Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transparency Legal Closed Session topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Amherst resident asks supervisors to release legal advice on Winton Country Club; board later enters closed session citing 'Wynn' property
Summary
John A. Marks Jr., an Amherst County resident, told the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 5 that the board had committed during a Jan. 21 public hearing to have outside legal counsel’s recommendations presented at a public hearing in the Winton Country Club matter and asked the board to remove a closed‑session item and present counsel’s recommendations publicly.
Amherst County Board of Supervisors, Aug. 5 — During the public‑comment period, District 5 resident John A. Marks Jr. urged the board to provide legal counsel’s recommendations about the Winton Country Club matter in public, saying the board had committed at a January public hearing to present counsel’s recommendations publicly.
Marks told the board he attended the Jan. 21 public hearing on a proposal to terminate a purchase‑and‑sale agreement between the board and Waukesha Development Inc. concerning Winton Country Club. He said the board’s motion at that hearing had tabled the matter until all members could be present and that the board had sought outside counsel to review the contracts. Marks said that action committed legal counsel’s recommendation to become part of the public hearing and therefore to be presented publicly.
“I believe that one would reasonably assume that this deals with the commitment made during the public hearing on 01/21/2025,” Marks said in the meeting record. He added: “That action committed the legal counsel recommendation to become a part of the public hearing and as such be presented at a public hearing.”
Marks asked the board to remove the item listed as closed‑session item 15a from that day's agenda and place it on the next open meeting agenda so working citizens could attend. “If that is not the case, I believe the board of supervisors is abusing the closed session privilege,” he said, and he requested that the board produce the legal‑counsel report he had requested by FOIA on June 3.
The chair acknowledged Marks’ remarks but did not announce an immediate change to the agenda. Later in the meeting the board voted to enter closed session; the motion specified consultation with legal counsel retained by the board regarding a matter described in the motion as the “Wynn property” under the exemption for legal advice (Va. Code § 2.2‑3711(A)(8)) and consultation related to actual litigation concerning the “Fisher property” under Va. Code § 2.2‑3711(A)(7). The closed‑session motion was made by Supervisor Wade and carried by voice vote.
After the closed session the board moved to come out of closed session and certified by recorded vote that only matters lawfully exempted from open‑meeting requirements were discussed; a motion to that effect appears in the meeting record.
Nut graf: The exchange highlights a citizen request for public disclosure of legal advice tied to a previously tabled matter and shows the board invoked its closed‑session authority later in the meeting using the statutory exemptions for legal consultation and litigation. Marks’ request specifically asked the board to honor the prior public‑hearing commitment and to supply the FOIA‑requested legal‑counsel report.
Ending: The record shows Marks’ plea for public presentation of counsel’s recommendations and a FOIA request, and it documents the board’s later action to enter closed session under the cited provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; the meeting record does not show that counsel’s report was presented publicly during the meeting.
