Freedom of Information (FOIL) and Open Meetings Law

Town Board, 12-28-2012

Waiver of notice

The Board voted unanimously to waive the notice of the special meeting. Supervisor Grace explained that the reason for the special meeting was the need to approve new insurance coverage as of January 1, 2013. TheTown’s current insurance coverage expires onDecember 31, 2012.

(Note: After the meeting had been adjourned, a notice that the meeting was to take place was sent via email to subscribers of the Town Board email list.)

Open Meetings law

Karen Wagner, the board’s attorney, reminded members that pursuant to a recent court case dealing with the Open Meetings Law, if and when the board wants to go into a closed executive session, it needs to be specific about the purpose of the meeting.She added, however, that the Planning Board rarely went into executive sessions.The court case, she said, was based on a pattern of conduct and not a one-time instance.

FOIL

The board unanimously passed a resolution to make the Town Clerk the FOIL officer, replacing the Supervisor. Supervisor Grace said it was inappropriate to have the Supervisor’s office respond to FOIL requests, adding that the CEO should not get involved in this type of issue. He also stated that most of the records were in the Clerk’s office.

Town Attorney Koster asked if the board wanted to change the appeals process currently set out in a 1977 resolution. Appeals of FOIL denials are currently reviewed by a committee consisting a member of the Town  Board, the Town Attorney and the Town Clerk. Ms. Koster pointed out that it would the Clerk who would be denying the initial request. Mr. Grace said to leave the existing appeals process alone as the appeals process was “simple.”

When asked if the Clerk’s office would have a problem handling FOIL requests, Deputy Town Clerk Quast said that the office could handle it.