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Rules of Procedure

MEETINGS OF THE PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION

1. Regular Meetings
The Commission shall hold a regular meeting the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, except that if the regular meeting day falls on a legal holiday, the meeting shall be held on the following business day. The meeting shall be held at PWC offices at 955 Old Wilmington Road and shall begin at 8:30 a.m. The time and place of meetings can be changed by majority vote taken at a previous meeting. Public notice shall be given to the news media of any deviation from the regular meeting time and place.

2. Special Meetings
The Chairman or a majority of the members may call a special meeting at any time by giving actual notice of the time and place of the meeting and the subjects to be considered to each board member at least six hours before the meeting. If reasonable efforts to give each member actual notice are not successful, written notice shall be left at the member’s home. Only those items of business contained in the notice may be transacted at the meeting unless all members are present.
The Clerk of the City of Fayetteville shall be notified of any special meetings of the Commission, and the Clerk shall be responsible for the posting of said notices as well as the required notification pursuant to N.C.G.S. §143-318.12.

3. Organizational Meeting
The Commission shall hold an organization meeting on the first regular meeting in September or on the first regular meeting in October each year. New Commission members shall take the oath of office as the first order of business. As the second order of business, the Board shall elect a chairman, vice chairman, secretary and treasurer from its members.

4. Agenda
The General Manager of PWC shall prepare the agenda for the meetings. Agendas will normally be distributed on Friday prior to the meeting date, but no later than Monday prior to the meeting date. A request to have an item of business placed on the agenda must be received at least five (5) working days before the meeting date. Any Commission member may have an item placed on the agenda. The Commission may, by majority vote, add an item that is not on the agenda.

5. Public Address to the Commission
Any individual or group who wishes to address the Commission shall make a written request to the General Manager to be placed on the agenda, stating the purpose of the request. The Commission reserves the right to determine the relevance of the request and may request appropriate investigation and/or preparation of reports prior to meeting with individuals or groups.

6.  Public Hearings
Individuals wishing to speak at a public hearing shall sign up with the Clerk of the Commission, by name and home address, before 8:30 a.m. on the date of the scheduled public hearing. Individuals may register in person, by fax at (910) 829-0207, by email at pwcboard@faypwc.com or immediately before the meeting in the PWC Board Room between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. Fifteen minutes will be allowed for each side of the issue at a public hearing. The Commission in its discretion may extend the time. Individual speakers will be limited to three (3) minutes each unless by previous arrangement a single spokesman is designated, in which case the spokesman may use the entire 15 minutes. Time used in response to a Commission member will not be counted against the allotted 15 minutes.No one in the audience will be permitted to speak during Commission discussion and debate except in response to a question from a Commission member recognized by the Chair.

7. Attendance
The Commission recognizes that its members cannot be physically present for each meeting. To facilitate full participation the Commission recognizes technology that enables Commissioners to participate when unable to be physically present. Attendance by phone or other live audio and or video devices is permissible. One Commissioner must be physically present to chair the meeting. (Note: When a regular meeting is cancelled, Commissioners are still considered present under the City Council Attendance Policy.)

8. Order of Business
Items shall be placed on the agenda according to the Order of Business. The Order of Business for each regular meeting shall be as follows:

• REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Call to order.
B. Approval of Agenda.
• CONSENT ITEMS
• ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEMS
• REPORTS AND INFORMATION
• ADJOURN
By general consent of the Commission, items may be considered out of order.

9. Presiding Officer
The Chairman shall preside at Commission meetings. In order to address the Commission, a member must be recognized by the Chairman. The Chairman shall have the following powers:

a. To rule motions in or out of order, including the right to rule out of order any motions patently
offered for obstructive purposes.
b. To determine whether a speaker has gone beyond reasonable standards of courtesy in his remarks.
c. To entertain and answer questions of parliamentary law or procedure.
d. To call a brief recess at any time.
e. To adjourn in an emergency.

10. Action by the Commission
The Commission shall proceed by motion. Anyone, including the Chairman, may make a motion.

11. Second Required
A motion shall require a second.

12. One Motion at a Time
A member may make only one motion at a time.

13. Substantive Motion
A substantive motion is out of order while another substantive motion is pending.

14. Adoption of Majority Vote
A motion shall be adopted by a majority of the votes cast, a quorum being present, unless otherwise required by these rules or the laws of North Carolina.

15. Debate
The Chairman shall state the motion and then open the floor to debate on it. The Chairman shall preside over the debate according to the following general principles:

a. The member who makes the motion is entitled to speak first.
b. A member who has not spoken on the issue shall be recognized before someone who has already spoken.
c. To the extent possible, the debate shall alternate between opponents and proponents of the measure.

16. Withdrawal of Motion
A motion may be withdrawn by the member who makes the motion at any time before a vote.

17. Duty of Vote
Every member must vote unless excused by the remaining members. A member who wishes to be excused from voting shall so inform the Chairman, who shall take a vote of the remaining members present. No member shall be excused from voting except on matters involving his own financial interest or official conduct. In all other cases, a failure to vote by a member who is physically present or has withdrawn without being excused by a majority vote of the remaining members shall be recorded as an affirmative vote. The Chairman shall vote.

18. Closed Sessions
The Commission may hold closed sessions as provided by law. The Commission shall commence a closed session by a majority vote to do so and end it in the same manner.

19. Quorum
A majority of the actual membership of the Commission, excluding vacant seats, shall constitute a quorum. A member who has withdrawn from a meeting without being excused by majority vote of the remaining members present shall be counted as present for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present.

20. Minutes
Minutes shall be kept of all board meetings, including closed sessions as required by law.

21. Reference to Robert’s Rules of order
To the extent not provided for in these rules and to the extent that the reference does not conflict with the spirit of these rules, the Commission shall refer to Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised, for unresolved procedural questions.

Original: Adopted March 13, 1986
Rev. #1: Approved November 14, 1991
Rev. #2: Approved November 27, 1991
Rev. #3: Approved November 23, 1994
Rev. #4: Approved October 10, 2001
Rev. #5: Approved December 12, 2012
Rev. #6: Approved June 2016