Procedure of Council

3.01 Council Meetings

On the first business day of the month following a regular municipal election, the council shall meet at the usual place and time for the holding of council meetings. Thereafter the council shall meet at such times each month as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution. The mayor or any three members of the council may call special meetings. For a special meeting, the council shall post written notice of the date, time, place and purpose of the meeting on the principal bulletin board of the council or on the door of its usual meeting room. The notice shall also be mailed or otherwise delivered to each person who has filed a written request for notice of special meetings with the council. The notice shall be posted and mailed or delivered at least three days before the date of the meeting. As an alternative to mailing or otherwise delivering notice to persons who have filed a written request for notice of special meetings, the council may publish the notice once, at least three days before the meeting, in the official newspaper of the city. All minutes of the council shall be public, and any citizen shall have access to the minutes and records thereof at all reasonable times. All regular and special meetings of the council shall be public meetings. Ordinance Number 2971 05/01/89.

3.02 Secretary of the Council

There shall be a secretary of the council who shall keep a journal of council proceedings and such other records and perform such other duties as this charter or the council may require. The council may appoint such other officers and employees as may be necessary to serve at its meetings. The council may designate anyone to act as secretary of the council other than the city manager or a member of the council.

3.03 Rules of Procedure and Quorum

The council shall determine its own rules and order of business. A majority of all members of the council shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time. The council may by ordinance provide a means by which a minority may compel the attendance of absent members.

3.04 Ordinances, Resolutions & Motions

Except as in this Charter otherwise provided, all legislation shall be by ordinance. The aye and no vote on ordinances, resolutions and motions shall be recorded unless the vote is unanimous. An affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the council shall be required for the passage of all ordinances and resolutions, except as otherwise provided in this Charter.

3.05 Procedure on Ordinances

The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be the words, “The city of Winona does ordain.” Every ordinance shall be presented in writing. A statement of the purpose and effect of every ordinance, except an emergency ordinance, shall be published once in the official newspaper after its introduction and not less than five days prior to its final passage.

3.06 Emergency Ordinances

An emergency ordinance is an ordinance necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, morals, safety or welfare in which the emergency is defined and declared in a preamble thereto and is adopted by a vote of at least five members of the council. No prosecution shall be based upon provisions of any emergency ordinance until 24 hours after the ordinance has been filed with the city clerk and posted in a conspicuous place at city hall or until the ordinance has been published, unless the person charged with the violation had actual notice of the passage of the ordinance prior to the act or omission complained of.

3.07 Procedure on Resolutions

Every resolution shall be presented in writing and read in full before a vote is taken thereon, unless the reading of a resolution is dispensed with by unanimous consent.

3.08 Signing & Publication of Ordinances & Resolutions

Every ordinance and resolution adopted by the council shall be signed by the mayor or by the acting mayor, attested by the city clerk and filed and preserved by him. Every ordinance and such resolutions as may be designated by the mayor or by two other members of the council shall be published at least once in the official newspaper. To the extent and in the manner provided by law an ordinance may incorporate by reference a statute of the State of Minnesota, a state administrative rule or a regulation, a code, or ordinance or part thereof without publishing the material referred to in full.

3.09 When Ordinances & Resolutions Take Effect

Resolutions and emergency ordinances shall take effect immediately upon adoption or at such later date as shall be specified therein. Every ordinance other than an emergency ordinance shall take effect upon its publication unless a later date is fixed therein. Every ordinance adopted by the voters of the city shall take effect immediately upon its adoption or at such later time as is fixed therein.

3.10 Amendment & Repeal of Ordinances & Resolutions

Every ordinance or resolution repealing a previous ordinance or resolution or a section or subdivision thereof shall give the number, if any, and the title to the ordinance or resolution to be repealed in whole or in part. No ordinance or resolution or section or subdivision thereof shall be amended by reference to the title alone, but such an amending ordinance or resolution shall set forth in full each section or subdivision to be amended and shall indicate new matter by underscoring and old matter to be omitted by enclosing it in brackets. In newspaper publication, the same indications of omitted and new matter shall be used except that italics or bold-faced type may be substituted for underscoring and omitted matter may be printed in capital letters within parentheses.

3.11 Revision & Codification of Ordinances

The city shall codify its ordinances. Such ordinance code shall be published in book, pamphlet or continuously revised loose-leaf form, and copies shall be made available by the council at the office of the city clerk for general distribution to the public free or at a reasonable charge.