Oakfield OKs funds for town operations

OAKFIELD – With little debate, voters in Oakfield agreed Monday evening to allow the Board of Selectmen to spend the money necessary to keep the town running until the municipal audit is returned and a budget is passed.

Before the meeting adjourned, however, a resident questioned whether the meeting was legal under the state’s right-to-know law, which is also called the Freedom of Access law. The resident questioned whether the proper procedures were followed to schedule the special session and to notify the public about it.

The FOA law requires that public proceedings take place in public and that deliberations be conducted openly, and has specific guidelines about giving proper notice of public meetings to allow for ample attendance by residents.

No one at the half-hour gathering requested an official inquiry into the matter, however.

Voters in Oakfield decided at their scheduled annual town meeting on March 27 not to go through with the session until they had the municipality’s yearly audit in their hands. Although they did not pass their municipal budget, they elected selectmen and school board representatives earlier in the day.

Town Manager Darrell Williams said that a glitch in the town’s tax software prevented some information from getting to municipal auditor Peter Davis. That meant that the report was not ready in time for the annual gathering, and it is not expected to be delivered to town officials until later this month.

Before the meeting March 27, a group of residents drafted an open letter to the town, which also was printed in a weekly newspaper. The nine authors wrote that they believed the town’s auditor “should examine and review all the town’s financial records for 2005” before they pass a new budget, and that they “should not be expected or requested to vote on incomplete or possibly inaccurate information.”

On Monday evening, residents voted unanimously to appropriate enough money to run Oakfield until the report arrives. Williams estimated that it would take approximately $42,000 to keep the town in business until then. The town has about $49,000 in its coffers, according to the manager.

He told attendees that Davis would be in Oakfield Tuesday and speculated that the town meeting would be held at the end of April.

In response to the meeting inquiry, Williams explained that after the town decided not to go forward with the March 27 meeting, he telephoned the selectmen and they arranged to hold the special meeting to allocate the necessary funds to keep the town running. He told the crowd on Monday evening that notification of the special meeting was posted seven days in advance.

Reached for comment Tuesday, Williams said that to the best of his knowledge, the meeting was legal.

Since the crowd at Monday night’s gathering did not want to discuss the validity of the meeting or any other town business any further, the session was adjourned.