On Thursday, March 30, at 4 p.m., the Summerfield Town Council is holding a meeting that’s scheduled to be virtually nothing but a closed session behind shut doors, and the subject of the meeting is top secret. However, anyone who knows anything about what’s going on in Summerfield these days thinks they have a pretty good guess what the councilmembers plan to discuss.
That would be the attempt by farmer and developer David Couch to take property he has planned for a large residential development and have the state legislature remove that property from the town.
Though some aspect of that de-annexation attempt is thought to be the topic of the special called meeting, town councilmembers and town officials aren’t saying.
According to the notice sent out by Summerfield, “The purpose of the meeting is for the Town Council to have a closed session. No other business is planned.”
The meeting agenda only adds that the town attorney will participate. By law, the town must state a very general legitimate purpose for the closed session. Here’s the entire agenda:
1. Call to order
2. Approval of agenda
3. Closed session to consult with an attorney employed or retained by the public body in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege as provided under NCGS 143- 318.11(a)(3)
4. Adjournment
Couch has been trying and trying to get the Town Council to approve some measures that would allow him to build the community the way he wishes. But many in the town are worried about the changes the development might bring to Summerfield.
The March 30 meeting will be held at the Summerfield Community Center at 5404 Centerfield Road.
Given the heated nature of the presumed topic, some town residents may show up even though the council will go immediately into closed session.
By law, government boards must meet in public before going into a closed session and must come out back into open session in order to adjourn.
Though no action is called for on the agenda, sometimes local government boards will enter into a closed session and then come out and take an action that was not anticipated by the agenda.
