Sunshine Law Case Study

The meeting started at 7:00 pm. The meeting did not start with the pledge, Sunshine Law, or a prayer. Instead, it started when Mayor Sandham walked in and sat down at the head of the table. This meeting was called the open space meeting, where the Montville Township Committee, Open Space Committee, and volunteers attended. This meeting was addressing the issues of JIF, an insurance company, requiring a waiver to use tools while blazing hiking trails in Pyramid and Turkey Mountain. The need to sign waivers started with the sledding incident. A couple of years ago, a person from another town came to Montville Township to sled and accidentally hurt himself. The town was sued and the insurance rates came up for the town, so the town had to take more safety precautions so they would not lose more money. That is why they want a waiver when using tools to blaze trails. At first, Dan and John were confused about the waiver to sign and how they were not allowed to blaze the trails for about four months. They wanted to clean the trails, but the township
They were also anxious to finish the trails before the winter, so they are ready for the spring. The JIF representative told them that if a PDW or park ranger went with them, the PDW would use the tools and help them. This resolved the issues with John and Dan.
The other man, Ron, was part of the county and blazed trails for them, and suggested using the waiver the county uses for volunteers until JIF provided a waiver. A woman suggested that Ron train people with tools when maintaining trails. Ron said he works with children and teaches them how to use basic tools and keeps a watch for them. Everyone agreed that Ron had the experience to train people. At 7:45, the meeting concluded with John and Dan allowed to blazed trails with a supervising DPW, and the town would use the county waiver for