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Resident files Open Meetings Act and FOIA complaints after June session; clerk accepts records request
Summary
Resident Robin Burpee told the board she submitted Open Meetings Act and public notice violation notices over the June 2 meeting, handed the clerk a FOIA request citing Michigan Compiled Laws §15.234(4), and said she alerted prosecutors and state police; she urged the board to void the prior millage vote.
At the July 7 Mendon Township meeting, resident Robin Burpee told the board she had filed notices alleging Open Meetings Act and statutory public notice violations tied to the June 2 meeting and handed the clerk a formal FOIA request citing Michigan law.
"Because you voted on millage rates during an unlawful session, the vote is legally invalid," Burpee said, arguing the township provided only five days' notice for the Truth in Taxation hearing when six days are required. She told the board she had alerted the St. Joseph County prosecutor and the Michigan State Police and requested that the June 2 minutes and notice be corrected and the hearing re-noticed.
Burpee also told the board she will seek digital copies of records and asserted Mendon Township has not posted mandatory FOIA procedures on its website, a claim that, if correct, affects the township's ability to charge fees or deposits for records under Michigan Compiled Laws §15.234(4). Clerk Donna Cupp accepted the FOIA packet and receipt.
The board approved the June 2 minutes at the July 7 meeting; the minutes were not voided or amended during the session. The township did not announce a formal plan on the record at the July 7 meeting to reopen or re-notice the June 2 hearing. The attorney did not announce an immediate legal finding during the meeting.
