Coplay Borough Council members contend they are not violating the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act by holding committee meetings behind closed doors.

"Committee meetings, we don't have to schedule anything," said Council President Lou Bodish Tuesday night when asked by The Press for a schedule of committee meeting dates, times and minutes. He confirmed the meetings are not advertised or open to the public.

When told by The Press the borough may be in violation of the Sunshine Act, a state law requiring open government meetings, Bodish said, "It is not."

Bodish then looked at Solicitor James F. Preston.

"She's entitled to her beliefs," Preston said.

"We go under what our solicitor tells us," said Bodish.

"The Sunshine Act requires committee meetings to be public," said Melissa Melewsky, legal counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. "If the committee meetings weren't public, the citizens would be cut off from the real work of creating public policy and that is an unacceptable result."

The text of the Sunshine Act uses the term "agency" to refer to those subject to the law. It defines "agency" as "the body and all committees thereof authorized by the body to take official action or render advice on matters of agency business."

A section of the Sunshine Act on public meetings reads, "Official action and deliberations by a quorum of the members of an agency shall take place at a meeting open to the public."

Coplay's 15 committees are each made up of three people – one less than required for a quorum of the full council. However, Melewsky said, a quorum for a three-member committee is two members.

"The committee itself is an agency," said Melewsky. "Any time a quorum or more of the committee – not the larger board – deliberates agency business, it must do so at a public meeting unless a valid exception applies."

Exceptions include sensitive topics such as personnel issues and litigation, but these exceptions apply to discussions only. All official action must take place in public, the law states.

The law also requires minutes of committee meetings to include the date, time and place of the meeting, who was present, the substance of the meeting, a record of any votes and the names of all citizens who spoke.

Early Wednesday morning, The Press filed an official, written right-to-know request for Coplay's committee meeting schedules and minutes.

Questioned at the Oct. 9 regular meeting, Bodish said some items have been discussed at committee meetings, which he believes are not required to be open to the public.

At the July 2 workshop meeting, resident Anne Killeen proposed an ordinance to deal with situations such as one at 1102 Center St. where bamboo was growing out of control. At that meeting, Bodish told Killeen the issue would be discussed in committee.

"It was discussed and I think we're actually working on an ordinance," Bodish said Tuesday.

However, he said was "not sure" how the issue of purchasing a video camera system for the Coplay Pool, Parkway and Pavilion came up, though he believed it was brought up by a committee chairman. Council voted unanimously to purchase the system for $11,689.24 at the July 10 meeting.

At the Sept. 4 workshop, former Councilwoman Beverly Miller expressed concerns about the practice of requiring homeowners to install sidewalks, if none are there already, before the home is sold. Bodish told her the issue would be discussed in committee.

So far that discussion has not taken place because he was on vacation, he said Tuesday.

Newly appointed councilman Charles Sodl, who fills a seat vacated by former councilman Marvin Mann, has taken Mann's former committee assignments, said Bodish Tuesday.

"At this point I haven't changed anything," Bodish said. "I just got back from vacation and I got to make up my mind who I want where," he said.

Sodl's nameplate identifies him as the chair of the fire and water committee, which had formerly been chaired by Mann. Sodl gave a detailed report, saying he recently met with fire Chief David Buskaritz and two assistants, in part to discuss the number of calls to the unit block of Front Street.

From Jan. 1 to Sept. 23, the fire company answered 23 calls to that area. This poses a safety issue and costs the borough time and money, Sodl said.

Most of the calls are caused by cooking accidents.

"Maybe we need to educate these people on how to work with smoke detectors or something," Sodl said. "They don't seem to know how to cook. That's the first answer I got from one of the assistant fire chiefs."

Coplay Committee Assignments

The following are Coplay Borough committee assignments:

· Finance & Law: Joseph Groller, chair, with Lou Bodish and Charlies Sodl

· Property & Recreation: Matt Recker, chair, with Michael Mazur and Groller

· Streets: David Royer, chair, with Bill Leiner Jr. and Bodish

· Police: Mazur, chair, with Leiner and Royer

· Fire & Water: Sodl, chair, with Mazur and Groller

· Insurance & Health: Leiner, chair, with Royer and Recker

· Sanitation: Bodish, chair, with Leiner and Royer

· Comprehensive Plan: Mazur, chair, with Recker and Bodish

· Administrative: Mazur, chair, in charge of borough office, with Groller and Sodl

· Housing: Leiner, chair, with Recker and Bodish

· Negotiating with Teamsters: Bodish, chair, with Royer and Groller

· Whitehall-Coplay school: Groller, chair, with Royer and Sodl

· Joint Safety Committee: Mayor Joseph Bundra, chair, with Royer and Bodish

· Shade Tree: Sodl, chair, with Recker and Mazur

· Library: Groller, chair, with Sodl and Bodish.

– Source: March 6 workshop minutes and Council President Lou Bodish