Boston Heights Council, Rule for Notification of Meetings

A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A RULE FOR
NOTIFICATION OF MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL,
COMMITTEES AND SUBCOMMITTEES
OF THE VILLAGE OF BOSTON HEIGHTS
Adopted 11 August 2004

WHEREAS, the Council of the Village of Boston Heights OH must comply with the requirements of the Ohio Revised Code ("ORC") Section 121.22 titled "Meetings of Public Bodies to be Public", also known as the "Ohio Sunshine Law" or "Ohio Open Meetings Law"; and

WHEREAS, under Section 121.22(F) of the ORC, Council must, by rule, meet certain requirements for notice, and notification upon request, of all regularly scheduled meetings, and the time, place and purpose of all special meetings; and

WHEREAS, Section 121.02(d) of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Boston Heights, Ohio now sufficiently establishes a reasonable method whereby any person may determine the time and place of all regularly scheduled meetings, and the time, place and purpose of all special meetings; and

WHEREAS, Section 121.22(F) of the ORC further requires that the rule must provide for twenty-four hours advance notice to the news media that have requested notification, immediate notification of news media in the event of an emergency meeting, and reasonable advanced notice to any person upon request and payment of a reasonable fee.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Village of Boston Heights, County of Summit and State of Ohio:

Section 1: That the Council establishes a rule for notification of Council meetings to news media upon their request, and to persons upon their request and payment of a reasonable fee;

Section 2: That notification under this rule be in addition to all statutory, usual or customary methods of public notification already in use, including those delineated by Section 121.02(d) the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Boston Heights OH;

Individual Notification of Meetings of the Council
of the Village of Boston Heights Ohio

A. This rule shall be implemented in accordance with the requirements and provisions of the Ohio Revised Code, Section ORC 121.22(F).

B. Any person, upon request and payment of an annual fee, shall be entitled to receive individual notification of every meeting of the Council of the Village of Boston Heights, OH insofar as required by the Ohio Revised Code (ORC). This notification will consist of a printed copy of that agenda or notification issued to the members of the Council.

C. Any news media entity, upon request and without fee, shall be entitled to received that same notification and Council shall hold no special meeting without providing at least twenty-four hours advance notice of such meeting to those news media, except in the event of an emergency requiring immediate official action. In the event of an emergency, the Mayor, member or members calling the meeting shall notify the news media that have requested notification immediately of the time, place and purpose of the meeting.

D. Notification will specify, at least, the time and place of each regular meeting, and the time, place and purpose of each special meeting.

E. Notification shall be reasonably in advance of the meeting, construed to mean that such notification can be reasonably expected to be received within the Village of Boston Heights before the meeting, except as provided above for emergencies, but notification of persons shall be carried out in any case.

F. In accordance with Codified Ordinances 121.02(b)(3), notification shall be sent by the Clerk-Treasurer, and shall be transmitted via U.S. First Class Mail, or by such means as is necessary to cause the notification to be received reasonably in advance of the meeting, or in accordance with Section B.

G. By mutual agreement of the Clerk-Treasurer, and such person or news media, notification may instead be carried out by transmission of the same information via facsimile, electronic mail, voice mail, or other agreed methods.

H. In no case will the Clerk-Treasurer, the Mayor, the Council or its members, be responsible for successful delivery of such notification, where the mailing or transmission of that notification has been carried out in good faith and in accordance with this rule. The Clerk-Treasurer will maintain such records as reasonably necessary to show compliance.

I. In no case will any resolution, ordinance, rule or formal action of the Council be made invalid by failure of such notification where attempted in good faith, except as allowed by law.

J. The annual fee for such notification shall be established by the Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Boston Heights OH, except that such fee will not exceed $9.00 (nine dollars) per annum. Any such fee will be waived for notification of news media. All such fees will be assigned to the General Fund of the Village of Boston Heights to allay the costs of notification.

Section 4: That it is found and determined that all formal actions of this Council concerning and relating to the adoption of this resolution were adopted in an open meeting of this Council and that all deliberations of the Council and of any of its committees which resulted in such formal action were in meetings open to the public, in compliance with all legal requirements including Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code.

I, CAROL ZEMAN, Clerk of the Village of Boston Heights, Summit County, Ohio do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution 34-2004 was duly passed by the Council of the Village of Boston Heights, County of Summit, State of Ohio at a meeting of Council on the 11th day of August, 2004.