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2016 <br />PROCESS — PUBLIC HEARING <br />Since a public hearing is a more formal procedure and often requires certain procedures <br />and actions to be legal, the meeting rules are changed accordingly. <br />The primary aim of a public hearing is to take input from the public. To accomplish this in <br />the most effective manner, the Mayor will introduce the hearing with an explanation of the <br />issues. The Mayor will give this explanation or a person designated by the Mayor. The use <br />of explanatory visual aids is encouraged. <br />Following the explanation, input from the public will be taken. Prior to accepting input <br />though, the Mayor will state the areas where input will be appropriate, the maximum time <br />to be allotted to any individual presenter and any other procedural rules deemed <br />appropriate to guarantee that all concerned parties have a fair and adequate opportunity <br />to be heard. <br />All individuals wishing to speak must fill out and submit an identification form and speak in <br />to a recording microphone. Individuals not wishing to speak in public may provide a <br />written statement. The Council may take up to 15 minutes to review written statements <br />presented at the meeting. If the Council decides not to act on the issue at the public <br />hearing meeting, it may by majority vote extend the time where written input will be taken <br />to a day not later than one week before the next meeting where a deciding vote is planned. <br />All speakers are expected to be business like, to the point and courteous. Anyone not <br />abiding by these rules will be considered to be out of order. <br />The Council will refrain from initiating a discussion during the public input phase of the <br />hearing except to clarify points brought up. <br />Once the public testimony phase is complete, the Mayor will announce the public hearing <br />to be closed and the Council will revert back to its open discussion mode of operation. <br />From this point on, public input will only be appropriate when solicited by the Council. <br />It shall be the intent of the Council to vote on the issue at the same meeting as the public <br />hearing and as close in time to the public hearing as possible. Should it be necessary to <br />defer voting until a later date, the procedure will be clearly explained to the audience. <br />If the motion contains conditions, as may occur in conditional use or variance requests, <br />those conditions will be conveyed in writing to the requestor. <br />If the public hearing is the result of a resident request and that request is denied in whole <br />or in part, reasons of fact supporting the denial will be made part of the public record. <br />If the public hearing is to set an assessment rate, the assessment formula(s) under <br />discussion cannot be altered. This implies that the Council has fully discussed any formulas <br />