Did Fayetteville stretch the law with 3-hour closed meeting?

For three hours earlier this month, the Fayetteville City Council met behind closed doors for a discussion that included a baseball stadium parking deck whose cost is ballooning and a proposed deal with the county to build a joint 911 center.

City officials say they adhered to the state’s open meetings law, which specifies narrow exemptions for the types of discussions that public bodies can hold in private.

But The Fayetteville Observer and a media lawyer are questioning whether the council reached beyond those exemptions.

The council cited “attorney-client privileged matter and economic development related to Project Home Run” as the reasons for going into the closed session on Dec. 7, city spokesman Kevin Arata said. Project Home Run refers to the public-private partnership with Prince Charles Holdings LLC, the investors who are committed to more than $60 million in projects connected to the minor league baseball stadium that the city is building on Hay Street.

Read more: http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20171216/did-city-stretch-law-with-3-hour-closed-meeting