Emmaus Borough Council held a brief meeting April 3 in council chambers.

Resident Otto Slozer questioned whether or not council was following the Sunshine Law during meetings. The Sunshine Law requires agency officials to hold certain procedures open or available to the public.

Slozer said during the previous council meeting March 20, it was said public business would be conducted through email. The business he was referring to was the decision of the Emmaus Volunteer of the Year Award given out every year. Slozer wanted to know why the public wasn’t allowed to know the name.

“If you didn’t want to have the public knowing the name, you shouldn’t have brought it up, because once it’s brought up that opens the door,” Slozer said. “I’ve read the cases – there are cases out there where it’s improper to be using the public business through email.”

He went on to say a request can come from court that will order both personal and business emails to be exposed.

“I said it before and I’ll say it again, there were no deliberations through the email,” Pepe said. “I have the right to send emails; if you want to discover it, feel free.”

Pepe stated council members understand what business they can and can’t do through email and they aren’t making any decisions through email. “I do have the right to give them information through email. That’s absolutely lawful.”

Slozer said he understood they have a right to send emails, but “when you’re at a public meeting and you say the ‘name I will send to you in an email,’ the public has a right to know once that’s brought out at a public meeting.”

“It was decided at a public meeting via public vote of the committee,” Pepe said. “It wasn’t hidden in Sunshine, and that same committee has been directed for years to make that decision.”

Pepe said at the previous council meeting the reason the name isn’t announced when it is chosen, is because it is supposed to be a surprise for the recipient of the award.

Solicitor Jeffery Dimmich responded and said council has been told all about emails and how to handle them and how not to. “They know my opinion on use of emails is very negative because of discoverability, but there are some times when it is appropriate to do it, it’s just a matter of using your head and doing it correctly.”

Dimmich said he did not see a violation of the Sunshine Law in this case.

Slozer also said at the adjournment of the previous council meeting, Councilwoman Lee Ann Gilbert turned off the lights in the public area of the chamber while council members were still assembled at the front of the room.

“I would again point out to you, when a quorum of council is still assembled in a public area, the public has the right to see what you’re discussing, so putting the lights out on us is probably improper.”

Pepe said they give the press 15 minutes of their time to answer questions at the end of the meeting while they sit there. “They don’t race out the door; it’s not a foot race to see who can get out the door first. We weren’t doing any business here.”

“Whether you are doing business or not, you have a quorum of the council still present, the public has a right to see that and to put the lights out on the public sends the wrong message,” Slozer said.

Pepe countered by saying she locks the door and turns off the lights like she does after every meeting, just like he [Pepe] locks the door and turns out the lights after every meeting.

Dimmich commented that as far as he was concerned the meeting was adjourned and did not violate the Sunshine Law.

“Just because there’s a group that constitutes a theoretical quorum does not mean that there is an ongoing meeting,” Dimmich said. “In fact, there is a case from the commonwealth court that allows for informal discussions even with the full quorums, being the whole group is present.”

In other business, council voted 7-0 in favor of allowing Upper Milford Township to purchase an old Bobcat at the retail value of $13,400. The Bobcat will come with all its previous attachments which include two buckets, one cold planer, one angle blade and one broom attachment.

Resolution 2017-14 passed which will allow Pepe to apply for the Community Development Block Grant through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant request is for $41,000 and will help with the removal of architectural barriers on certain sidewalks as well as other repairs.

Audrey Gardner Racines was reappointed to the Emmaus Public Library Board with an open term expiring Jan. 1, 2020.