Complaint Filed Over Medeiros Farm Project   

An Open Meeting Law complaint was filed against the Seekonk Select Board regarding discussions of the Medeiros Farm property.

At the May 2023 Town Meeting, $150,000 was appropriated from the Community Preservation Fund to hire a consultant to develop a master plan for the Medeiros Farm at Elm Street and Lincoln Street. A seven member committee was appointed to oversee the project.

The Medeiros Farm Recreation and Park Master Plan outlined four objectives: active recreation, passive recreation, historic preservation, and a Community Park. The project has been the source of complaints from some residents, who object to the placement of soccer fields in their neighborhood.

In her December 5 filing with the Attorney General’s office, Doreen Taylor alleged that in 2021, Town Administrator Shawn Cadime and former Board of Selectmen chair Justin Sullivan held executive session meetings “relative to the purchase of property in the Town of Seekonk costing the taxpaying public $2 million in Community Preservation funding without holding definitive process discussions and taking Board participation votes in open session.”

Taylor also claimed there were no votes by the Board of Selectmen to designate John Alves, the Chairman of the Community Preservation Committee as “the designee to negotiate the purchase price for the property in open session.”

Taylor’s complaint noted a “conflict of special interest” with Sullivan, who serves as President of the Seekonk Youth Soccer Association and is the Select Board’s representative on the Medeiros Farm Committee.

At the December 17 meeting, Board Chair Michelle Hines read a response from the town’s legal counsel to the Division of Open Government, which noted Taylor did not “allege any sufficiently specific violations of the Open Meeting Law, rather, she is apparently requesting an untimely broad audit of the Board’s practices dating back to 2021. She further makes wholly unsupported allegations against the Board regarding conduct not governed by the Open Meeting Law. In addition, any allegations regarding the Town Administrator did not implement the Open Meeting Law as he is not subject to the Open Meeting Law.”

The town’s legal counsel also determined the Select Board had fulfilled Taylor’s Public Records requests.