**TO BE HELD AT SENIOR CENTER** City Council Ad Hoc Rules and Procedures Committee of the Whole Meeting
Council considered multiple ordinances to amend City Council rules: 2024-019 (codifying dog hearings as a separate meeting was referred positively; proposal to reduce council meetings to one per month received a negative recommendation), 2024-020 (attendance requirements for adjudicatory hearings referred negatively), 2024-021 (remote participation referred negatively), 2024-022 (clarifying objections/postponement language referred with a drafting amendment), and 2024-017 (comprehensive amendments to standing committee composition and procedures were adopted).
The Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole on Rules met to consider several proposed amendments to the Amesbury City Council rules, including changes to meeting scheduling (2024-019), attendance requirements for hearings (2024-020), remote participation (2024-021), rules on objections and postponement of votes (2024-022), and extensive revisions to standing committee structure and procedures (2024-017). Councilors debated the merits and practical effects of each proposal: scheduling proposals prompted discussion about workload, staffing and the usefulness of codifying separate dog hearings; remote participation prompted a technical and legal discussion about hybrid meeting feasibility and the meaning of mandatory language; attendance rules raised questions about whether the rule should be adopted via Council rules or other formal orders; and objections/postponement language was clarified with counsel input.
The meeting produced several formal outcomes. Ordinance 2024-019 was split: codifying dog hearings as a separate meeting was sent to the Ordinance & Administration Subcommittee with a positive recommendation while the proposal to reduce Council meetings to one per month was sent with a negative recommendation. Ordinances 2024-020 and 2024-021 were both referred to subcommittee with negative recommendations (2024-021 after a failed attempt to refer positively). Ordinance 2024-022 was referred with a positive recommendation and a specific wording amendment clarifying when objections must be raised. The council also adopted multiple amendments to 2024-017 affecting committee composition (increasing size and adding two appointed non-council voting members), presentation timing (first reading), ability for committees to meet as a Committee of the Whole, availability of committee audio recordings for absent councilors, chair continuity for Committees of the Whole formed from existing committees, and clarification that ad-hoc committees require a council vote. Several votes were unanimous or near-unanimous; others were closely divided and included abstentions. No external project addresses or developer permits were on the agenda; debate centered on internal council procedures and legal/technical constraints.