HomeMy WebLinkAboutSigned Rules April 2018 Bozeman
Rules ql'Proeedure
The Bozeman Municipal Code provides for the adoption of specified building codes and the Bozeman
City Commission established by resolution the Board of Appeals in accordance with Section 113 of the
International Building Code and Section R 112 of the International Residential Code, further mandating
that the Board of Appeals "shall adopt reasonable written rules and regulations for conducting its
business." The following Rules of Pr shall be in effect upon their adoption by the Board and
until such time as they are amended or new rules adopted in the manner provided for herein. The
Board renders quasi-judicial decisions which are appealable through the court system.
Section I.: Applicability
A. These rules are supplementary to the provision of Title 7, Chpt. 1, Part 41, MCA, Title 7, Chpt. 5,
Parts 41 and 42, MCA, and Title 2, Chpts. 2 and 3, MCA as they relate to procedures for conducting
meets and public hearings before City boards.
B. In accordance with Section II') of the International Building Code and Section R112 of the
International Residential Code, the Board of Appeals is prohibited from granting variances or
waiving any requirements of the code. Therefore, an application for appeal shall be based on a claim
that the true intent of the code or the rules legally adopted thereunder have been incorrectly
interpreted, the provisions of the code do not fully apply or an equally good or better form of
construction is proposed.
Section 2: Chair and Vice Chair Persons—Powers and Duties
A. During the first meeting of the board each year the board shall appoint by majority vote,a chairperson
and a vice chairperson. If appropriate, they shall also appoint a board secretary. The recording
secretary may be a staff liaison. The chairperson shall be the presiding officer of the board. During
the absence of the chairperson,the vice chairperson shall discharge the duties and exercise the powers
and authority of the chairperson. The presiding officer shall preserve strict order and decorum at all
meetings and confine members in debates to the question under consideration. The presiding officer
may move or second any item of business then before the board. The presiding,officer shall state, or
cause to be stated, every motion coming before the board, announce the decision of the board on all
subjects,and decide all questions of order,subject,however to an appeal to the board,in which event
a majority vote of the board members present shall govem and conclusively determine such question
of order. If any appeal is taken,the question shall be, "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?"
The presiding officer shall vote on all questions.
B. The Chairperson shall consult annually with the Building Official to review the Board roster and to
solicit members as required to maintain a membership quorum available to hear appeals within the
brie frame stated herein.
Section 3: Parliamentary Authority
A. Unless otherwise specifically provided herein or by ordinance or statute, all meetings and hearings
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shall be conducted in accordance with these rules. In all cases not covered by these rules, the
controlling parliamentary authority shall be the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly
Revised.
Section 4: Meeting Agendas
A. The chairperson, staff liaison, or another designated board member shall arrange a list of matters to
be brought before the board according to the order of business specified herein, and furnish each
member and the public through the city's website with a copy of the agenda and all supporting
information no later than 48 hours immediately preceding the meeting for which that item has been
scheduled. All material to be presented to the board for consideration with an agenda item shall be
made available to the public within the above time frame. Copies of the agenda shall be available
from the City Clerk and one copy shall be posted at the designated posting board in the City Hall for
public viewing and made available on the City's website. Pursuant to Section 7-1-4135, MCA, the
City designates as the official posting place for all boards the posting board in the lobby of City Hall
located at 121 North Rouse, Bozeman, Montana.
B. The staff liaison or board chair shall prepare the meeting agenda and may consult with other board
members in preparing the agenda. The chair person or a majority of board members may add to or
remove an item from the agenda. The agenda shall be in substantially the following form:
i. Call to Order
ii. Roll Call
iii. Executive Session (if required) (only necessary if an executive session is being held).
iv. Disclosure of Ex Parte Communication such as comments or information received.
v. Changes to the Agenda.
vi. Public Service Announcement(if scheduled).
vii. Approval of Minutes (if required).
viii. Consent items (consent items are those which the staff liaison or board chair considers that no
discussion will be necessary. However, at the beginning of each meeting, any board member
may request item(s) be removed from the consent agenda for the purpose of discussion) (if
necessary).
ix. Public comment (always required). (Limited to any matter within the jurisdiction of the Board,
but not on the Board's Agenda. Three minute time limit per speaker.)
x. Special Presentations (if required).
xi. Action items. FYI/Discussions.
xii. Adjournment.
Section 5: Meetings
(All meetings of the board shall be open to the public unless authorized by law. Prior to closing any
meeting of the board the chairperson or staff liaison shall consult with the city attorney.)
A. GenerallRegular Meetings:
i. The Board shall meet annually to review these Rules of Prsocedur•e, refresh members
regarding the purpose of the Board and its responsibilities and litnitations on authority under•
No action may be taken on items brought tip during this section which are not on the agenda.Discussion must be limited to informational items only or to discuss placing an
item on a future agenda;for more substantive or detailed discussion on an item it must be scheduled for an upcoming agenda,
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adopted codes.
ii. Any meeting of the board may be adjourned to a later date and time, provided that no
adjournment shall be for a longer period than until the next regular or specially scheduled
meeting.
iii. The presiding" officer, staff liaison or majority of the board may cancel a regular meeting if
no business is scheduled for that meeting.
iv. Meetings may be called from time to time by the Chair or by a majority of the members of
the Board, however, a meeting shall be called by the Chair within ten (10) days of the filing
of a written appeal to the Building Official or to conduct other business as otherwise called
by the Chair. The call to meet shall be communicated to the Building Official who will
canvass the members and coordinate the meeting time, date, place, public notice, etc.
B. Public Hearings:
i. Public Hearings are meetings required of some citizen advisory boards to be held as a public
hearing pursuant to law. The provisions of subsection A of this section apply to Public
Hearings.
ii. Unless prohibited by law, a public hearing may be rescheduled or adjourned to a later date
and time.
C. Executive Sessions: Executive Sessions are meetings of the board with the purpose to discuss
litigation strategy, a matter of individual privacy, or other matters wherein a meeting may be closed
pursuant to law and will be scheduled as needed. Although each Executive Session will commence
as an open public meeting, Executive Sessions may be closed to the public pursuant to authority and
limitations in.Title 2, Chpt. 3, Part 2, MCA. An Executive Session may be called at any time during
any meeting if authorized by law.
D. Special Meetings: The presiding officer, a majority of the board or the staff liaison may call special
meetings of the board, upon at least forty eight (48)hours notice to each member personally served
on each member through email or left at the member's usual place of residence and also notice to the
public by, at a minimum, posting the agenda on the City's website and posting board.
Section 6: Order of Presentation/Publie Participation
A. The order of presentation in which items are presented to the board shall generally be as follows:
i. The staff liaison shall present the agenda item to the board, if appropriate.
ii. If applicable, the staff liaison may present a background report on the matter for discussion.
Upon conclusion of a staff presentation, board members may ask questions of staff for the
purposes of understanding and clarification. If the agenda item is a public hearing, the
presiding officer will open the public hearing prior to staff presentation.
iii. If applicable, comments from the applicant, or the applicant's agent, shall be heard. The
applicant's presentation/testimony is limited, subject to the discretion of the presiding officer,
to ten (10) minutes.
iv. After being recognized by the presiding officer, a board member may direct questions to the
staff or applicant.
v. Members of the audience or their agent may be invited to present testimony or evidence. To
be recognized, each person desiring to give testimony or evidence shall step forward and,
after being recognized, give their name and.address for the record. The presiding officer may
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establish a timetranie for each public comment but in no case shall such timefraine be less
than three (3) minutes per speaker. The presiding officer may lengthen or shorten the time
allotted for public testimony.
vi. After being recognized by the presiding officer, a board member may direct questions to any
person so testifying for purposes of clarification.
vii. Following public comment, the staff liaison shall be given the opportunity to comment on
any testimony or other evidence.
viii. Following staff comment and if a public hearing, the applicant will be given the opportunity
to rebut or comment on any testimony or other evidence. The applicant's comments and
rebuttal is limited, subject to the discretion of the presiding officer, to five (5) minutes.
ix. If a public hearing, following applicant rebuttal and any further questions, the presiding
officer will close the bearing.
x. The Board shall consider the testimony of the Building Official and the Applicant and
determine whether the Board has authority in this matter per the adopted codes, i.e., the
appeal is based on a claim that the true intent of the code or the rules legally adopted
thereunder have been incorrectly interpreted,the provisions of the code do not fully apply or
an equally good or better form of constriction is proposed.This Board does not have authority
to waive requirements of the code.
a. If Yes—the presiding officer will bring the appeal forward for discussion,motion and
vote.
b. If No—the Board shall summarize their findings for the record.
xi. If a public hearing, after being recognized by the presiding officer, a board member may
direct questions limited to the rebuttal testimony and evidence.
xii. The board secretary shall enter into the record all correspondence that has been received but
was not yet provided.
xiii. Unless required to act by a certain date pursuant to law,the board may continue the discussion
to a date certain, close discussion and vote on the matter, or close the discussion and continue
the vote to a date certain.
B. All testimony and evidence shall be directed to the presiding officer. No person, other than a board
member and the person recognized as having the floor shall be permitted to enter into the discussion.
Questions shall be asked of board member only through the presiding officer.
C. The board may ask the staff liaison for its recommendation.
D. If a public hearing, in the event the applicant does not appear at the scheduled time and place, unless
the applicant has waived his or her appearance in writing, and which waiver has been accepted, or
unless the matter is submitted as a consent item, the matter shall be continued to the next available
meeting,public hearing date, or other date certain.
E. Board members are urged to state the reasons for their decisions; the record must reflect findings
regarding legal criteria for all quasi-judicial decisions.
F. Witnesses may be required to testify under oath.
G. The board shall not be bound by the strict rules of evidence and may exclude irrelevant, immaterial,
incompetent or unduly repetitious testimony or evidence.
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11. The presiding officer shall rule on all questions relating to the admissibility of evidence with advice
from the City Attorney, which ruling may be overruled by a majority vote of the board.
I. A public hearing which has been formally closed for all public input may not be reopened and no
additional evidence or testimony from the public shall be received or considered except as provided
herein. If additional information is required from the public before a decision can be made,the board
upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, may call for an additional public hearing which
hearing shall be noticed as required by law,specifying date,time place and subject matter of hearing.
This paragraph does not preclude the board, after the public hearing, from asking questions of or
receiving additional evidence from staff. Upon decision by the presiding officer or upon a duly
adopted motion of the board to reopen the public hearing prior to close of the agenda item in which
the hearing was held, the requirement to provide public notice does not apply; the public hearing
may be reopened and the additional input provided prior to a final decision on the item.
J. In the case of each appeal, the Board shall render its decision in writing to the Building Official
within ten (10) days of the decision and the Building Official shall provide a copy to the applicant.
The written decision shall include the Boards Findings of Fact on which the decision is based.
Section 7: Quorum and Voting
A. Unless otherwise provided by law, a quorum shall consist of a majority of voting board members. If
a quorum is not present, those in attendance shall be named and the board shall adjourn to a later
time. The board secretary shall reduce motions to writing and,upon request shall read a motion prior
to the vote. Vote may be by roll call as determined by the Chair. Upon every vote,the outcome shall
be stated and recorded.A board member has an obligation to vote unless there is a conflict of interest.
Email,telephonic, or proxy voting shall be prohibited.
B. In the event of a tie in votes on any motion,the motion shall be considered lost.
C. An affirmative vote of a majority of the voting members present shall be required to pass any motion
before the Board.
D. The Building Official is an ex-officio member of the Board and shall attend all meetings of the Board
unless excused by the Board. The Building Official may make recommendations and shall have the
right to participate in all discussions of the Board, but shall not have a vote.
Section 8: Rules of Debate/Reconsideration/Conflict of Interest
A. Every board member desiring to speak shall address the presiding officer and upon recognition by
the presiding officer, shall confine discussion to the question under debate, avoiding all personalities
and indecorous language.
B. A board member, once recognized, shall not be interrupted when speaking unless the member is to
be called to order, or as herein otherwise provided. If a board member, while speaking is called to
order, they shall cease speaking until the question of order be determined, and, if in order shall be
permitted to proceed.
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C. Order of rotation in matters of debate or discussion shall be at the discretion of the presiding officer.
D. A motion to reconsider any action taken by the board must be made on the day such action was taken.
It must be made either immediately during the same session, or at a recessed and reconvened session
thereof. Such motion, shall be made by one of the prevailing side, but may be seconded by any
member, and may be made at any time and have precedence over all other motions or while a board
member has the floor. It shall be debatable. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent any board
member from making or remaking the same or any other motion at a subsequent meeting of the
board, but the matter must be duly scheduled as an agenda item.
E. Pursuant to the City's Code of Ethics, a board member may seek the advice of the City Attorney as
to whether the member has a conflict of interest pursuant to law. If the board member is advised
there is a conflict of interest, the member shall recuse himself/herself, step away from the meeting
table, and refrain from discussion and vote on the matter.
F. After a motion, duly made and seconded, by the board, no person shall address the board without
first securing the permission of the presiding officer.
Section 9: Open Meetings and Email
A. Except for properly-called executive sessions as permitted by state law, all meetings of the board
shall be open to the public and media.,freely subject to recording by radio,television and photography
at any time, provided that such arrangements do not interfere with the orderly conduct of the
meetings. Notice of meetings shall be published in accordance with the current open meeting
notification process adopted by the City of Bozeman.
B. A majority of the board shall not conduct synchronized email discussions involving a matter over
which the board has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. Synchronized email
discussions are email exchanges among a majority of board members within minutes of each other
that create the quality of simultaneity similar to instant messaging or chat room discussions. Such
discussions are characterized as an active exchange of information rather than the passive receipt of
information. An example of synchronized email discussion would be a majority of board members
sitting at their computers and instantly exchanging emails concerning board business, whereas a
passive receipt of information is where a board member receives an email and responds in the normal
course of time similar to responding by letter received in the mail. The board shall not view emails
or other electronic communication mechanisms concerning any matter on the agenda during a board
meeting unless the submission is part of a specifically approved and adopted electronic public
testimony program. Electronic communication mechanisms include text messaging or any other
emerging technology that violates the spirit of open meeting laws. This does not preclude viewing
emails or electronic communication mechanisms that were received prior to the board meeting.
Emails received by board members concerning an agenda item shall be forwarded to the staff liaison
or board secretary and retained in accordance with the City's retention policy.
Section 10: Decorum
A. While the board is in a session, board members must preserve order and decorum, and a member
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shall neither, by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the
board nor disturb any member while speaking or refuse to obey the orders of the board or its presiding
officer.
B. Any person making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks or who shall become boisterous
while addressing the board may be denied further audience with the board by the presiding officer,
unless permission to continue is granted by a majority vote of the board.
C. The board shall not debate, in a heated or argumentative manner, with a member of the public
presenting testimony during a meeting.
1). Speakers shall only address the agenda item before the board. Any person speaking on an agenda
itern not before the board may be called out of order.
Section 11: Recording of Meetings and Minutes
A. The board secretary shall prepare a summary of all meetings to be known as the"Minutes"and to be
approved by the board. It shall not be necessary to formally read out loud the Minutes prior to
approval. Such Minutes may be revised by the staff liaison or board secretary to correct spelling'
numbering, and other technical defects. Prior to approval, any board member may request the
privilege of amending or correcting the Minutes to accurately reflect the substance of the prior
meeting. If objection is made by any board member to such amendment or correction, a majority
vote of the board shall be necessary for adoption of the correction or amendment. Due to the
intermittent schedule of the Board's meetings, minutes shall be signed by the Chair within three (3)
weeks after each meeting and presented for approval by the Board at the next available meeting. The
minutes shall be forwarded to the City Clerk's office for posting within three months of the meeting.
B. Executive session minutes shall be taken and prepared by the board secretary. The board shall
approve the minutes of an executive session in open meeting; provided,however that any discussion
concerning the contents of the minutes, prior to approval, shall be conducted in executive session.
The staff liaison or board secretary will distribute the draft executive session minutes to the members
in a manner that ensures and retains confidentiality. The board shall follow the provision 2.02.130,
BMC related to dissemination of executive session minutes.
C. Televising, broadcasting or audio recording of meetings: At the discretion of the board and City
Clerk's office, meetings may be televised, broadcast or an audio recording made. If recorded, audio
recordings shall be made available to the public unless required to be kept confidential by law.
Section 1.2: Attendance at Mectings/Removal by City Commission/Ternis
A. All board members are expected to contribute the time necessary to fulfill their fiduciary
obligations to the board. All board members are required if they are to be absent from a meeting to
contact the presiding officer and the staff liaison prior to the meeting. If prior contact is made, the
absence will be determined excused. If the board member fails to contact the presiding officer or
staff liaison prior to the meeting,the absence will be considered unexcused. The City Commission
will be notified by the staff liaison of any board member with three or more unexcused absences in
any calendar year. The board, via motion and vote, may forward to the City Commission the name
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of any board member having three or more excused absences, or a combination of excused and
unexcused absences. As provided by law, the City Commission may remove a board member for
excessive absences. A board member's term may be extended for up to 3)0 days after term
expiration on a case by case basis by the Deputy City Clerk if the board member has reapplied for a
subsequent term but the application process has not yet been heard by the City Commission.
Section 13: Compliance with City Code of Ethics
A. All board members are required to follow State ethics laws regarding appointed officials and the city
of Bozeman Code of Ethics.New board members will receive the City of Bozeman ethics handbook
and must sign a form acknowledging receipt of the handbook,take an oath they will uphold.the state
and city ethics codes. Board members are also required to take an initial ethics training within two
months after appointment. Each year board members are required to attend city sponsored ethics
training. Non-compliance with the City Code of Ethics and training requirements may result in
removal of a board member. See the City Code of Ethics lor more details.
Section 14: Compliance with City Purchasing Policy
A. All boards are subject to the City purchasing policy (Administrative Order 2009-06), as revised,
unless specified by law. City staff liaisons shall handle financial transactions unless specific
arrangements have been made in writing through the City controller.
Section 1.5: Compliance with State Records Retention Policy
A. All City boards are subject to the State of Montana records retention policy.
B. The City Clerk will handle retention of all agendas, minutes and. board resolutions once they have
been forwarded to the clerks office.
C. E-mails, websites and social networking sites are subject to adopted records retention schedules. For
social media and websites please refer to the current Inforination. Technology Social Media Use
Policy for further guidelines.
Section 16: Amendment of these Rules
A. These Rules of Procedure may be amended or new rules adopted by a majority vote(3)of all voting
members of the Board (5).
These Rules of'Procedure are adopted by the Board on April 5, 2018.
Board Chair Attest/Building Official
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