The Wastewater Working Group established by the Planning Commission in June is apparently going to dissolve. That seems to be approach it will take to cure its violation of the Open Meeting Law.
The agenda for the meeting, on August 26 at noon, reads in part:
6. Response to OML violation:
a. Suggested Motion: The Wastewater Working Group affirms that an ‘action’ taken in any unnoticed meeting is void
b. Suggested motion: The Wastewater Working Group recommends that it be dissolved by the Planning Commission at its next regular meeting on August 27, 2020
Dissolution is on the Planning Commission agenda for August 27.
I am not sure declaring all action ‘void’ will excuse the production of past meeting minutes “discussing the business of the public body,” as defined in 1 V.S.A § 310(2). However, I give the Working Group credit for a tidy (some might say ‘slick’) legal solution.
The potential upside is that the Planning Commission or Selectboard could create a wastewater committee broader in representation than the Working Group. Below is the Vermont DEC’s vision of a wastewater committee from its Organizing Village Wastewater Solutions workbook.
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