No action was taken on a property issue that Chris Atkinson, director of the Hannibal Parks and Recreation Department, had sought to bring before the Hannibal City Council Tuesday night. In fact, after a short discussion regarding whether the matter should be considered in open or closed session, the issue wound up not being discussed at all.
At the conclusion of the open session, Councilman Jeff Lyng expressed reservations about the council taking up the subject of land for a new park in the western part of the city in closed session since the topic had already been publicly discussed during a Nov. 19 meeting of the park board.
On a vote of 4-3 the council went into closed session. However, when it came time to discuss the matter a motion was made to go back into open session. After approval was given to return to open session, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn.
“Certainly Councilman Lyng presented me with a question I had never had asked: If something has been discussed in an open session in another public forum, can you close it then at a council meeting?” said City Attorney James Lemon. “It would be my thought that as long as it is something which is allowable under the Sunshine Law to be closed I think you can still close it which is the position I took. Councilman Lyng and several others disagreed with that and ultimately they decided not to do it in closed session. The point was moot at that point.”
According to Atkinson, at last month’s park board meeting he did not go into specifics regarding the property, which he acknowledged is next to the airport. He had hoped to go into more details before the council.
“That’s why I wanted to go into closed session so I could get into more specifics as far as maybe some cost ranges and also specific locations and issues,” he said.
Because the council gave him no guidance, Atkinson is caught in limbo.
“Obviously I can’t really do any projects without having the guidance and blessing of the city council. That’s basically what the goal was,” he said. “It’s just going to push things back, whether it be two weeks, a month or six months. We’re not in a huge rush to do this. We’ll just take stock of where we’re at and see what the next step is in this process.”
|
|
|
No action was taken on a property issue that Chris Atkinson, director of the Hannibal Parks and Recreation Department, had sought to bring before the Hannibal City Council Tuesday night. In fact, after a short discussion regarding whether the matter should be considered in open or closed session, the issue wound up not being discussed at all.
At the conclusion of the open session, Councilman Jeff Lyng expressed reservations about the council taking up the subject of land for a new park in the western part of the city in closed session since the topic had already been publicly discussed during a Nov. 19 meeting of the park board.
On a vote of 4-3 the council went into closed session. However, when it came time to discuss the matter a motion was made to go back into open session. After approval was given to return to open session, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn.
“Certainly Councilman Lyng presented me with a question I had never had asked: If something has been discussed in an open session in another public forum, can you close it then at a council meeting?” said City Attorney James Lemon. “It would be my thought that as long as it is something which is allowable under the Sunshine Law to be closed I think you can still close it which is the position I took. Councilman Lyng and several others disagreed with that and ultimately they decided not to do it in closed session. The point was moot at that point.”
According to Atkinson, at last month’s park board meeting he did not go into specifics regarding the property, which he acknowledged is next to the airport. He had hoped to go into more details before the council.
“That’s why I wanted to go into closed session so I could get into more specifics as far as maybe some cost ranges and also specific locations and issues,” he said.
Because the council gave him no guidance, Atkinson is caught in limbo.
“Obviously I can’t really do any projects without having the guidance and blessing of the city council. That’s basically what the goal was,” he said. “It’s just going to push things back, whether it be two weeks, a month or six months. We’re not in a huge rush to do this. We’ll just take stock of where we’re at and see what the next step is in this process.”
