Committee advisory board meets and is challenged on open meeting law – Wicked Local

A former Barnstable County Commissioner said hefiled a complaint alleging the current commissioners violated the state's open-meeting laws in relation to determining how $41.3 million received from the American Rescue Plan Act will be spent.

An advisory committee appointed by the commissioners to study the spending of the ARPA funds met for the first time on April 7.

My feeling is Im going to have to file and open-meeting law complaint, Ron Beaty of Barnstable said.It doesnt look like they posted a public notice (for the meeting). It has to be done 48 hours in advance. "

Beaty, a county commissioner from 2017-2021, lost his seat to Sheila Lyons and Mark Forest in 2020. Helearned of the meeting froma press release announcing the meeting had happened.

An agendawas posted, but it was difficult to locate on the website and it appears a notice for the meeting was posted on March 31, which would meet thetime requirement.

In an email early Tuesday morning to the three county commissioners and administrator, Beatyrequested a copy of a notice to theAttorney General's Officeinforming them of where the meeting notice would be posted.

On April 16, Beaty filed an open-meeting law complaint against thecounty commissioners, who created theAdvisory Committee. The complaint relatesto theApril 6, meetingin whichthe commissioner's voted to rescind a March 30 vote to award $10 million in ARPA funds to the Cape's 15 towns.

Beaty said the vote and discussion was not on the agenda. It was, in fact, conducted under new business, and Beaty argued that it wasn't an unanticipated topic.

"There's a lot money and the public wants to know where the funds go," he said.

The advisory committee did meetand, according to the agenda, received background information on how ARPA funds can be spent and on what citizens, town officials and stakeholders would likedone with the money.

Barnstable county received the first $20.68 million in May 2021 with the rest due to arrive in June. All 15 towns received individual allotments of ARPA money. The funds need to be designated for use by theend of 2024 and spent by theend of 2026.

In November, the commissioners asked County Administrator Beth Albert to create theadvisory committee to recommend how the $41.3 million could be spent. The committee will recommend priorities and regional projects that could utilize the funds. The suggestions are to be driven by data and align with regional priorities.

There are some restrictions, but the money can be spent on water, sewers, broadband, public health costs associated with COVID-19 or other public health investments, services for disproportionally impacted communities, small businesses, housing and education, nonprofits and to replace lost public sector revenue.

On March 16, the board appointed Paul Niedzwiecki, executive director of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, as the (non-voting) chair of the Advisory Committee, which first met April 7 at the Chamber of Commerce in Centerville.

County staff had conducted a detailed survey of 6,000 Cape residents, all 15 towns and a long list of stakeholders to determine their priorities.

The toppriority was infrastructure (61% of the votes) followed by affordable housing (45%), public health (34%), early education and childcare (31%). The lowest priority was replacing lost revenue for local governments (5%).

However, nineof the 15 towns, themajority on theAssembly of Delegates, advocated for direct cash paymentswhile six townsproposed the fundsbe spent on regional projects.

The staff that conducted the survey recommended that a portion of the funds be given directly to the towns. The commissioners voted to distribute $10 millionon March 30,and then rescinded the decision thefollowing week.

The Advisory Committee is scheduled to present its recommendations by September.

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Committee advisory board meets and is challenged on open meeting law - Wicked Local