The St. Charles City Council approved an ordinance on Monday that revises how council and committee-of-the-whole meetings will be run, including a rotating chair schedule, additional public-comment periods during committee meetings and a $25,000 cap on consent-agenda items.

City staff presented the ordinance (Title II, Administration and Personnel, Chapter 2.04, City Council of the St. Charles Municipal Code) and explained six codified changes. Ms. McGuire, who presented the item, said the council will retain a 7:00 p.m. start time, special meetings may be called by any three council members (consistent with state statute), and the mayor will not be a member of the committee of the whole. Under the new rule, the chair will rotate through wards by seniority with each council member chairing two consecutive meetings; if a chair is absent the rotation immediately proceeds to the next person without reverting.

Ms. McGuire also said agendas will continue to be set by staff at the direction of the city administrator but established a formal process for adding items: the mayor or any four council members may request items be added either before posting deadlines or during a meeting. The ordinance defines the consent agenda to include minutes and other administrative items with a dollar limit: no consent-agenda item may exceed $25,000.

Council discussion included expressions of support and concern. One councilmember said they supported the measure and thanked staff for compromises but urged the council to watch how the $25,000 consent-agenda cap affects staff workload and meeting length. Another member said they remained opposed to changing the city's structure but thanked staff for the work. Ms. McGuire clarified the ordinance will be effective Feb. 1; the January meetings will continue under the prior structure.

A roll call vote followed the motion to adopt the ordinance; the clerk recorded the vote and the mayor announced "the motion carries." The ordinance will take effect Feb. 1, as announced by staff.

No substantive amendments to the ordinance were recorded during the meeting.

The council moved on to public comment after adopting the ordinance; the meeting closed with announcements about the next council meeting and recognition of a longtime resident.