Council votes to enter executive session to discuss legal disputes and economic-development assistance

Mayor Perry entertained a motion to go into executive session at the Aug. 6 work session; the motion was moved and seconded and the clerk conducted roll call. The council entered executive session at 6:39 p.m. to confer with legal counsel on disputes subject to pending or imminent court action and to consider confidential information related to requests for economic-development assistance and infrastructure extension.

The clerk read the roll call; those present answered in the affirmative and the mayor announced the start time: "We are going into executive session at 06:39PM." The request cited statutory authority for closed sessions; the transcript cited the code language (transcribed as "higher revised code 1 21.22 subsection g 8"). For clarity the statutory provision applicable to closed sessions for attorney consultation and confidential economic-development deliberations is Ohio Revised Code 121.22(g)(8). The executive session was announced as the only business to be conducted during that portion of the meeting; no further public actions or votes were recorded in the transcript before the closed session began.

The transcript identifies Councilman Roark and Councilman Nichols in the sequence announcing the motion and second; the clerk recorded affirmative roll-call responses for those present. The public portion of the transcript ends with the announcement that the council was entering executive session and does not record the substance of the closed-door discussion.