Nantucket Board of Health Approves Response to Two Open Meeting Law Complaints

NANTUCKET — April 7, 2026 — Nantucket Board of Health unanimously approved responses to two open meeting law complaints at a special April 7 meeting. Town Counsel Janelle Austin briefed all five board members — Chair Ann Smith, Tom Dixon, Carrie McKenna, Meredith Lepery, and Jim Cooper — on complaints filed by Kimberly LaTippe and Kate Garrett alleging that the board's March 19, 2026 meeting notice was insufficiently specific and that one-way emails sent to members that day constituted improper out-of-meeting deliberation. The board voted 5-0 to authorize Austin to finalize and transmit draft responses to both complainants and to the state Division of Open Government, and adopted a three-part remedial plan: public release of the disputed emails attached to the April 7 meeting minutes, a further noticed public discussion of the underlying subject matter at the April 16 regular meeting, and a commitment to ongoing review of the board's meeting-notice practices. Member Dixon secured agreement that the response letters would be posted in the board's public packet and that residents would be notified of the April 16 session.