Request to Develop Guidelines for Cancelation of City Council Meetings Copyrighted
February 18, 2019
City of Dubuque Action Items # 5.
ITEM TITLE: Request to Develop Guidelines for Cancelation of City
Council Meetings Due to Weather
SUMMARY: Correspondence from Council Member Luis Del Toro
requesting a review of the City Code guidelines and a staff
recommendation for canceling City Council meetings due
to inclement weather.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Council
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
Del Toro Correspondence Supporting Documentation
Cancelation Examples Supporting Documentation
Code Citations and Amendment Suggestions Supporting Documentation
Kevin Firnstahl
From: Luis Del Toro
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2019 11:16 AM
To: Mike Van Milligen; Kevin Firnstahl
Subject: Review of council meeting ordinance
Attachments: D6DAICDA 6406 48AD A10E 1A14BBB6F7D6.png;A9873277 50B7 4295
BA3D 8E3D679498D2.jpeg
Morning,
I would like to request that we add to an upcoming council meeting agenda that we review our current council meeting
Ordinance and look to ask our city attorney to review if we can add in guidelines to address unexpected acts of God or
adverse weather conditions that would allow this council to postpone meetings. I've reviewed the open meeting law
and it appears as long as we provide 24 hours notice this may be possible.
It could be a postponement of no more than 48 hours or whatever stipulations we might legally need to follow. I think
with unexpected events that can occur within 30 days of a meeting, we should have the ability to postpone if deemed
for the safety of all attendees and council alike.
Thanks,
Luis
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Memorandum
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Luis Del Toro
CC: City Manager and City Attorney
Request To Change Our City Code Provision Regarding City Council Meetings
Background
On the day of our council meeting on January 21st, I inquired and requested that
our meeting be cancelled out of an abundance of safety for citizens, staff and
council members due to inclement weather. The request was denied due to a
city code provision that requires meeting date/time changes to be approved 30
days in advance. The city code provision as it relates to City Council meetings is
below:
1-6A-3: TYPES OF MEETINGS:
A. Regular Meetings: Regular meetings of the Council must be held on the first
and third Mondays of each month. However, when the first or third Monday
falls upon any of the following City holidays, such meeting must be held on the
next succeeding day:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King's Birthday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Day
Day after Thanksgiving
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Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
New Year's Eve
Unless otherwise indicated in the notice of meeting, regular meetings will
commence at six o'clock (6:00) P.M.
B. Special Meetings: Special meetings may be called by the Mayor or by a
majority of the members of the City Council. The call for a special meeting shall
be filed with the City Clerk in written form, except that announcement of a
special meeting during any regular meeting shall be sufficient notice of such
special meeting. The call for a special meeting shall specify the day, the hour,
and the location of the special meeting and shall list the subject or subjects to
be considered.
C. Recessed Meetings: Any meeting of the City Council may be recessed to a
later date and time; provided, that no recess shall be for a longer period than
until the next regular meeting.
D. Work Sessions: The City Council may meet informally in work sessions (open
to the public), at the call of the Mayor or of any four (4) members of the City
Council, to review forthcoming programs of the City, receive progress reports on
current programs or projects, or receive other similar information from the City
Manager.
E. Rescheduling Of Regular Meetings: A regular meeting of the Council may be
rescheduled by the Mayor or by a majority of the members of the City Council.
The request to reschedule a regular meeting may be filed in written form with
the City Clerk and approved during any regular meeting of the Council a
minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of the rescheduled meeting. The public
notice for a rescheduled regular meeting shall specify the time, date, and place
of the meeting, and tentative agenda for the meeting.
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Council Member Request
Recent extreme weather has prompted other City Councils in the area and
across Iowa to cancel meetings. I fully understand that this would not be needed
often but let’s look at what we’ve faced in just the last 3 weeks:
• A Polar Vortex consisting of dangerously cold wind chills and
temperatures that had air temps below freezing for 80 straight hours
• Back to back ice storms that promoted travel not advised advisories, tow
bans and ice-covered roadways.
• Winter Storm Warnings that also disrupted travel and resulted in area
school and business cancellations.
Some city council’s in Iowa have a specific emergency meeting cancellation and
adjournment policy. Though the cities of Windsor Heights and Nevada, IA are
smaller, their councils do have an emergency cancellation and adjourned
meeting provision within their cities SOP Manual that reads as follows:
As there was concern that we may be limited by Iowa Opening Meeting code, I
have also attached the Iowa Open Meetings code. There are references to
providing at least 24 hours’ notice prior to meetings but nothing that states that
30 days’ notice is required.
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In order to allow this council and future councils at minimum the option to
cancel meetings on short notice due to inclement weather or other
emergencies, I would like to respectfully ask this council to support a motion to
Receive and file and refer this matter to our City Attorney for review and ask
that a provision that would allow for Emergency cancellations be drafted and
reported back to the council at a later meeting for consideration and adoption.