Petersburg council convenes closed session to discuss property acquisition and legal matters

The Petersburg City Council voted to convene a closed session under the statutory authority read aloud in the meeting (cited in the transcript as variants of 2.2-3711 and related subsections) "for the purpose of discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose and the disposition of publicly held real property" where open discussion would harm negotiation strategy. The chair explicitly included receiving legal advice on a zoning ordinance issue and referenced a Petersburg Circuit Court case while making the motion.

The chair read a long statutory statement that included a reference to the zoning ordinance section "33 dash 38" and cited a Petersburg Circuit Court case by number; the clerk then conducted a roll-call vote. The transcript records 'Aye' votes from Council member Cuthbert, Council member Myers, Council member Westbrook, Vice mayor Hill and Mayor Perrin, after which the chair said, "We're now in closed session." The body therefore entered closed session to discuss property negotiations and legal matters under the exceptions to open-meetings law cited on the record.