By Beth David, Editor
The public will be allowed to attend a special “informational session” scheduled to give Town Meeting members information on the proposed 40R Smart Growth Overlay District (SGOD) in Fairhaven. The jury is still out on whether or not the town can legally shut out the public, but the matter is moot for this particular meeting.
Town Moderator Mark Sylvia said the public will be allowed to attend. He said Town Administrator Angie Lopes Ellison spoke to Town Counsel, and after that conversation, it was decided that the public could attend.
The reason it was an issue at all is that the meeting was requested by Planning Board chairperson, Cathy Melanson, who announced it at the 9/9/24 Select Board meeting and made it clear that the public would not be allowed to attend. A letter also went out to TM members that said the meeting was “exclusively for Town Meeting Members.”
Fairhaven has a representative Town Meeting, which means voters elect representatives to participate in TM, vote on articles, etc. TM is open to the public, but only TM members can vote.
The town usually also holds TM preview meetings to give members a chance to get more information and ask questions. There are also precinct meetings, when the different precincts meet separately to conduct only precinct business, such as choosing a precinct chairperson and filling vacancies. Those have always been traditionally open to the public.
It is a bit unclear which exact category the meeting in October falls into.
“It isn’t a public meeting,” said Ms. Ellison. “It’s an informational meeting for Town Meeting members and the precincts. For transparency, we are allowing the public to come in and watch.”
Chapter 43A, Section 5 of Mass. General Laws reads: “A majority of the town meeting members shall constitute a quorum for doing business; but a less number may organize temporarily and may adjourn from time to time, but no town meeting shall adjourn over the date of an election of town meeting members. All town meetings shall be public.”
Town bylaws also clarify some details, such as a quorum, for precinct meetings, said Mr. Sylvia.
Ms. Ellison said the reason for the meeting is to address the many “misconceptions” about the proposed 40R district. The two consultants, attorney Adam Costa of Mead, Talerman & Costa, and consultant Dillon Sussman of Dodson & Flinker, will make the presentation and answer questions.
Ms. Ellison said they are the professionals who have been working on the project for several years, noting that some people have complained that there are no “professionals” involved.
“It doesn’t get more professional than them,” she said.
The 88-acre SGOD is in three different parts of town: Two retail plaza areas, and the waterfront along Middle Street. The area that includes the waterfront has faced stiff opposition. A conflict of interest concern has also arisen as two Planning Board members, Patrick Carr and Ruy DaSilva, own property in the waterfront portion of the SGOD. They have both continued to participate in discussions and deliberations, but say they will not vote on the measure.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, 10/1, at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium. It will be recorded by FairhavenTV.com and available on demand, but will not be broadcast live due to the technical limitations of the auditorium.
Ms. Melanson did not comment for this story. She emailed a response saying she was meeting with Town Counsel on Wednesday, which is after our deadline.
Visit our website at www. neighbnews.com to see related stories in our 9/12/24 issue, “Fairhaven SB discusses 40R zoning article,” and “40R hearing continued”; and our 8/15/24 issue, “Planning Board holds 40R hearing; receives OML complaints.”
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