Third Open Meeting Law Complaint Surfaces After Board Of Health Meeting On Turf Field

A third open meeting law complaint has been filed after a contentious Board of Health meeting last Thursday on the merits of an artificial turf field at Vito Capizzo Stadium.

The new complaint, filed against Board of Health chair Ann Smith and vice chair Meredith Lepore, is notable for making several specific allegations not mentioned in previous complaints, including referencing a provision in Massachusetts law that empowers the attorney general to assess a fine of up to $1,000 on boards that violate the state law intended to ensure that the deliberations of government bodies are open and accessible to the public.

Several hours before the meeting, Smith sent the other members of the Board of Health a motion she intended to make, which would have allowed the installation of turf at Vito Capizzo Stadium, but only if it met as-yet-undefined Board of Health requirements. During the subsequent meeting, three members of the Select Board suggested that circulating the motion outside a public meeting and discussing it without a clear, specific agenda item came close to violating the state’s open meeting law. The motion was ultimately not made.

Filed by island resident Kimberly Latlippe, the new complaint raises the same concerns, saying that the continued deliberation after the Select Board’s intervention was an “intentional” violation, which could expose the Board of Health to “significant financial penalties” for willfully disregarding open meeting law.

The complaint also focuses on the Board of Health’s sudden pivot to including the synthetic track planned for installation around the field in their discussion. Until last Thursday, the Board of Health’s discussion had focused almost entirely on the artificial turf field, which some allege could contain the toxic chemicals known as PFAS, linked to cancer and other human health impacts. Those in favor of turf deny these claims. The agenda item for Thursday’s meeting only mentioned “turf field,” and Smith told the Current after the meeting that she was not aware of any possibility that the track would be blocked.

But one of the motions Smith circulated prior to the meeting calls out the track specifically, saying it can’t be installed without Board of Health approval, and Smith mentioned the track during a prepared comment at the beginning of the discussion.

“The posted agenda did not provide adequate notice that the Board would deliberate on track improvements or the broader stadium project,” Latlippe’s complaint reads in part. “These topics were not encompassed within the posted agenda item and were not items the public could reasonable have anticipated based on the notice provided.”

Latlippe’s complaint does not specifically ask for the fine to be levied, instead calling for the board to acknowledge the alleged violation, “investigate whether pre-meeting communications constituted unlawful deliberation, and take remedial action, including refraining from acting on improperly discussed matters, re-noticing and re-deliberating those topics, and ensuring future compliance.”

Latlippe joins junior varsity girls soccer coach and emergency room nurse Kate Garrette, who previously filed her own complaint against the Board of Health. On the other side, island resident Meghan Perry, who has filed multiple successful open meeting law complaints against other town boards, claims that the Select Board violated open meeting law because a quorum of the board pushed Smith to end the discussion.

The Board of Health and Select Board have two weeks to respond, at which point the complaints will likely be elevated to the attorney general’s office. The attorney general will have to rule on the merits of each complaint.