The Open Meetings Act is a valuable tool for residents. We should understand it and make a concerted effort to object if we think it has been violated by our Board of Trustees. The open meetings act requires discussions and decisions to be made in public, not in private.

Think what could happen without an Open Meetings Act. The Township Board could vote themselves big raises, approve developments, change ordinances, etc., without the public knowing.

Here is a link to a summary of the Open Meetings Act by the State Attorney General.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/ag/OMA_handbook_287134_7.pdf

It contains a crucial section on permissible reasons for closed sessions.  Some things can be discussed in closed session, if rather stringent requirements are met, but no decisions can be made there.