Ending of Saugus board meeting a misunderstanding

SAUGUS – The abrupt ending to a Board of Appeals meeting that left board members and residents out in the cold was simply the result of human error.Pam Gill of the Board of Library Trustees said there was nothing nefarious afoot, it was just a mistake.The board met Monday, Dec. 22 but its public hearings were called to a halt by library personnel at 8 p.m. when the library was scheduled to close. Meetings held in the public meeting room of the library are not typically held to the schedule of the library because there is a separate entrance, however, they still must follow the rules. One of the rules is that a meeting cannot continue after hours without a custodian present.”When you sign up for a meeting you have to have a custodian because you’re not allowed to keep a public building open without a custodian,” she said. “When you’re dealing with the unions you have to do everything right.”She said leaving a group in an unattended building could also be a liability issue.Gill said looking at the master list of scheduled meetings it appeared a line had been drawn through the Board of Appeals meeting. Believing the meeting had been canceled the custodian went home.”He called and apologized the next day,” Gill said. “He was very sorry, it was just human error, nothing more.”The only real problem with the incident is that there were still hearings left to be heard that evening, hearings that had been posted and advertised.Town Counsel John Vasapolli said it was too bad the incident happened but how it was handled was completely legal. When the board was asked to vacate the library it decided to move to the Public Safety training room just down the street. Vasapolli said that was fine assuming they announced it and posted the change of venue.”They can legally do that,” he said. “They can move as long as they tell people.”Vasapolli said he wasn’t clear on why exactly the building was closed but said the board might want to think about meeting in a different location next month.”There are plenty of other places to meet,” he said. “They could go to the Town Hall annex where the Planning Board meets. My recommendation would be that if the building is not available, meet in another building.”Gill said she didn’t expect the incident to happen again.”Nobody was out to get the Board of Appeals,” she said. “It was just simple human error and we did speak to the board and apologize for the mistake.”Board of Appeals members could not be reached for comment.