Section 511.23 | Powers and duties of park board.
(A) When the vote under section 511.22 of the Revised Code is in favor of establishing one or more public parks, the board of park commissioners shall constitute a board, to be called the board of park commissioners of that township park district, and they shall be a body politic and corporate. Their office is not a township office within the meaning of section 703.22 of the Revised Code but is an office of the township park district. The members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
(B) The board may locate, establish, improve, maintain, and operate a public park or parks in accordance with division (B) of section 511.18 of the Revised Code, with or without recreational facilities. Any township park district that contains only unincorporated territory and that operated a public park or parks outside the township immediately prior to July 18, 1990, may continue to improve, maintain, and operate these parks outside the township, but further acquisitions of land shall not affect the boundaries of the park district itself or the appointing authority for the board of park commissioners.
The board may lease, accept a conveyance of, or purchase suitable lands for cash, by purchase by installment payments with or without a mortgage, by lease or lease-purchase agreements, or by lease with option to purchase, may acquire suitable lands through an exchange under section 511.241 of the Revised Code, or may appropriate suitable lands and materials for park district purposes. The board also may lease facilities from other political subdivisions or private sources. The board shall have careful surveys and plats made of the lands acquired for park district purposes and shall establish permanent monuments on the boundaries of the lands. Those plats, when executed according to sections 711.01 to 711.38 of the Revised Code, shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder, and those records shall be admissible in evidence for the purpose of locating and ascertaining the true boundaries of the park or parks.
(C) In furtherance of the use and enjoyment of the lands controlled by it, the board may accept donations of money or other property or act as trustees of land, money, or other property, and may use and administer the land, money, or other property as stipulated by the donor or as provided in the trust agreement.
The board may receive and expend grants for park purposes from agencies and instrumentalities of the United States and this state and may enter into contracts or agreements with those agencies and instrumentalities to carry out the purposes for which the grants were furnished.
(D) In exercising any powers conferred upon the board under divisions (B) and (C) of this section and for other types of assistance that the board finds necessary in carrying out its duties, the board may hire and contract for professional, technical, consulting, and other special services and may purchase goods and award contracts. The procuring of goods and awarding of contracts with a cost in excess of fifty thousand dollars shall be done in accordance with the procedures established for the board of county commissioners by sections 307.86 to 307.91 of the Revised Code.
(E) The board may appoint an executive for the park or parks and may designate the executive or another person as the clerk of the board. It may appoint all other necessary officers and employees, fix their compensation, and prescribe their duties, or it may require the executive to appoint all other necessary officers and employees, and to fix their compensation and prescribe their duties, in accordance with guidelines and policies adopted by the board.
(F) The board may adopt bylaws and rules that it considers advisable for the following purposes:
(1) To prohibit selling, giving away, or using any intoxicating liquors in the park or parks;
(2) For the government and control of the park or parks and the operation of motor vehicles in the park or parks;
(3) To provide for the protection and preservation of all property and natural life within its jurisdiction.
Before the bylaws and rules take effect, the board shall provide for a notice of their adoption to be published once a week for two consecutive weeks or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county within which the park district is located.
No person shall violate any of the bylaws or rules. Fines levied and collected for violations shall be paid into the treasury of the township park district. The board may use moneys collected from those fines for any purpose that is not inconsistent with sections 511.18 to 511.37 of the Revised Code.
(G) The board may do either of the following:
(1) Establish and charge fees for the use of any facilities and services of the park or parks regardless of whether the park or parks were acquired before, on, or after September 21, 2000;
(2) Enter into a lease agreement with an individual or organization that provides for the exclusive use of a specified portion of the park or parks within the township park district by that individual or organization for the duration of an event produced by the individual or organization. The board, for the specific portion of the park or parks covered by the lease agreement, may charge a fee to, or permit the individual or organization to charge a fee to, participants in and spectators at the event covered by the agreement.
(H) The board may expend moneys from the treasury of the township park district, or revenue derived from property taxes levied for parks and recreational purposes, for the public purpose of presenting community events that are open to the public in the park or parks within the township park district.
(I) If the board finds that real or personal property owned by the township park district is not currently needed for park purposes, the board may lease that property to other persons or organizations during any period of time the board determines the property will not be needed. If the board finds that competitive bidding on a lease is not feasible, it may lease the property without taking bids.
(J) The board may exchange property owned by the township park district for property owned by the state, another political subdivision, or the federal government on terms that it considers desirable, without the necessity of competitive bidding.
(K) Any rights or duties established under this section may be modified, shared, or assigned by an agreement pursuant to section 755.16 of the Revised Code.
Available Versions of this Section
- September 28, 2012 – House Bill 509 - 129th General Assembly [ View September 28, 2012 Version ]
- September 28, 2016 – House Bill 413 - 131st General Assembly [ View September 28, 2016 Version ]