News
Reflecting and Recognizing a Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane LLP Partner
Friday, June 28, 2020 marks the one year anniversary of John Flynn Day in Milton, MA. John Flynn, Esq. received this special recognition in 2019 for serving as Town Counsel for thirty years. Last year, members of the Select Board, Town Administration, Senator Timility, Representative Driscoll, previous members of the Board, and other elected officials celebrated Attorney Flynn last year when the day in his honor was first proclaimed.
Present day, Milton held one of the first virtual town meeting ever held in the region on the evening of June 15th and finished on the following evening, June 16th. The Town of Milton, like other municipalities, has been conducting virtual meetings since the pandemic began three months ago. However, holding a virtual Town Meeting was a new experience that took a good deal of preparation.
To meet the technological demands that have developed as a result of Covid-19, a total of eleven trainings took place just to prepare for this meeting. In addition, the Town offered training sessions for town residents. Further, security measures were put in place so that only a Milton residence would be allowed to attend the meeting. And finally, panelists received trainings to familiarize them with the virtual platform.
Town Meeting had 39 Articles to present and vote on over the course of the two nights. In attendance there were 230 town meeting members and two call-in votes from town members. There were 24 panelists, consisting of the Town Board members, the presenters that were controlling the Zoom call. The articles included PowerPoint presentations, discussions and questions from meeting members. At the close of the annual meeting, 15 articles were passed by consent agenda. Twenty-four articles were presented over the Zoom meeting and active discussions took place over the two night meeting.
In the words of John Flynn, “a lot has changed in the course of a year,” but the challenges created by Covid-19 has not prevented the town of Milton from hearing the voices of its citizens.
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP Receives Favorable Decision for Town of Dracut
On April 11, 2023, MHTL Attorneys Peter Mello and Madison Harris-Parks represented the Town of Dracut, and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction order requiring, among other things, that the Defendant homeowners cease renting out their pool to the public. The case, Town of Dracut by and Through Its Building Inspector vs. Nason, Gilbert et al., was initiated by the Town after the Defendants failed to comply with the Town’s associated underlying zoning enforcement order. The Town requested the injunction Read More
EXTENSION OF MUNICIPAL RELIEF MEASURES - INCLUDING OPEN MEETING LAW REMOTE OPTION - SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
The option for public bodies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to hold public meetings remotely or in a hybrid fashion, which came into play at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been extended by the General Court for another two years, until March 31, 2025. The Governor signed the legislation, which will be codified at Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023, on March 29, 2023. Because of the inclusion of an emergency preamble, the law goes into effect immediately.
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