(a) Meetings and hearings of any municipal body, including Council, Council committees, citizen advisory committees to Council, commissions, boards and other similar municipal bodies of the Village, may be held, and members may attend meetings and may conduct and attend hearings of any municipal body, in-person, and/or by means of video conference, or any other similar electronic technology (hereinafter collectively referred to in this Section as “electronic technology”), or any combination of in-person and electronic technology. Each municipal body may establish rules of conduct for the meetings and hearings of such municipal body, as long as such rules are in compliance with this section.
(b) Any resolution, ordinance, rule, decision or other formal action of any kind made or taken during any municipal body meeting or hearing conducted entirely or in-part with members attending, participating, and voting by electronic technology, shall have the same effect as if it had occurred during an in-person meeting or hearing of the municipal body.
(c) Members of a municipal body who attend meetings or hearings by means of electronic technology, shall be considered present as if in-person at the meeting or hearing, shall be permitted to vote, and shall be counted for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present at the meeting or hearing, so long as the member attending the meeting or hearing by electronic technology is visible to the other members and the public.
(e) Public access must be provided to all municipal body meetings or hearings unless an executive session is expressly authorized by and has been duly convened under the applicable provisions of the laws of the State of Ohio. If no in-person access to the public for a particular municipal body meeting is feasible due to health or safety concerns, or if any member of a municipal body is permitted to attend, participate and vote at a municipal body meeting or hearing by electronic technology, then public access shall be provided to the public by electronic technology during such meeting or hearing.
(f) The Village may determine the method of attendance and participation, if permitted, by the public through electronic technology, and such method need not be the same as the method of electronic technology used by a member of the public body to attend, participate and vote at such meeting. The methods of electronic technology allowing attendance and/or participation by the public may include, but are not limited to, live-streaming by means of the internet, local television, cable, or public access channels, or by means of any other similar electronic technology. When the public is allowed to attend and/or participate electronically, the municipal body shall ensure that the public can observe and hear the discussions and deliberations of all the members of the municipal body, whether the member is participating in person or electronically.
(g) This section does not require that members of the public wishing to attend an entirely in-person meeting or hearing must be given access by electronic technology, even if in-person access by the public is limited by health or safety concerns, or any law or regulation.
(h) The authority granted in this section applies notwithstanding any conflicting provision of the Codified Ordinances. Nothing in this section shall be construed to negate any other provision of the Codified Ordinances that is not in conflict with this section.
(Ord. 2021-46. Passed 8-24-21.)