HomeMy WebLinkAboutOML Motion to Rescind April 25 minutesNotice of Motion to be presented to the Barnstable Conservation Commission on June 20, 2023
From: Larry Morin, Member of Commission
To: All members of Commission and with copy to Town Clerk, Ann Quick
Re: Motion to Reopen Approval of Minutes from April 25, 2023 hearing regardingSE# 3-6084: JMS Holdings, LLC
Preamble:In conjunction with initial hearing regarding the Open Meeting Law Complaint regarding
the above-referenced Notice of Intent, included within the body of the complaint, Part C. on pages 7-9,
is a detailed recitation of one of the grounds upon which this Complaint is based, and which for purposes of this Motion and hearing is incorporated by reference.
Sequence of events:1. the Notice of Intent was filed on March 27, 2023;2. the first hearing was held on April 11, and the minutes from that meeting wereapproved by the Commission on
May 2;3. the second hearing was held on April 25, and the minutes were scheduled for approvalby the Commission on May 9;4. on May 3, the initial version of the minutes, as prepared
by Kim Cavanaugh, were circulatedto the entire commission for review; 5. the Agenda for the May 9 hearing was posted on May 4, and as the final item to beconsidered and approved on
that date, the minutes for the April 25th hearings werelisted; however, it was not stated whether the minutes to be considered were theinitial (May 3) or the “revised” (May 5) version;6.
on May 5, a “revised” set of minutes were circulated but without any explanation as to whyor what words, phrases, facts, opinions or other matters were either deleted or changed;further,
even though these revised minutes were sent from Kim Cavanaugh’s emailaddress, there was no indication or explanation as to those person(s) who made theseedits or changes, but without
any doubt, it is believed that Kim Cavanaugh hadnot written or authored any of those changes;7. the video from the April 25 hearings were posted on the Town website on May 8, soafter
the May 9 Agenda had been posted and read by the undersigned, Larry Morinconducted a thorough review of each and every matter that was discussed duringthat hearing;8. it became obvious
that there had been deletions from the May 3rd version that had, in factbeen covered, and that there were some new inclusions that had not been discussedor decided. The changes were,
and remain, too numerous to compare the May 5thversion to the content of the video.
(continued on next page)9. at the hearing on May 9, when the minutes from the April 25th hearings were called,without any discussion being offered, the commission voted 5-1 to approve
theminutes “as written”; Larry Morin was the only person who voted “no”;10. at that time, Commission Member John Abodeely asked Larry Morin why he hadvoted “no”, to which Larry responded
that changes had been made without anydisclosure to the commission, and it was not know who had made those changes;11. at that point, the Vice Chair, Louise Foster, said, “I made those
changes, isn’t thatall right?”;12. from the undersigned’s perspective as well as from opinions expressed by otherneutral and independent persons, the revisions and edits do not constitute
ormerit being treated as “minutes” but rather the mere rephrasing of the contentto present and enforce a position in support of their view and objective.13. for the 17+ years when Larry
had been on the Commission, any suggested or requestedchanges from the initial version has always been preceded by a request from aMember indicating what matters needed to be corrected,
and the suggested language,words, spelling, or the like should be stated; never once has a member of thecommission been authorized to make changes unilaterally and without disclosure
asto who was making the changes, what needed to be corrected, or why any changeswere necessary;14. it remains to be determined who else may have or did participate in making any changesfrom
the initial version, but based on the requirements and criteria as recited onPart C., 1. page 7, of the Complaint, the Open Meeting Law Guide was violatedand these changes, taking into
account the other grounds upon which this Complainthas been based, just further support the presentation of facts and grounds in support ofthis Complaint.WHEREUPON, this Motion includes
and requests approval of the following matters:(a.) Motion to Reopen the Approval of the April 25th minutes;(b.) Motion to Rescind the prior approval on May 9;(c.) Motion to Create,
Authorize and Appoint a Subcommittee of theCommission, to consist of three (3) current members of theCommission, none of whom participated in the findings or theminutes involving this
application, to include the following members:Larry Morin, George Gillmore and Bill Hearn;(d.) that the purpose of this Subcommittee shall be to review all of thecontent of the meeting
videos, notes and the documents submittedwhether in support of the application or in opposition thereto;(d.) that the appointees to this Subcommittee be authorized to selectthe person
to serve as the Chair at their own discretion;(e.) that the Subcommittee be authorized, at their sole discretion, toconvene meetings either as In Person or Remote proceedings, andwith
appropriate Notice to the Town Clerk as may be required;
(continued on next page)(f.) that prior to such meetings, each Member of the Subcommittee shallview the Video of the April 25th hearing, take notes, and then convenefor purposes of
sharing their independent, unbiased views as to what theaccurate version of the minutes should include and recite; and then(g.) within approximately thirty (30) days, or to a date certain,
present theSubcommittee’s version of the minutes to the entire CommissionMembership for public hearing and approval; and(h.) based upon the need for an accurate set of minutes, including
those from the April 11 and 25 and May 9 hearings, that the Subcommittee beauthorized to make recommendations as to whether the findings, asproposed and submitted on May 9, should be
reviewed, reconsideredand revised.Dated: June 19, 2023Respectfully submitted,//Laurence P. Morin//Laurence (Larry) P. MorinMember, Conservation Commission