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Town administrator reviews Act 51 Open Meeting Law changes affecting municipal meetings
Summary
Town Administrator Aileen Tulloch briefed the Selectboard on Act 51 changes that ease municipal compliance (recording meetings, undue hardship exemption, hybrid meeting exemptions for municipalities) and require executive sessions to be warned and to include a motion and vote to exit executive session.
Town Administrator Aileen Tulloch summarized changes to Vermont's Open Meeting Law (Act 51) and how they affect municipal public bodies.
Tulloch told the board that municipalities will be allowed to record meetings in audio or video and post recordings at the same time as draft minutes; an "undue hardship" exemption will apply if an entity lacks staff or resources for compliance. She noted the hybrid-meeting requirement applies only to state public bodies and not municipal ones, and that the law eliminates the term "non-advisory" body in favor of "public body" and "advisory body" distinctions. Tulloch also said executive sessions must be warned on the agenda and indicate the nature of the business to be discussed, and that there must be a motion and vote to exit executive session (the mechanics of documentation were noted as unclear).
