{"id":1839,"date":"2021-01-09T22:21:04","date_gmt":"2021-01-10T03:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/?p=1839"},"modified":"2021-03-24T13:36:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T17:36:19","slug":"13000-in-legal-fees-on-open-meeting-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/09\/13000-in-legal-fees-on-open-meeting-law\/","title":{"rendered":"$13,000 in legal fees on Open Meeting Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Town’s law firm billed the Town $13,000 in legal fees to address Open Meeting Law issues, in the final three months of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over $8,000 was spent on the Planning Commission’s response to a formal notice of violation filed by three residents. The complaint related to working groups run by the Planning Director for the Planning Commission<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another $5000 in legal services was provided to the Town for a training session that was closed to the public. The law firm indicated that those fees will be waived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the excerpt from the Town Manager ‘s written report in the packet for the January 13 Selectboard meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional OML issues continue to be raised. From October through November, the Town spent over $8,000 in legal fees alone to address and try to resolve the letter sent to the Town by Stuart Richards, Doug Wilberding, and Ernie Ciccotelli. (The cost offered in reply to Stuart’s request.)
An OML training workshop was provided by the Town legal counsel to elected and appointed officials of the Town and to Town staff. The training was provided at no cost – a savings of over $5000 related to the training, preparation for the training, and reply to specific questions raised by participants in advance of the training. (Thank you Stitzel Fletcher & Page, PC!<\/strong> Most appreciated!)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I have not seen the legal bills and don’t know the going rate for Burlington law firms. However, if one takes the Planning Commission project costing $8000 for an example. By my math, if the firm charges $1000 an hour, then an experienced municipal attorney spent a full work day on the matter. That seems like too much time for someone with superior knowledge of the Open Meeting Law. And if every close question costs that much to answer, then the Town might be better off complying with the Open Meeting Law rather than try to skirt it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Town continues to confront claims of Open Meeting Law violations. The Town Manager insists that working groups run by him are not bound by the law. At issue are the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion working group and the Green Fleet working group. Sounds expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Town’s law firm billed the Town $13,000 in legal fees to address Open Meeting Law issues, in the final three months of 2020. Over $8,000 was spent on the Planning Commission’s response to a formal notice of violation filed by three residents. The complaint related to working groups run by the Planning Director for the Planning Commission. Another $5000 in legal services was provided to the Town for a training session that was closed to the public. The law Continue reading $13,000 in legal fees on Open Meeting Law<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-meeting-law","category-transparency"],"yoast_head":"\n$13,000 in legal fees on Open Meeting Law - Norwich Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/09\/13000-in-legal-fees-on-open-meeting-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"$13,000 in legal fees on Open Meeting Law - Norwich Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Town’s law firm billed the Town $13,000 in legal fees to address Open Meeting Law issues, in the final three months of 2020. 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