LAKEVILLE—The newly formed Community Preservation Committee was criticized by the Lakeville Select Board on Sept. 29 for violating the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law at a meeting earlier that month.

The reason behind the admonishment was that a Sept. 13 Community Preservation Committee meeting led to a violation of the law because the subject of the committee’s budget was raised although that topic was not on the official agenda, according to Select Board Chair Richard LaCamera. 

Section 1A of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law states that “Meeting notices shall…contain a listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting. The list of topics shall have sufficient specificity to reasonably advise the public of the issues to be discussed at the meeting.”

“The Attorney General is all over this stuff now,” said LaCamera, who added that he voted for the Community Preservation Act three times so he supports the committee and its efforts but wants to ensure that the meetings are run correctly. “Not only can you be removed, but you can be fined.”

The Community Preservation Act was passed in Lakeville on April 4. The act adds around $40 per year to each resident’s tax bill. The money goes toward “maintain[ing] the rural character of Lakeville as a beautiful, residential community,” according to the town website, by funding projects that meet that goal.

This committee oversees the implementation of the act. 

At the Sept. 29 meeting, the committee asked if it could access its budget before the Annual Town Meeting in case a preservation opportunity arose before then. The possibility of accessing the budget motivated the committee to discuss its budget at the Sept. 13 meeting. The subject of the budget was not on the agenda, leading to the violation.

LaCamera said that proposed committee projects will be voted on at the Annual Town Meeting in the spring, and the committee’s budget will be accessible on July 1, 2023, the first day of Fiscal Year 2024.

Select Board Member Evagelia Fabian added that financial questions should go to the Town Accountant.

Fabian praised the leadership capability of Committee Chair Nancy Yeatts and said the committee should listen to Yeatts more. She noted that Yeatts has a strong history in town government service, including being the first female Select Board member. 

“I ask your board to give [Yeatts] more than the benefit of the doubt,” Fabian said.

Fabian noted that voters only recently approved the Community Preservation Act and that she has always been a strong supporter of its passage in Lakeville.

Select Board Member Lorraine Carboni said she was “uncomfortable” with the dialogue and wanted to encourage the committee rather than scold it.

LaCamera named a number of town staff members who received community preservation training in other towns. He suggested they could have helped the committee prior to the Sept. 29 meeting. He also pointed out that the committee cannot set its own budget. 

He questioned why both statements were met with “pushback” from members of the Community Preservation Committee.

“We shouldn’t be getting pushback,” LaCamera said. “They’re the ones that are creating the financial information. Whatever the financial information is—it’s from the Board of Assessors, the Town Accountant, and the treasurer—it is what it is. It can’t change.”

LaCamera told the committee to use the town’s resources to provide support and information.

“We’re a brand new committee, and yes, we’re still working it out,” Yeatts said. “I’ve been on many committees and I’ve never had staff support before, so I find that to be helpful even though we didn’t always get off on the right foot in the beginning.”