2022-10-19-MMC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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RECEIVED 2023 23 ,Jairi, 30 am Monuments & Memorials Committee Meeting Minutes TOWN CL,ERK Thursday, October 19, 2022 Conducted by Remote Participation LEXINGTON 3:00 PM Members Present Linda Dixon, Chair; Avram Baskin, Glen Bassett, Chuck French, George Gamota, Charles Price Members Not Present: Bebe Fallick, Leslie Masson, Danjun Pu Guests Suzie Barry, Select Board Liaison Mina Makarious, Esq., Town Counsel Business Chair Dixon convened the meeting at 3:05 p.m. and read the Town notice regarding the conduct of public virtual meetings. She declared that a quorum was present. Open Meeting Law Complaint The purpose of the meeting was to receive and review a complaint from a committee member regarding a concern that discussions among a working group of MMC members on October 3, 2022 constituted a non-public deliberation of a public body in violation under the Open Meeting Law. Chair Dixon introduced Attorney Mina Makarious of the firm Anderson Kreiger, who serves as Town Counsel to the Town of Lexington, who will respond to this complaint. Attorney Makarious explained that the discussion in question was held by fewer than the quorum of five voting members of the MMC. As described in further detail below, because the MMC informal working group did not include a quorum and was neither a subcommittee, nor public body "empowered to act collectively," there has been no violation of the OML. Nonetheless, Atty Makarious has spoken with Chair Dixon and recommend that the Monuments and Memorials Committee takes measures to ensure continued compliance with proper OML procedures with respect to working group structure and organization. Atty Makarious and the committee informally discussed various aspects of the Open Meeting Law to gain a firmer understanding of its nuances when relating to committee business. Highlights of the discussion were: • The open meeting law applies to public bodies, e.g., M&M Committee as a whole, Select Board as a whole. Informal small working group meetings may be acceptable under the Open Meeting Law. • Even when fewer members than a quorum attend, the formality of the meeting may require application of Open Meeting law. • The concept of"deliberation" is critical but not well understood. If, for example, George sends an email to 4 other committee members (5 members or a quorum) and takes a position on the Policies &Procedures Manual, -that is considered "Deliberation".