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Danville chair defends cancelling storm-hit meeting, announces tentative defect hearing
Summary
Chair Annemarie Inman defended her decision to cancel a Selectmen meeting during a snowstorm, said she will personally cover any required notice costs, and announced a tentative public hearing to address the procedural defect tied to the cancellation.
Annemarie Inman, Chair of the Danville Board of Selectmen, defended her decision to cancel a Selectmen meeting the night of the storm and said she would personally pay any required newspaper posting fee related to a subsequent defect hearing.
Inman told the Board that she made the decision the same day after considering public safety and the condition of roads and Town Hall closure. She said a remedy exists through a defect hearing and that she informed Jamie Dow at the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration about the decision. “If there is a cost, I will pay it personally,” Inman said.
The Board reviewed prior instructions and RSAs for special meetings and public hearings and agreed this meeting could serve as the announcement of a public hearing set tentatively for April 6, contingent on statutory notice timing. Town staff located guidance and a prior folder prepared by legal counsel Matthew Serge that the Board reviewed to confirm timing requirements: a special meeting should be held 21 or more days after voting day, and a public hearing must be held at least seven days prior to the special meeting.
Selectmen also addressed social media criticism stemming from a post by Sheila Johannesen, who had complained that the Selectmen’s cancellation represented a failure. Inman said she would prefer residents raise concerns in person and reiterated that she stands by the safety-based decision and would “make that decision again under the same circumstances.”
Next steps: Vale Van Doorne-Freeman will check statutory notice windows and the Board will confirm the public hearing date and any additional notifications required under state law.
