Adams Selectmen Slapped With Open Meeting Violation
ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen was found to have violated Open Meeting Law by failing to post its Dec. 14, 2022, meeting in its designated place at Town Hall.
The complaint was made to the town by Catherine Foster on Jan. 7 about the meeting not being posted corrected and also that it was insufficient because the date and time stamp were illegible.
The Dec. 14 meeting was when the board voted to accept Shared Estates' bid to develop the Greylock Glen campground.
Governmental meetings must be posted at least 48 hours in advance; this does not include Saturdays and Sundays. The notices also must be "conspicuously visible" to the public at all hours.
Or, the municipality may adopt its website as the official method of notice posting.
The meeting had been posted at the Police Station, which is open 24 hours, and on the town's website but the Attorney General's office noted that the Town Hall is designated as the official posting site.
"The town of Adams has not adopted the municipal website as an alternative notice posting method; there, the official notice posting location for meeting of Adams public bodies is the Adams Town Building located at 8 Park Street," wrote Mary L. Nguyen, assistant attorney general.
She ordered to the Board of Selectmen's "immediate and future compliance" with Open Meeting Law and cautioned that board that "a determination by our office of a similar violation in the future may be considered evidence of intent to violate the Open Meeting Law."
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