Seymour City Council made the decision to cancel the follow-up public meeting regarding the Burkart Opportunity Zone Agenda due to the amount of nonsupport and nay votes.

Mayor Matt Nicholson said at Monday night’s city council meeting that the study would not be discussed any further unless the council brought it up due to the nonsupport resolution.

Councilman Drew Storey suggested there were some elements of the Brookings Study that could be sent back to the economic development committee.

Councilman Chad Hubbard said they might be open to certain parts of the study.

Storey then proposed the economic development committee review the study and present favorable items receiving public support back to city council.

City Attorney Chris Engleking said she felt the resolution passed at the last council meeting was vague enough to allow that to happen.

Councilman Seth Davidson made the motion to cancel the May 15 public meeting at Seymour High School as the resolution stands and the study is dead and it was seconded by Brad Lucas. The motion passed 7-0.

In other business, Storey made a motion stating the city council finds it is in their best interest to hire separate legal counsel to represent City Council. That motion was seconded by council member Jerry Hackney.

Nicholson asked the reason for increasing cost to taxpayers for this decision, and Storey said there was a loss of confidence in the city attorney.

Storey said an ad hoc committee, a temporary group of people who are brought together to perform a specific task or solve a problem, was formed and composed of himself, Hackney and Councilman Matt Wheeler.

Storey said the committee wanted to seek counsel at no cost to the city.

January Rutherford, the city’s public information specialist and a former reporter, questioned if the committee advertised the meeting for public input.

Storey said they did not, but it was not needed as there were only three members present, which does not violate Indiana’s Open Door laws.

Former Councilman Dave Earley asked if other council members knew of this action and Wheeler said he contacted Hubbard and Councilman Clint Blish after the committee meeting, which is a violation of the Open Door Law, known as a serial meeting.

A serial meeting is a series of small meetings held by a governing body in an attempt to avoid the requirements of the Open Door Law. The Open Door Law states that government agencies must hold official meetings of a majority of their governing body, such as council or board meetings, publicly.

Due to the exchanging of information, which constitutes an “official action,” between two additional council members who were not part of the ad hoc committee is a violation of the Open Door Law and is grounds for potential penalization, according to Indiana’s Public Access Laws Handbook.

Engleking later told The Tribune city hall has not filed a complaint regarding the violation, but they have reported the perceived violation to the Office of the Public Access Counselor to receive guidance on how to better educate council members on the Open Door Law.

Engleking said during the meeting Wheeler’s actions does not affect Storey’s motion as long as the search committee operates within the state’s Open Door Law.

The motion passed 5-2 to move forward with a search committee. Storey asked Hackney to head up the search committee. Nicholson confirmed it is his responsibility to assign people to committees so, he assigned the task to the governmental affairs committee.

The committee includes chairman Brad Lucas, Chad Hubbard and Matt Wheeler.