Lawsuit filed against Abrams town board and planning commission

ABRAMS – A lawsuit was filed on Oct. 24 in the Oconto County Circuit Court after being brought forward by Matthew VerVelde of Abrams that alleges that the Abrams town board and planning commission violated Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law on five separate occasions and is requesting relief through a temporary injunction.

Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.81-19.98) states “all meetings of all state and local governmental bodies shall be publicly held in places reasonably accessible to members of the public and shall be open to all citizens at all times unless otherwise expressly provided by law,” in Wis. Stat. § 19.81(2).

It also states “Every meeting of a governmental body shall be preceded by public notice,” Wis. Stat. § 19.83(1).

Though VerVelde brought the action forward, the case is officially conducted in the name of the State of Wisconsin since the matter involves governance and public interest so both serve as plaintiffs.

Representing VerVelde is Thomas C. Kamenick of the Kamenick Law Office, LLC, and the Wisconsin Transparency Project. Kamenick, president of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, provided the Peshtigo Times with a copy of the official complaint upon request.

The defendants in this case include the Town of Abrams Board of Supervisors, Town of Abrams Planning Commission and the Oconto County Board of Supervisors.

Also named was VanHunk Enterprises LLC of Suamico since the plaintiffs seek to “void actions taken by the Abrams Board and Commission at illegal meetings approving the future development of a parcel of land owned by VanHunk,” the complaint stated.

According to the provided document, Michael Hubbard of VanHunk Enterprises purchased a 40-acre parcel of land (Parcel #002-393303844) that would require rezoning to “rural residential” to complete the proposed plan of developing 16 residential lots.

After appearing on multiple meeting agendas, the rezoning was approved during the Sept. 16 board meeting. The item was then sent to Oconto County where the board recommended it for approval.

The first claim against the town board alleges that they violated Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law by failing to provide notice and failing to meet in open session.

Specifically, it is alleged that Chairman Don Demeny and Supervisor Erik Leonhardt held at least one conversation about the parcel development and traveled to view subdivisions constructed by at least two of the potential developers prior to July 15.

The argument against these actions is that these were illegal meetings as defined by Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law because a sufficient number of members (two out of three members) engaged in governmental business without providing public notice and not holding it during a public session.

The second claim was brought against the planning commission and alleges that they violated Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law by failing to provide notice prior to their meeting on Aug. 12.

No notice was given through posting online, in person or “in a news medium likely to give notice in the area,” the claim alleged.

The third claim was brought against the town board for another failure to provide notice of a meeting that occurred on August 12.

The claim states that Demeny and Leonhardt attended the planning commission meeting that day, which the lawsuit alleges violates open meeting laws since no public notice was provided that the majority of the town board would be in attendance.

The fourth claim was brought against the town board and alleges that they violated Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law by failing to meet in open session and provide notice prior to their meeting on Aug. 19.

It is claimed in the lawsuit that at the Aug. 19 meeting Supervisor Dennis Ferdon referred to discussing the parcel development with Leonhardt during a phone call.

This allegedly violates open meeting laws since no public notice was provided that the majority of the town board would be meeting and since the meeting was not held in open session.

The fifth claim refers to the Sept. 16 board meeting during which the parcel rezoning was approved.

It alleges that Wisconsin’s Open Meeting Law was violated because four different versions of a meeting notice were published, but none met the publication criteria. Because of this, there was no legal public notice given.

Finally, the sixth claim was brought against all of the defendants in the form of a temporary injunction to “[halt] any further progress on the development pending resolution of the case,” a press release from the Wisconsin Transparency Project stated.

“This process has been flawed from the start,” Kamenick said.

“The town board has been trying to ram this through against residents’ wishes in illegal meetings. We want the court to hit the brakes and send this back to the drawing board.”

This hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17, three days before the rezoning is likely to be considered by the Oconto County Board of Supervisors.

The Oconto County’s Land and Water Resources Committee held a public hearing and vote on whether to approve or deny the rezoning on Nov. 10, however the decision reached was not available by the press deadline.

If the rezoning passed, the matter will then be considered by the county.

The Abrams town board has not responded to email requests sent by the Peshtigo Times.