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Benzie County commissioners enter closed session, accept counsel recommendation in pending litigation
Summary
At a Jan. 20 special meeting the Benzie County Board of Commissioners entered closed session to discuss pending litigation (file no. 1:14-CV-527), later voting unanimously to accept counsel’s recommendation; the transcript does not disclose the recommendation’s substance.
The Benzie County Board of Commissioners held a special meeting on Jan. 20, 2015, at the county government center in Beulah and voted to enter closed session to discuss pending litigation, then accepted county counsel’s recommendation after returning to open session.
Chairman K. Vance Bates called the meeting to order with Commissioners Carland, Griner, Tucker and Walterhouse present and Commissioners Sauer and Warsecke excused. Commissioner Griner gave the invocation and the assembly recited the pledge of allegiance.
During the public-comment period, Eric VanDussen said he believed there had been a violation of the Open Meetings Act. The transcript records no formal response to VanDussen’s remark.
Shortly afterward, Bates moved and Commissioner Tucker seconded a motion to enter closed session to discuss litigation identified in the transcript as file number 1:14-CV-527 in the United States District Court for the Western District, saying discussion in open session would be "detrimental to the County." The board entered closed session at 1:07 p.m. after a roll-call vote in which Bates, Carland, Griner, Tucker and Walterhouse voted yes; Commissioners Sauer and Warsecke were recorded as excused.
The board reconvened in open session at 1:22 p.m. Commissioner Tucker then moved, and Commissioner Griner seconded, to accept the recommendation of counsel in file no. 1:14-CV-527. The roll-call vote on that motion was unanimous among those present and the motion carried. The transcript does not specify the content of counsel’s recommendation or any terms arising from it.
Before adjourning, Commissioner Griner moved, seconded by Commissioner Tucker, to adjourn the special meeting and schedule the regular meeting for Jan. 27, 2015; that motion carried.
No formal findings, settlement terms, or additional directives were recorded in the public transcript. The board’s next scheduled regular meeting is Jan. 27, 2015.
