BERLIN – A state board is now considering two complaints related to closed meetings held by Berlin officials related to Heron Park.
Two residents have complaints filed with the Open Meetings Compliance Board (OMCB) regarding closed meetings town officials held regarding Heron Park. The latest, filed by resident Edward Hammond, alleges the town used the RFP (request for proposal) process to evade the Open Meetings Act.
“I filed the complaint because the Town needs to improve the quality of its governance and, to me, that means transparency and broader participation,” Hammond said. “We aren’t a small and stagnant town of 2,000 people anymore, like it was when I was a kid, and that means the town government can’t keep working like a private clique of good old boys.”
The town has spent much of the past year negotiating with Palmer Gillis’ Coastal Ventures Properties, which submitted a proposal to buy about 20 acres of the 63-acre Heron Park property. That proposal offered the town $1.5 million for three parcels — parcel 410,57 and 191 — and would involve partial demolition of the existing structures to create a commercial project. Since then, a subcommittee of elected officials has been meeting with the company to negotiate an agreement. The subcommittee includes Mayor Zack Tyndall, Councilmen Jay Knerr and Jack Orris, town attorney Dave Gaskill and town administrator Mary Bohlen.
In April, resident Jason Walter filed a complaint with the OMCB regarding closed session council meetings that had been held regarding Heron Park on March 21, 2022, July 25, 2022, and March 23, 2023. He also said meetings by the Heron Park subcommittee—meetings that consisted of the mayor, two council members, the town administrator and the town attorney—should have been advertised and open to the public.
And Ed Hammond is not someone to be trifled with.
Bwahahahahaha