(a) With the exceptions noted in this section, the council shall resolve itself into a committee of the whole on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at seven thirty p.m. local time to consider ordinances, resolutions, or other matters with the freedom of committee procedures. The council may decide by majority vote to cancel any such committee meeting or to meet at an alternative date and time. The council may by majority vote resolve itself into a committee of the whole at any other time and for any other legitimate purpose. The council shall not meet as a committee of the whole on legal holidays as enumerated in Indiana Code 1-1-9-1 during the month of August, on the Wednesday evening immediately before Thanksgiving Day, or on the fourth Wednesday in December.
(b) Whenever the council resolves itself into a committee of the whole the presiding officer shall leave the chair. Chair of the committee meetings scheduled for Wednesday evenings and city budget hearings shall rotate by alphabetical order among all councilmembers except the council president and such rotation will be tracked by the city clerk. Should a councilmember be unable to attend a committee meeting the next member on the rotation shall preside and the rotation shall proceed from that point. The council president will designate the chair for any unscheduled committee meetings.
(c) When the council resolves itself into the committee of the whole, the rules of the council shall govern except that:
(1) The committee of the whole may consider only matters and questions referred to it, and the only motions in order shall be to amend or adopt, or that the committee rise and report;
(2) No limit shall be placed on frequency of speaking, but no member may speak for longer than five minutes at a time;
(3) Interested citizens may be heard on the question under consideration if they address the chair and ask permission to speak;
(4) The previous question may not be moved;
(5) The ayes and noes shall not be recorded; and
(6) The clerk shall keep a memorandum of proceedings and recommendations, but shall enter into the minutes of the meeting only the recommendations agreed to by the committee of the whole.
(d) When the committee of the whole rises, the residing officer of the council shall resume the chair, and the chairperson of the committee shall report its recommendations to the council. The question shall then be on agreeing the recommendations of the committee and adopting the action or measures recommended. (Ord. 79-97 § 2 (part), 1979).