motion to be discussed is addressed. Staff will provide detail on each Action Item. The Board may ask staff for further clarification, ask questions and discuss the staff detail. The     Mayor will then open the Action Item up for public comment. The Mayor may limit time for comment based upon the number of the public present wishing to comment, or based upon the discussion being previously commented on by another member of the public requesting that comment subject germane or not previously addressed. Once public comment is closed no further public comment will be entertained on the Action Item. The Mayor will accept a motion, and a second. A motion modification may be entertained. The motion is debated and discussed by the Trustees. Additional motion modification may be entertained. The question may then be called and a vote taken. The Mayor does not vote with the exception of breaking a tie vote. • There are special occasions where legally the Board may vote to enter into Executive Session. Executive Sessions are not open to the public, nor are the discussions in Executive Sessions publicly disclosed. The Mayor shall, prior to the Executive Session, disclose the purpose of the executive session and announce to the public whether or not any action shall be taken by the Board following its reconvening in Regular Session following the Executive Session. In the event there will be action taken by the Town Board following the Executive Session, the action will be taken in Regular Session and open to the public. In the event there will be no action taken by the Town Board following the Executive Session, the Town Board will adjourn immediately following the Board’s return to its Regular Session. • Every Board meeting will end no later than 10:00 p.m., except that: (1) any item of business commenced before 10:00 p.m. may be concluded before the meeting is adjourned and (2) the Town Board may, by majority vote, extend a meeting until no later than 11:00 p.m. for the purpose of considering additional items of business. Any matter which has been commenced and is still pending at the conclusion of the Board meeting, and all matters scheduled for consideration at the meeting which have not yet been considered by the Board, will be continued to the next regular Town Board meeting and will be placed first on the agenda for such meeting. The Town Board reserves the right, by majority vote, to further extend the meeting to conclude any business the Board deems necessary. • Adjournment ends the meeting. Town Board meetings can be viewed on Channel 12 TV in real time and on the internet approximately two business days after the meeting at www.estes.org.