- Introduced by: Grube
- 1st Reading (01/03/2022)
- Passed (01/03/2022)
Whereas, Ordinance 2021-37 was adopted by Council and approved by the voters to amend the Charter of the Village of Chagrin Falls to authorize virtual meetings;
Whereas, Council has now determined that it should adopt this Ordinance in order to provide for virtual meetings by electronic means by all public bodies of the Village of Chagrin Falls;
Whereas, due to the rapid spread of variants of the Covid-19 virus, it has become necessary for Council to immediately establish the ability for all public bodies within the Village to have virtual meetings.
Now Therefore, Be It Ordained by the Council of the Village of Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, State of Ohio:
Section 1. Section 111.01 of the Codified Ordinances is hereby amended by revising the first sentence of such section to read as follows:
Regular meetings of Council shall be either held in the Village Hall, or held virtually, when determined by Council or the Council President to hold a virtual meeting, at such time as established by Council, on the second and fourth Mondays of each and every calendar month, except that Council may cancel one of the monthly meetings, at its discretion.
Section 2. The existing first sentence of Section 111.01 of the Codified Ordinances, full text of which follows is hereby repealed:
Regular meetings of Council shall be held in the Village Hall at such time as established by Council, on the second and fourth Mondays of each and every calendar month, except that Council may cancel one of the monthly meetings, at its discretion.
Section 3. The first sentence of Section 111.01 of the Codified Ordinances, with strikeouts for deletions and underlining for additions, reads as follows:
Regular meetings of Council shall be either held in the Village Hall, or held virtually, when determined by Council or the Council President to hold a virtual meeting, at such time as established by Council, on the second and fourth Mondays of each and every calendar month, except that Council may cancel one of the monthly meetings, at its discretion.
Section 4. Chapter 114 of the Codified Ordinances is hereby amended to add Section 114.05 which reads in its entirety as follows:
114.05 Virtual public meetings and hearings
(a) Definitions. As used in this section:
(1) “Council” shall mean the Council referenced.in Article 4 of the Charter of the Village of Chagrin Falls.
(2) “Electronically” means by way of electronic equipment or devices, including but not limited to, live-streaming by means of internet, local radio, television, cable public access channels; call in information for a teleconference; or by means of any other similar electronic technology.
(3) “Open to the public” means that a public meeting, or hearing conducted in-person, virtually, or any combination thereof, to which the public has access to the deliberations and official actions of the public body in-person, virtually, electronically, or any combination thereof.
(4) “Public body” shall have the same meaning as defined in RC 121.22.
(5) “Virtually” means by way of teleconference, video conference, or any other similar electronic technology.
(b) Attendance. Each public body may permit its members to attend its public meetings or hearings in-person, virtually, or a combination of the two. The following shall apply if any or all of the members are permitted to attend virtually:
(1) Each member attending virtually shall be considered present as if the member is in-person at the public meeting or hearing, shall be permitted to vote, and shall be counted for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present at the public meeting or hearing;
(2) Any vote on a resolution, ordinance or formal action of any kind cast by a member attending virtually shall have the same effect as if member is in-person at the public meeting or hearing; and
(3) The public body shall ensure that the public can observe and hear the discussions and deliberations of all the members of the public body, whether members are attending in-person or virtually.
(c) Open to the Public. Except as set forth in this Ordinance, each public body shall determine the method by which its meetings, or hearings are open to the public. For public hearings conducted virtually, the public body must also establish a means, through the use of electronic equipment that is widely available to the general public, to communicate with witnesses and to receive documentary testimony and physical evidence. All participants, parties and proposed witnesses, when appearing virtually, must be shown using their full name or name on record while in the virtual meeting or hearing. Each witness shall enable and use both video and audio at all times during their testimony, unless they do not have the capability of using video technology where they may be at the time of the meeting or hearing. All participants shall insure that there will be no interruptions or distractions for the duration of their appearance at the meeting or hearing.
(d) All participants at a meeting or hearing who intend to submit exhibits shall pre-file the proposed exhibits at least three (3) business days in advance of any virtual hearing or meeting by submitting such documents in PDF format and submitting them to the Chief Administrative Officer of the Village, or other such person as the Chief Administrative Officer may designate. The Chair of each public body may allow exhibits not submitted prior to a meeting or hearing to be used at the meeting or hearing, such as documents used to impeach a witness or for rebuttal purposes. At the Chair’s discretion, the Chair may permit a party to transmit an exhibit to the public body during the meeting or hearing by email or other method approved by the Chair. Upon conclusion of the meeting or hearing, the Village will not be obligated to maintain any proposed exhibits or other documents that were not made a part of the record during the meeting or hearing and may delete them from an email inbox, virtual drop box, or other virtual storage folder at the convenience of the Village Administration.
(e) Notice to the Public. Each public body shall provide at least twelve (12) hours’ prior notification of the time, place, agenda items, and the manner by which the meeting or hearing will be held and where possible or convenient, an email address to submit proposed exhibits or other documents for a meeting or hearing.
(f) Authority. The Council, by motion, may determine when virtual meetings or hearings will be utilized, and which public bodies shall hold virtual meetings or hearings. Whenever there is a public health emergency, or other emergency or a clear and present danger to the safety or health of the public and Council has not determined that public bodies shall meet virtually, the President of Council may, by email notice to all members of Council, the Mayor, the Chief Administrative Officer, and the Law Director, declare that one or more meetings or hearings be held virtually until the next regularly scheduled Council meeting at which time the Council will determine if virtual meetings shall continue for one or more public bodies of the Village.
Section 5. During the month of January 2022 all meetings or hearings of every public body in the Village shall be held virtually. The Chief Administrative Officer shall provide for notice of all meetings and hearings to be held virtually on the Village website and shall, when possible, provide for a method to receive exhibits and other documents to be used at meetings and hearings. Any meeting or hearing to be held within seven (7) days of the effective date of this Ordinance shall be exempt from the obligation to submit proposed exhibits and other documents at least three (3) business days before the meeting or hearing but shall provide, by email, such exhibits or documents to the Chief Administrative Officer or his designee as soon as they receive notice that a meeting or hearing where they plan to submit exhibits or documents is to be held virtually.
Section 6. That actions of this Council concerning and relating to the passage of this legislation were adopted in lawful meetings of this Council and that all deliberations of this Council and of any of its committees that resulted in such formal action were in compliance with all legal requirements, including Chapter 114 of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Chagrin Falls.
Section 7. That in accordance with Section 113.01 of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Chagrin Falls, public notice of this Ordinance shall be given by posting a copy thereof for not less than fifteen (15) days in the Village Hall.
Section 8. This Ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety of the inhabitants of the Village and for the further reason that virtual meetings need to be established as soon as possible due to the number of people contacting Covid-19 virus variants and the overcrowding of hospitals in the State of Ohio and in order to promote the health and safety of Village Officials and participants at public meetings and hearings; wherefore, provided it receives the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (⅔) of all members elected to Council, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and immediately upon its passage and approval by the Mayor, otherwise it shall take effect and be in force after the earliest period allowed by law.