WILLMAR -- A June 18 informational work session of the Willmar Planning Commission was held in violation of the Minnesota Open Meeting Law because notice of the meeting was not posted according to state requirements.
The violation came to the attention of the Tribune as a result of an inquiry by a member of the public.
According to the League of Minnesota Cities, public notice must be given for all meetings of a public body, but the notice requirements are different depending on the type of meeting.
City Clerk Kevin Halliday said notice of the work session was not posted due to an inadvertent error by an employee in the Planning and Development Department. The employee said she was not aware that state law requires notice of a Planning Commission work session to be posted.
Halliday said notice of Willmar governmental meetings are posted on the bulletin board at the front door of the City Office Building and are posted on the city's Web site.
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Additionally, notices of hearings are published in the official newspaper and are mailed to property owners within a certain distance of the proposed conditional use.
"If it's a public body meeting (even if it's an informational meeting or work session), it needs to be posted and let people know what it is, and that's our policy,'' said Halliday.
"A hundred percent of our meetings, when any government activity is happening, are to be posted.''
-- David Little
