WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board plans to take extraordinary measures to avoid having its discussion of the town manager's performance recorded by the town's Public, Educational and Government cameras.

 

At its Sept. 28 meeting, the board decided to hold a special meeting in a room not covered by WilliNet cameras to complete its annual evaluation process of Town Manager Robert Menicocci.

 

Chair Peter Beck said that while the evaluation is "absolutely" to be conducted in an open meeting, the board could follow a process similar to the off site, unrecorded meetings that past Select Boards have characterized as "retreats," a term not contemplated by or included in the commonwealth's Open Meeting Law.

 

The current board met on June 29 for what it characterized as a "planning session" where no formal votes were taken. That meeting was held outside of Town Hall, at the new fire station on Main Street, in a room equipped with audio and video recording equipment that the Select Board chose not to use.

 

At the Sept. 28 meeting, one board member indicated that an unrecorded meeting was preferable to discuss the annual evaluation of the one town employee supervised by the board.

 

"I'd like to do it without all the Willinet stuff," Stephanie Boyd said in a discussion toward the end of a two-hour meeting. "I think it's more conducive to conversation."

 

With the board expected to meet just once in October — its "regular" meeting date coincides with Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 12 — Beck suggested that the panel could find a date for a special meeting, suggesting the third Monday of the month, Oct. 19.

 

When a member of the board said they would not be available that day, Beck changed gears and proposed that, instead, the board hold its regular Oct. 26 meeting in the first-floor meeting room covered by WilliNet's cameras and then adjourn to space on the third floor of the Municipal Building.

 

"We have a 45-minute to an hour public meeting in the Community Meeting Room and then transition upstairs, inviting anyone, of course, to attend," Beck said.

 

At that point, someone off camera at the Sept. 28 meeting pointed out that changing rooms would take away the possibility of using the Zoom teleconference functionality available on the first floor.

 

"That's the object," Boyd replied with a laugh.

 

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person meetings were impossible, the town invested American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to upgrade technology in the Community Meeting Room to facilitate teleconferencing capability and enhance WilliNet's ability to cover public meetings.

 

As of Oct. 7, just one hybrid meeting of the board is posted on the town's website in its regular 7 p.m. time slot on the fourth Monday of the month; there is no mention of a separate "in person" meeting that night. No agenda has been released for the 7 p.m. session. Boards have until 48 hours before a meeting — excluding weekends and holidays — to post an agenda.