Danvers Planning Board Responds To Open Meeting Law Complaint

DANVERS, MA — The Danvers planning board will work to improve real-time, participation in its virtual meetings after receiving a complaint accusing it of violating the Massachusetts open meeting law.

In a virtual meeting Tuesday, the board discussed a complaint filed by a town meeting member following its June 23 meeting and said it will look for ways to increase real-time, public participation.

Since the board started holding remote meetings in March following the state's coronavirus emergency order limiting the size of group gatherings, the planning board has accepted public comment during its hearings by email and from a call-in number where residents can leave messages that are passed onto the board. The complaint by Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member Matt Duggan said that commenting system did not allow for real-time participation as advised in Gov. Charlie Baker's emergency order on open meetings during the pandemic.

The complaint targeted the planning board and the conservation commission. While board members and Land Use & Community Services Director Aaron Henry said the current system was legally defensible, they used Tuesday's meeting to discuss ways to improve participation and allow real-time public comment as Duggan wanted.

"There is, obviously, what's legally required and then there is what is the best practice," planning board member Louis George said.

Since Danvers held an in-person, socially distanced town meeting June 22, other town boards and commissions have been moving to hold in-person meetings. Henry said because the planning board publicly advertises its meetings a month or more in advance, it will take longer for the board to resume in-person meetings.

Chairman John Farmer said he was "not comfortable" with resuming in-person meetings as the coronavirus crisis is ongoing. "I understand why people want to be in a physical location, the interaction is different, but the risk is too high," he said.

Henry said the planning board would respond to Duggan's complaint with a written response by the end of the week, as required by the open meeting law.

Dave Copeland covers Danvers and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).