Meeting Schedule & Minutes
Meeting Schedules
Township Meetings are scheduled to occur on the first and third Monday of each Month at 7:00 pm. If the meetings need rescheduling the trustees will post changes in advance of the regularly scheduled meeting.
Meeting Location
Sugarcreek Twp. Hall
12812 Navarre Rd SW
Beach City, OH. 44608
Meeting Minutes Archive
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Ronald Reagan
Ohio’s “Sunshine Laws”
Q: What is a “sunshine law”? A: In Ohio, the “sunshine laws” refer to Ohio’s Public Records Act and Ohio’s Open Meetings Act. These statutory laws are based on the notion that there should be “openness” in government, with public access to records and meetings and the conduct and activities of government.
Q: What records are public under Ohio’s Public Records Act? A: Generally speaking, a “public record” is a record held by a public office and is intended to include such things as paper, computer disks, film/videotape – that is, any item, regardless of its physical form, that is a stored or fixed medium.
Q: What is a public office? A: The Public Records Act specifically defines a “public office” to include a “state agency, public institution, political subdivision, or any other organized body, office, agency, institution or entity established by the laws of this state for the exercise of any function of government.” That is a broad definition applied to otherwise private entities that perform a public service and are supported by public funds.
Q: What are a person’s rights under the Public Records Act? A: Generally, a person’s rights include the right to a prompt inspection of public records and, upon request, the right to copies of those public records within a reasonable period.
Q: Are there any exceptions under the Public Records Act? A: Yes. The Act explicitly identifies certain exempt records, including medical records, trial preparation records, confidential law enforcement investigatory records, and adoption records, among others.
Q: What is Ohio’s “Open Meetings Act”? A: This law essentially requires all public bodies to take all official actions and hold all deliberations on official business in meetings that are open to the public.
Q: Do public bodies have to keep minutes? A: Yes. The public bodies have to keep complete and accurate minutes to enable the public to understand and appreciate the rationale behind the public body’s decisions. Those minutes are public records.
Q: Can a public body ever hold meetings in secret? A: Yes. There are specified reasons for a public body to adjourn into an “executive session.” However, the fact that the body is going into an executive session must be part of a public meeting, and proper protocols must be followed. These sessions are not open to the public. Justifying an executive session includes discussions about personnel matters, the purchase of property, pending or imminent court action, and collective bargaining.