Did the Penfield town board break the law?
It sure sounds like it (from the D&C):
The Town Board broke the state Open Meetings Law when it decided to end negotiations with a company that wanted to build a wireless communication tower in the town, the executive director of the state Committee on Open Government said Wednesday.
The decision, which was made by Supervisor George Wiedemer last week after talking with Town Board members individually, should have been made at a public meeting, Robert Freeman said.
From what I gather, the backstory is this: the Town Board authorized Supervisor George Wiedemer to begin negotiations with Clearwire Communications to build a cell phone tower in town. After a contentious open board meeting, they thought better of it and ultimately nixed the plan for the tower. I’m guessing the contentious board meeting is part of why they didn’t want to discuss the issue in public again.
Well, their plans didn’t work: after the hubub about the lack of a meeting, they voted to discontinue their negotations with Clearwire at a public meeting (via today’s D&C).
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