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CITY OF BEAVERCREEK 

PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS

 

ELECTION NOTICE 

NOTICE is given that pursuant to Ordinance No. 24-15 adopted by the City Council of the City of Beavercreek on July 22, 2024, the following proposed Charter Amendments will be submitted to the electors of the City of Beavercreek at the election to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at the regular places of voting in the City during the regular hours of voting as determined by the Board of Elections and shall appear as the following Ballot issues. 

The full text of the Charter provisions,  if amended by the passage of said Ballot Issue will read as follows, with the proposed additions to the Charter provisions shown in bold print and  underlined and the proposed deletions shown by strikethrough. 

BALLOT ISSUE #4

Shall the Charter of the Municipality of Beavercreek, Ohio be amended by:

  1. Revising Section 4.08 to require notice of special meetings to be given to all members of Council no less than 24 hours, wherever practical, instead of requiring notice of at least 12 hours in advance of special meetings; 

 

  1. Revising Section 5.03, Subsection A, to permit printed or electronic copies of proposed ordinances to be distributed to Council members and the City Manager upon introduction of a proposed ordinance and to require the Clerk of Council, not less than ten (10) days prior to the first reading of an ordinance that is not an emergency ordinance, to: (1) file a copy of the proposed ordinance in the Clerk’s office; and (2) post the proposed ordinance in full in the City offices, in addition to publishing the proposed ordinance in a printed publication of general circulation in the City or in other media; 

 

  1. Revising Section 5.03, Subsection C, to authorize the Clerk of Council to provide notice of the adoption of an ordinance, within ten days of the adoption, by public media forums, as opposed to printed publications; 

 

  1. Revising Section 5.09, Subsection B, to authorize, but not require, City Council to appoint an Ordinance Review Commission to review existing ordinances of the City and to make recommendations to the Council; 

 

  1. Revising Section 5.09. Subsection C, to authorize the City’s ordinances and resolutions to be published in electronic form and removing the requirement for printed copies; 

 

  1. Revising Section 8.01, to authorize appointments and promotions in the City based on merit and fitness; except as Council may otherwise authorize; 

 

  1. Revising Section 9.03, Subsection 3, to permit publication of notice of public hearings on public media forums, as opposed to printed publications; 

 

  1. Revising Section 10.09, to authorize the City to make copies of the City’s budget and capital program to be available for inspection by public media forums;

 

  1. Revising Section 11.03, to clarify that no primary elections shall be held for nominations of Council members or the Mayor. 

 

FULL TEXT OF PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS

(with proposed additions shown in bold print and underlined and deletions in strikethrough)

 

SECTION 4.08.          PROCEDURES.

 

  1. Meetings. A quorum of the Council shall be present to conduct official business. A majority of the members of the Council shall constitute a quorum. The Council shall meet regularly at least once every month at such times and places as the Council may prescribe. Special meetings may be held on the call of the Mayor or of four (4) or more members of the Council and, whenever practicable, upon no less than twelve (12)24 (twenty-four) hours notice to each member.

 

  1. Rules. The Council shall determine and may amend its own rules and order of business in conformity with the requirements of this Charter.

 

  1. Voting. Votes shall be taken by voice or by show of hands. A roll-call vote shall be conducted if requested by any member of Council. Votes shall be recorded in a journal. Faced with the lack of a quorum, a smaller number of the members of the Council may convene and may compel the attendance of absent members in the manner, and subject to the penalties, prescribed by the rules of the Council, and may adjourn to a subsequent date.

 

SECTION 5.03.          INTRODUCTION AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES.

 

A proposed ordinance may be introduced by any Council member at any regular or special meeting of the Council. Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed form after review by the City Attorney. It shall be in the form required by the Council for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be, "The City of Beavercreek hereby ordains..." A written summary shall also accompany each proposed ordinance at the time of introduction. The fact that the summary contains errors or is incomplete shall not affect the validity of any ordinance.

 

 

  1. First Reading and Public Hearing. Upon introduction of any proposed ordinance, a printed or electronic copy shall be distributed to each Council member and to the City Manager, and at the date, time and place of the Council meeting so published, the summary of the proposed ordinance shall be read unless a member of the Council present requests a reading of the ordinance in full. All persons present shall be given an opportunity to be heard on the proposed ordinance subject to the rules of the Council.

 

After the first reading and upon approval for an additional readings by the Council, the Clerk shall: file copies of the proposed ordinance in the office of the Clerk of Council; post the proposed ordinance 

 

Ten (10) days prior to the first reading the Clerk shall file copies of the proposed ordinance in the office of the Clerk of Council; and post the proposed ordinance in full in the cCity offices; and publish one time the summary of the proposed ordinance or the ordinance in full in one or more newspapers or other printed publication regularly distributed and of general circulation in the City or public media forums as required allowed by law of the date, time and place of the second first reading.   The notice provided for shall not be required for emergency ordinances, provided the Clerk of Council will try to post the ordinance not less than 72 hours before the first reading of the ordinance. Failure to do so will not invalidate an emergency ordinance. 

 

  1. Second Reading. At the second reading Council may adopt such ordinance by an affirmative vote of the majority of the members of Council, except that if an amendment chances it as to any matter of substance. In such case, the Council shall not adopt the ordinance until it shall have caused a summary of the amended ordinance to be published at least once, together with a notice of the date, time, and place where such amended ordinance will further be considered. A public hearing on the amended ordinance shall be held. After such hearing, the Council may adopt such amended ordinance or again amend it subject to the same conditions. Council may also, by an affirmative vote of the majority of the members of the Council, request the Ordinance be advanced for a third reading prior to adoption. Council may also at the second reading on motion give an opportunity for all persons present to be heard on the ordinance, subject to the rules of Council.

 

  1. Notice of Adoption. Within ten (10) days after adoption of any ordinance, the Clerk shall post the summary of the ordinance in a designated place for public view in City Hall, and shall publish one time the summary of the ordinance or the ordinance in full in one or more newspapers or other printed publication regularly distributed of general circulation in the City, or public media forums as requiredallowed by law together with a notice of its adoption.

 

SECTION 5.09.          AUTHENTICATION AND RECORDING; REVIEW; CODIFICATION; REPRODUCTION.

 

  1. Authentication and Recording. All ordinances and resolutions adopted by the Council shall be authenticated by the signature of both the Clerk and the Mayor, and shall then be recorded in full in properly indexed journals kept for that purpose.

 

 

  1. Review. Within two years after adoption of this Charter, and at least every ten (10) years thereafter, the Council shallmay appoint an Ordinance Review Commission of not less than seven (7) qualified electors of the City. It shall be the duty of this Commission to review the existing ordinances of the City and make recommendations to the Council for removal from the records of the City any such ordinances which may have outlived their usefulness or practicality. The Commission shall submit its report to the Council within one year after its appointment. The Council shall then take such action as it deems warranted with respect to the recommendations of the Commission.

 

  1. Codification. Within three years after adoption of this Charter, and at least every ten (10) years thereafter, the Council shall provide a general codification of all cCity ordinances and resolutions. The general codification shall be adopted by the Council and shall be published in bound or loose-leafelectronic form, together with this Charter and any amendments thereto, including any pertinent provisions (as the Council may specify) of: the Ohio Constitution; other laws of the State of Ohio; codes of technical regulations; and other rules and regulations or pertinent supplementary matter of service or interest. This compilation shall be known and cited officially as the Beavercreek City Code. Copies of the Code shall be furnishedavailable to cCity officials and, placed inthe public city officesand the local public library for free public reference, and made available for purchase at cost.

 

  1. Reproduction of Ordinances and Resolutions. The Council shall cause each ordinance and resolution, and each amendment to this Charter, to be reproduced as soon as reasonably possible following its adoption. The reproduced ordinances, resolutions, and Charter amendments, shall be distributed or sold to the public at cost.

 

SECTION 8.01.          MERIT PRINCIPLE. 


Appointments and promotions in the cCity service shall be made according to merit and fitness to be determined on the basis of merit and fitness as far as practicable by competitive examination, except as otherwise provided by Council.

 

SECTION 9.03.          PLANNING COMMISSION.

 

The Planning Commission shall act as platting commissioners of the City, and as such shall have control of platting and shall provide regulations covering the platting of all lands within the City.

 

  1. It shall adopt and recommend to the Council a comprehensive general plan for the physical development of the City, which shall include the location of public ways, property, bridges, utilities, buildings, parks, playgrounds, and recreation areas. The comprehensive general plan shall show all existing school locations in the City and shall show the projected locations of new schools as determined by the Board of Education.

 

  1. It shall prepare and recommend to the Council, ordinances creating areas, zones, and districts of permitted and excluded uses, including rules, regulations, restrictions, and limitations governing the design, height, floor area, size of structures, area and size of lots, size of yards, courts, open spaces, use and occupancy of public and private buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, off-street parking, residences, parks, playgrounds, and other uses or purposes as will promote the general welfare of the City and its inhabitants.

 

  1. Before the Planning Commission shall recommend to the Council the rezoning of any lands it shall hold a public hearing on the question. The Planning Commission shall cause to be published one time in a newspaper or other printed publication regularly distributed and of general circulation within the City or in one or more public media forums, as requiredallowed by law, a notice of the public hearing. Such notice shall be published at least fifteen (15) days prior to the public hearing and shall contain a summary of the question and the date, time and place of the public hearing. The fact that the summary contains errors or is incomplete shall not affect the validity of the recommendation of the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission shall also notify all property owners of the proposed rezoning in accordance with the zoning ordinance.

 

  1. The Planning Commission shall make a base map to be titled the "Official Map of the City of Beavercreek."

 

  1. The Planning Commission shall have control over the platting and subdivision of lands and the improvement or development thereof.

 

SECTION 10.09.        PUBLIC ACCESS.


Copies of the budgets and capital program shall be public record and shall be made available to the public at suitable places and by public media forums in the City as may be determined by the Council.


SECTION 11.03.        NOMINATIONS.

 

No primary election shall be held for the nomination of candidates for the Council and Mayor. Candidates for the Council to be elected at large shall be nominated by petitions signed by fifty (50) qualified electors of the City. Petitions shall be the standard forms provided by the Greene County Board of Elections for the nomination of individual nonpartisan candidates for such offices. Group petitions shall not be used for individual offices. Each circulator of a nominating petition shall be a qualified elector of the City. The signatures to a nominating petition need not be all affixed to one paper, but to each separate paper of a petition there shall be attached an affidavit executed by its circulator stating the number of signers of the paper, that each signature on it was affixed in circulator's presence and that circulator believes each signature to be the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. The signatures shall be executed in ink. Each signer shall indicate next to signer's signature the date of signing and the place of residence. Petitions shall be filed with the Greene County Board of Elections by 4 p.m. at least ninety (90) days before the election.

This document is available during normal working hours at the office of the Finance Department, Beavercreek City Hall, 1368 Research Park Drive, Beavercreek, OH 45432 or can be found on the City’s website at www.beavercreekohio.gov.  

 

To be advertised in Xenia Daily Gazette on October 1, 2024 with a notarized affidavit furnished to City of Beavercreek Department of Finance simultaneously accompanied by the statement.