[Massplanners] S2475

Thu Jun 17 10:31:55 EDT 2021

Christian and Harry,

Sounds like I’m missing it but I raised the question based on highlighted
text in AG guidance.  40A Section 11 requires date, time and place for
public hearings.  I will restate my question this way. If we are holding
public hearings in person are we required to provide adequate alternative
means?

*Updated guidance on holding meetings pursuant to the Act Extending Certain
COVID-19 Measures*

Guidance Update – June 16, 2021

On June 16, 2021, Governor Baker signed into law An Act Extending Certain
COVID-19 Measures Adopted During the State of Emergency.  This Act includes
an extension, until April 1, 2022, of the remote meeting provisions of his
March 12, 2020, Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open
Meeting Law. The new law has two major parts.

First, the new law allows public bodies to continue providing live
“adequate, alternative means” of public access to the deliberations of the
public body, instead of holding meetings in a public place that is open and
physically accessible to the public. “Adequate, alternative means” may
include, without limitation, providing public access through telephone,
internet, or satellite enabled audio or video conferencing or any other
technology that enables the public to clearly follow the proceedings of the
public body in real time.

Second, the new law authorizes all members of a public body to continue
participating in meetings remotely; the Open Meeting Law’s requirement that
a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting
location remains suspended.

The new law provides that a municipal public body that, for reasons of
economic hardship and despite best efforts, is unable to provide
alternative means of public access that will enable the public to follow
the proceedings in real time, may instead post a full and complete
transcript, recording, or other comprehensive record on its website as soon
as practicable after the meeting.  In light of the various free and
low-cost technologies that could be used to provide the public with real
time access, the Division of Open Government strongly recommends that a
municipal public body consult with our office before determining that it is
unable to provide the public with real time access to a meeting. Furthermore,
this provision is not available for meetings when another general or
special law, regulation or a local ordinance or by-law requires allowance
for active participation by members of the public, such as in the case of
certain public hearings.

All other provisions of the Open Meeting Law and regulations, such as the
requirements regarding posting notice of meetings and creating and
maintaining accurate meeting minutes, remain in effect. Public bodies are
reminded that notice of all meetings must be posted at least 48 hours in
advance, not including weekends and holidays, and the meeting notice must
clearly specify how the public may access the meeting, whether in-person,
remote or both.

Richard J. McCarthy, Jr.

Town Planner

1 Liberty Lane

Norfolk, MA 02056

508-440-2807

Office Hours- Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm

Closed Fridays

Please be advised that the Secretary of State has determined that e-mail
sent by or received by municipal employees is a public record.

*From:* MassPlanners [mailto:massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org] *On Behalf
Of *Christian Brandt
*Sent:* Thursday, June 17, 2021 10:22 AM
*To:* Harry LaCortiglia
*Cc:* massplanners at masscptc.org
*Subject:* Re: [Massplanners] S2475

Good Morning All!

The AGO released this new guidance pertaining to virtual and hybrid
meetings which you can find here:
https://www.mass.gov/service-details/updated-guidance-on-holding-meetings-pursuant-to-the-act-extending-certain-covid-19-measures

I've pasted the first three paragraphs below:

This Act includes an extension, until April 1, 2022, of the remote meeting
provisions of his March 12, 2020, Executive Order Suspending Certain
Provisions of the Open Meeting Law. The new law has two major parts.

First, the new law allows public bodies to continue providing live
“adequate, alternative means” of public access to the deliberations of the
public body, instead of holding meetings in a public place that is open and
physically accessible to the public. “Adequate, alternative means” may
include, without limitation, providing public access through telephone,
internet, or satellite enabled audio or video conferencing or any other
technology that enables the public to clearly follow the proceedings of the
public body in real time.

Second, the new law authorizes all members of a public body to continue
participating in meetings remotely; the Open Meeting Law’s requirement that
a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting
location remains suspended.

*So, based on that I think the very short answer is that you can continue
to hold virtual-only meetings for the time being.*

Best,

Christian Brandt, AICP

Planner and Community Engagement Specialist I

Metropolitan Area Planning Council

617-933-0796 | cbrandt at mapc.org

Den tor. 17. jun. 2021 kl. 10.07 skrev Harry LaCortiglia <
hlacortiglia at comcast.net>:

Hi Richard,

Respectfully, you're wrong.

My read is that for Hearings, virtual is ok provided we allow for
"Participation".

We've been conducting Hearings this way via Zoom for months now. The Public
posting of the Meeting on the town website provides a link and a phone
number for anyone who wishes to join us. We've conducted Hearings with
participation of well over a hundred citizens. When Public comment time
comes, folks hold their virtual hands up for recognition by the Chair. They
are then un-muted and provide testimony or ask questions. (It's actually
working far better than I had anticipated.)

This latest extension language from the legislature and signed by the
Governor is below. (Please excuse the line numbers and the crude paste
job...)

I do recognize that some communities may be using a Remote Participation
Application that doesn't allow for the public to join them without a
specific invitation. If that's the case, then you're up the creek... or
more accurately, you're in the real world meeting room again. ;)

Good Luck,

H. LaCortiglia

Chairman Georgetown P.B>

138 SECTION 20. (a) For the purposes of this section, “adequate,
alternative means of public
139 access” shall mean measures that provide transparency and permit timely
and effective public
140 access to the deliberations of the public body, including, but not
limited to, providing public
141 access through telephone, internet, satellite enabled audio or video
conferencing or any other
142 technology that enables the public to clearly follow the proceedings of
the public body while
143 those activities are occurring.
144 (b) Notwithstanding section 20 of chapter 30A of the General Laws or
any general or
145 special law to the contrary, a public body, as defined in section 18 of
said chapter 30A, shall not
146 be required to conduct its meetings in a public place that is open and
physically accessible to the
147 public; provided, that if the public body does not conduct the meeting
in a public place that is
148 open and physically accessible to the public, the public body shall
ensure public access to the
149 deliberations of the public body for interested members of the public
through adequate,
150 alternative means of public access. Where active, real-time
participation by members of the
151 public is a specific requirement of a general or special law,
regulation or a local ordinance or by-
152 law, pursuant to which the proceeding is conducted, any adequate,
alternative means of public
153 access shall provide for such participation and shall be sufficient to
meet such participation
154 requirement. A municipal public body that for reasons of economic
hardship and despite best
155 efforts is unable to provide adequate, alternative means of public
access that will enable the
156 public to follow the proceedings of the municipal public body as those
activities are occurring in
157 real time may instead post on its municipal website a full and complete
transcript, recording or
158 other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as practicable
upon conclusion of the
159 proceedings. This paragraph shall not apply to proceedings that are
conducted pursuant to a
160 general or special law, regulation or a local ordinance or by-law that
requires allowance for
161 active participation by members of the public. A public body shall
offer its selected adequate,
162 alternative means of public access to its proceedings without
subscription, toll or similar charge
163 to the public.
164 (c) Notwithstanding subsection (d) of section 20 of chapter 30A of the
General Laws or
165 any other general or special law to the contrary, a public body may
allow remote participation by
166 all members in any meeting of the public body and a quorum of the body
and the chair shall not
167 be required to be physically present at a specified meeting location.
168 (d) A public body that elects to conduct its proceedings under this
section shall ensure
169 that any party entitled or required to appear before it shall be able
to appear through remote
170 means, as if the party were a member of the public body and
participating remotely as provided
171 in subsection (b).
172 (e) All other provisions of sections 18 to 25 of chapter 30A of the
General Laws and the
173 attorney general’s implementing regulations shall otherwise remain
unchanged and fully
174 applicable to the activities of public bodies.
175 (f) Notwithstanding said section 20 of said chapter 30A, if this
section does not take
176 effect until after June 15, 2021, a public body may provide for remote
meetings as specified in
177 this section and any action taken thereof shall be ratified, validated
and confirmed as if this
178 section had been in place.

On 6/17/2021 9:38 AM, Richard McCarthy wrote:

Good morning all,

Seeking clarity, if we have public hearings those have to be in person the
extension only pertains to business that’s not a public hearing.

I’m right or wrong?

Sincerely,

Richard J. McCarthy, Jr.

Town Planner

1 Liberty Lane

Norfolk, MA 02056

508-440-2807

Office Hours- Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm

Closed Fridays

Please be advised that the Secretary of State has determined that e-mail
sent by or received by municipal employees is a public record.

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-- 

*Christian Brandt*

*90 School Street, Somerville, MA 02143*

*christian.w.brandt.12 at gmail.com <christian.w.brandt.12 at gmail.com> *

*208.596.2895*
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