City Council - City of Semmes

Duties & Responsibilities

Address City Council

Advisory Committees

Duties & Responsibilities

The powers and duties of the Mayor and City Council members are contained in state law and City ordinances, resolutions and regulations. These statutory duties include the following:

Adopt ordinances, resolutions, policies and regulations for the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Semmes.
Establish policies for the effective and efficient delivery of municipal services to the City.
Establish goals, objectives and performance measures for the City Government.
Add, delete, modify or reduce municipal services and staff due to budget restrictions.
Create departments, divisions, offices, and citizen advisory committees necessary for the efficient and effective operation of the City.
Exercise oversight over the professional staff, consultants, citizen advisory committees, and all other employees, volunteers and officers appointed or retained by the City.
Work with citizen advisory committees established by the City Council to formulate recommendations to the City Council on policies, projects and spending allocations. Every member of the governing body is expected to take committee assignments and attend all committee meetings.

Participate in community strategic and long-range planning.
Adopt master plans for water, wastewater, storm drainage, parks and municipal facilities to guide the City’s future development of infrastructures.
Approve the municipal boundaries, and all annexations of land into the City.
Approve all subdivisions, commercial, and industrial site plans. Approve all development plans and agreements with residential, commercial and industrial developers.
Adopt a five-year Capital Improvement Plan.
Adopt the annual City budget.
Approve expenditure of City funds.
Promote good relations with federal, state and other municipal government agencies. The Mayor and City Council will actively work with appropriate officials on inter-jurisdictional issues and regional problems affecting the residents of Semmes.
Perform other duties as necessary and as established by ordinance, resolution, contract or regulation.

Address City Council During A Meeting

Any person desiring to address the Council must register and complete the form upon entering the meeting area. Please give the form to the City Clerk prior to the meeting being called to order. Public Comments are only allowed during the Public Comment portion of the meeting. When addressing the City Council, the speaker must state his/her name and address.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes to address the City Council.

When addressing the City Council, there is to be no personal address to any individual Council member. All statements are to be made to the Chair who will recognize any Council member who wishes to respond.

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Advisory Committees: Shaping Our Future

Historic/ Beautification Committees

1st Monday of Each Month at 4:00 p.m.- Chaired by Council Member Lawshe

Public Works/ Parks & Recreation

2nd Thursday of Each Month at 6:00 p.m.- Chaired by Council Member Herring

Public Safety Committee

2nd Tuesday of Each Month at 6:00 p.m. (following the Planning Commission)- Chaired by Council Member Joyce

Finance/ Annexation Committee

Meets as needed. Follow the monthly calendar for details. Chaired by Mayor Van Hook

Advisory Committee Meetings

Advisory Committee Meetings are held monthly at City Hall Chambers at 7875 Moffett Road, Semmes, Alabama 36575.

If you would be interested in serving your Semmes Community as a member of an Advisory Committee, please contact the City Clerk.

Contact City Clerk

Roles and Responsibilities

The Mayor of the City of Semmes has established “Advisory Committees” composed of Council Members and individuals from the Semmes Community (both within the City Limits as well as the Jurisdictional Limits). These Advisory Committees function as a “working” arm of the City Council. Advisory Committees enable Council Members to split the workload and concentrate their efforts toward improving specific areas. Advisory Committees may be dissolved or new ones created as needed. Advisory Committees are a structured way for individual citizens to share their opinions and perspectives, study issues, and develop recommendations in a focused, small group structure. The primary purpose for Advisory Committees to have membership from citizens in the Community is to provide advice and input, from a citizen perspective to the City Council.

The principal job of an Advisory Committee lies in the investigation, study, and evaluation of that segment of the municipal operation assigned to it. Committees report recommendations to the Mayor and City Council usually with a Project Request Form (PRF). It should be emphasized that memberships on an Advisory Committee does not carry any administrative powers. The Advisory Committee cannot implement their recommendations without formal approval from the Mayor/City Council. All expenditure of funds as well as legislative decisions is only made by the Mayor/City Council (by Ordinance or Resolution) prior to implementation. These committees should discuss, formulate and transmit well-developed, thoughtful recommendations to the Mayor and City Council in a timely manner.

Specific goals/projects are assigned to each Advisory Committee by the Mayor based on the current and future needs of the Community. These goals/projects are developed based on perspectives and advice from the City Council, key issues, public comments received at Council Meetings, town hall type meetings, emails, personal contacts, and letters, or just the general recognized a need. Goals/Projects may be amended or modified, escalated in priority, new ones created or even some removed from the Advisory Committee Charters by the Mayor as necessary.

Advisory Committees should develop work plans for the specific goals/projects assigned – in developing these work plans, the committees should consider:

Established City Council Goals
Comprehensive Plan
Budget

Resource Availability
Member Available Time
Committee Member Knowledge,
Interest and Expertise

For More Information on Advisory Committees

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Committee Meeting Rules

Please make sure that all cell phones are turned off or are on silent to avoid any unnecessary interruptions in the meeting.

Any person desiring to address the COMMITTEE must register and complete the form upon entering the meeting area. Please give the completed form to the RECORDING SECRETARY prior to the meeting being called to order. Public Comments are ONLY allowed during the Public Comment portion of the meeting.

When addressing the COMMITTEE, the speaker must state his/her name and address.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes to address the COMMITTEE. A bell will sound to indicate the end of 2 minutes. One minute is allowed for summarizing. The second bell indicates the time has expired.

When addressing the COMMITTEE, there is to be no personal address to any individual Committee member. All statements are to be made to the Chair who will recognize any Committee member who wishes to respond.

To maintain the decorum of the meeting, there will be no undue applause and/or public outcry allowed. This is a meeting of the COMMITTEE Members and not an open public forum.