City Council Workshop or Special Called Meeting

CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING WEDNESDAY - JANUARY 8, 2025 - 5:30 PM Notice of AGENDA City Council Chamber/Municipal Courtroom 2801 Ranch Road 1869 Liberty Hill, TX 78642 Diane Williams Jacquetta Thayer Crystal Mancilla Wade Ashley Amanda L Young Michael Helbing LIVE VIDEO ACCESS AND RECORDINGS The live video link will be on the City's Facebook page. Following the meeting, the link for the live meeting will be removed. The recording of the meeting will be placed on the City's webpage: www.libertyhilltx.gov PLEASE SILENCE YOUR CELL PHONES 1) CALL TO ORDER AND ESTABLISH QUORUM 2) REGULAR AGENDA a) Proposed Boards and Commission Procedures Update - Council Member Diane Williams, City Manager Paul Brandenburg and City Secretary Elaine Simpson. Ordinance# 2025-O- 002 proposes modifications to the Liberty Hill City Code Chapter 2.04.001 through 2.04.030 [Division 1 of Chapter 2: Boards, Committees and Commissions]. Changes to the Code are proposed such as: changing the terms from July-June to November- October, allowing Committees to make recommendations to Council to fill unexpected vacancies, requiring a letter of interest be attached to each committee application, and a few other minor changes. The proposed Ordinance will be considered on the Regular Called Meeting agenda tonight. BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS Article 2.04 of City Code of Ordinances with ES redlines and additional changes from 12.9.24 meeting.pdf 1 3) ADJOURNMENT The City Council, Boards, and Commissions reserve the right to reconvene, recess, realign, change the order of business, or adjourn into Execu ve Session at any me during the course of the mee ng, prior to adjournment, to discuss any item listed above, as authorized by Texas Government Code Sec on §551.071 (Consulta on with A orney), §551.072 (Delibera ons about Real Property), §551.073 (Delibera ons about Gi s and Dona ons), §551.074 (Personnel Ma ers), §551.076 (Delibera ons about Security Devices), and §551.087 (Development). In compliance with the Americans with Disabili es Act, the City of Liberty Hill will provide reasonable accommoda on for persons a ending mee ngs. To be er serve you, requests need to be received 48 hours prior to the meeting. Contact the City Secretary at 512-778-5449 – Extension 125. POSTING CERTIFICATION: I, ELAINE SIMPSON – CITY SECRETARY – CITY OF LIBERTY HILL certify that the attached notice of meeting was duly posted on the bulletin board at City Hall located at 926 Loop 332, Liberty Hill, Texas 78642 and on the City website (www.libertyhilltx.gov) on the ______ day of ____________________, 202_ at ______. Elaine Simpson – City Secretary. REMOVAL CERTIFICATION: I ELAINE SIMPSON – CITY SECRETARY – CITY OF LIBERTY HILL certify that the attached notice of meeting was removed from the bulletin board at City Hall located at 926 Loop 332, Liberty Hill, Texas 78642 on the ______ day of __________________, 202_ at _______. INITIALS _______ 2  CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING WEDNESDAY - JANUARY 8, 2025 2801 Ranch Road 1869 - Liberty Hill AGENDA ITEM 2.a Proposed Boards and Commission Procedures Update - Council Member Diane Williams, City Manager Paul Brandenburg and City Secretary Elaine Simpson. 3 City of Liberty Hill, TX § 2.04.001 § 2.04.005 ARTICLE 2.04 BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS DIVISION 1 Generally § 2.04.001. Applicability. This division shall be applicable to all city boards and commissions members whether in existence now or in the future. Nothing in this division shall be deemed to overrule a specific provision of an ordinance applicable to a specific board or commission. In the event of conflict, this division should be harmonized with any other ordinance. In the event harmonizing is not possible, the provisions of the specific ordinance shall prevail. (Ordinance 05-O-23, sec. 2, adopted 5/9/2005; 2009 Code, sec. 1.07.001) § 2.04.001.1 Reference Board, Commission and Committee bodies may be referred to generally as ‘Committee’, for ease of communication. A Committee may be a‘Charter’ Committees – established by the Home Rule Charter of the City adopted November 18, 2024. A Committee may be an ‘Ordinance’ committee, if the enabling legislation is an Ordinance of City Council. Charter Committees and Ordinance Committees are considered ‘standing’ committees and are established to operate on a long-term or permanent basis. By Council action, the Council can establish temporary, ‘ad hoc’ committees which are established for a specific project or purpose. A temporary committee is not a standing committee. An example of an ‘Ad Hoc’ committee might be a Home Rule Charter Review Committee. § 2.04.002. Code of conduct. Board and commissionCommittee members shall act and conduct themselves in a manner which will promote trust in their integrity, impartiality, and their devotion to the best interests of the city. During meetings, board and commissioncommittee members shall preserve order and decorum and shall conduct themselves in a manner which will not, either by conversation or activity, delay or interrupt the proceedings. Board and commission Committee members shall not indulge in personalities, use offensive language, arraign the motives of members, charge deliberate misrepresentation, or use language tending to hold any board and commissionother members, council members, the public, or the city staff in contempt. Board and commissionCommittee members will comply with the directions of the presiding officer. The board and commissionCommittee members shall treat each other with dignity, respect and civility. (Ordinance 05-O-23, sec. 3, adopted 5/9/2005; 2009 Code, sec. 1.07.002) § 2.04.003. Duties of members. Board and commission members will represent unconflicted loyalty to the interests of the citizens. This accountability supersedes any conflicting loyalty such as that to advocacy or interest groups and membership on other boards, commissions, or staffs. This accountability supersedes the personal interest of any board or commission member acting as an individual citizen of the city. (Ordinance 05-O-23, sec. 4, adopted 5/9/2005; 2009 Code, sec. 1.07.003) Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/LI6389 on 2024-12-09 4 City of Liberty Hill, TX § 2.04.001 § 2.04.005 § 2.04.004. Dress code. Board and commissionCommittee members shall dress for meetings in a manner that is appropriate for their position as a board or commission member of the city. All board and commission members shall dress in a manner to show the city as a positive, professional organization. (Ordinance 05-O-23, sec. 5, adopted 5/9/2005; 2009 Code, sec. 1.07.004) § 2.04.005. Member qualifications. (a) All members of boards, committees, commissions, task forces, and/or Blue Ribbon panels will be appointed by the city council. This applies whether the Committee is a standing permanent Committee or a temporary committee. The council may consider recommendations from the Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/LI6389 on 2024-12-09 5 City of Liberty Hill, TX § 2.04.005 § 2.04.006 board, committee, or commission rrelated to the application(s) received if the members of the Committee wish to forward recommendations. While recommendations may be made, the City Council members will review all completed applications. If recommendations are forwarded, these should be based upon criteria pertinent to the mission, goals and charge of the committee. These criteria should be determined and established by formal action of the Committee in advance of any screening of applications. These criteria may be adopted at time of adoption of this Ordinance, or upon the appointment of a new committee Chairperson. . The recommendation process shall apply only to the filling of a vacancy that has occurred outside the scheduled appointment period. Council Members may communicate with applicants during the application review period. (b)(a) Members shall be eighteen (18) years of age, or older. (c)(b) The boards and commissions shall be comprised of citizens who are qualified voters and reside within the corporate limits of the city. The council may also consider applicants who reside outside of the city limits, for example within the corporate boundaries of the Liberty Hill Independent School District (LHISD), the 78642 zip code, the area covered by the city’s utility systems, or in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction territory (ETJ). The city council may waive these requirements and consider other criteria in filling a position, except when membership requirements are prescribed by state statute. . (d)(c) Members shall have no outstanding debts to the city nor any pending litigation, and no history of being terminated from a city board or committee for cause. No member may serve on more than one (1) standing board or commission but may serve on “ad hoc” and “special committees” (of a temporary nature) in addition to a standing committee, with prior approval of the city council. (e)(d) No city employee may serve as a member of a board or commission except as a staff liaison in a non-voting support role. (f)(e) No member of the city council may serve as a permanent member of a standing a standing committee. (g)(f) Members of boards and committees serve as volunteers, without pay. (Ordinance 2023-O-003, sec. 1.07.005, adopted 2/8/2023) § 2.04.006. Application forms. (a) Applicants will must submit an application form prescribed by the city, completed in a timely manner, to be considered for appointment. (b) Applications are available online on the city website or from the office of the city secretary. (c) Applications shall must be accompanied by an updated resume and/or a letter of interest/introduction from the applicant that should provide detail about previous experience, skills and interests with sufficient information regarding why the applicant is applying for the particular Committee they have chosen. . (d) Some boards may require special training, experience, or license(s). The applicant will be Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/LI6389 on 2024-12-09 6 City of Liberty Hill, TX § 2.04.005 § 2.04.006 responsible to provide proof of required qualifications for the application to be considered complete. (e) By completing the city’s required application form, applicants agree to the following: (1) They are not a party to litigation nor have any outstanding claim(s) against the city. (2) They are not in arrears of city taxes, city utilities, or other city assessments, meaning ninety (90) days or more delinquent. (3) Members must maintain their residency qualifications, if any, while serving on a board or commissioncommittee. (4) No member of any appointed board or commissioncommittee shall serve on more than one permanent board or commissioncommittee. Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/LI6389 on 2024-12-09 7 City of Liberty Hill, TX § 2.04.006 § 2.04.008 (5) No member may be appointed to any boardsany, committees or commissions if related to a member of the city council or senior city staff to a degree prohibited in the city’s ethics ordinance (article 2.05 of the Code of Ordinances). (6) Members appointed serve without compensation. (7) All members of city boards, committees, or commissions must complete training on the Texas Open Meetings Act laws, as well as training from the city secretary’s office staff related to ethics (article 2.05 of the Code of Ordinances), conflicts of interest, parliamentary procedure, and the council’s rules of decorum. (8) Members of boards and commissionscommittees agree to utilize email accounts assigned to them on the city’s domain for committee business and provide information as may be requested under Public Information Act. (9) For commissions, committees and boards which deal with confidential information, a non-disclosure agreement (NOANDA) may be required. (10) For commissions, committees and boards which deal with confidential information, appointment may be contingent upon a background check. (10) (Ordinance 2023-O-003, sec. 1.07.006, adopted 2/8/2023) § 2.04.007. Terms of office and vacancies. (a) Terms on city boards and commissions are two (2) years. (b) The terms of office shall be staggered within each board and commissioncommittee. . (c) No member of a board or commissioncommittee may serve more than three (3) terms or six (6) consecutive years on any one board or commission, without prior approval of the city council. (d) Terms will begin July 1st November 1st and end on June 30th October 31st , two years later. (e) All vacancies, as possible, will be filled by the council during the first council meeting in the month of June October . Applications will be accepted year round, however, to qualify as timely for annual appointment cycle the application must be submitted by September 15th. annually from March 1st through May 30th. (f) Vacancies are created when a member moves out of the applicable territory, misses more than 50% of the meetings or more than three months of consecutive meetings without excuse, removal by the city council, or resignation before their term is up. (f)(g) Appointments may also be done when a vacancy occurs due to resignation or council removal of a memberVacancies can be filled throughout the year as they occur. . (g)(a) Vacancies are created when a member moves out of the applicable territory, misses more than 50% of the meetings or more than three months of consecutive meetings without excuse, removal by the city council, or resignation before their term is up. (Ordinance 2023-O-003, sec. 1.07.006, adopted 2/8/2023; Ordinance 2023-O-0009 adopted 3/8/ 2003; Ordinance 2023-O-009 adopted 3/9/2023) Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/LI6389 on 2024-12-09 8 City of Liberty Hill, TX § 2.04.006 § 2.04.008 § 2.04.008. Quorum and meetings. A majority of the appointed members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but may in no instance be fewer than three (3) members. Boards and commissionsCommittees have the power to promulgate their own rules governing the meetings and proceedings, subject to the provisions of this division. , but the boards and commissions shall Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/LI6389 on 2024-12-09 9 City of Liberty Hill, TX § 2.04.008 § 2.04.012 have at least one regular meeting at least every 90 days. Special meetings shall be called by the chairman or upon written request of three members of the commissioncommittee. All meetings of the city committees commission shall be conducted in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. (Ordinance 2023-O-003, sec. 1.07.007, adopted 2/8/2023) § 2.04.009. Training. Upon appointment, members of allAll boards, committees, and commissions shall receive training as coordinated by city staff regarding the Texas Open Meetings Act, the Texas Public Information Act, the city’s code of ethics, social media guidelines, and parliamentary procedure. Training shall be conducted within 90 days from appointment. (Ordinance 2023-O-003, sec. 1.07.008, adopted 2/8/2023) § 2.04.010. Bylaws. Each board, commission and committee may have bylaws which will specify their own policies and procedures, officers of the body, meeting dates, and any policies/procedures unique to the body. Some commissions and boards will have state laws/statutory regulations which apply. The bylaws shall not contradict this division or state law. (Ordinance 2023-O-003, sec. 1.07.009, adopted 2/8/2023) § 2.04.011. Removal of members. A member of a committee may be removed by the city council at any time for any reason. (Ordinance 2023-O-003, sec. 1.07.010, adopted 2/8/2023) § 2.04.012. through § 2.04.030. (Reserved) Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/LI6389 on 2024-12-09 10