Manville Fire District gets open-meetings fine

PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin last week announced that the Manville Fire District was ordered by a Superior Court justice to pay $5,000 for “willfully or knowingly violating” the state’s Open Meetings Act.
According to a statement, Justice Joseph Montalbano ordered the Manville Fire District to pay the fine for failing to hold its board meetings in a handicapped-accessible location on multiple occasions, despite warnings from Kilmartin’s office that this behavior violated the law. Montalbano also permanently enjoined the Fire District from holding its open meetings in locations that are not handicapped acceptable.
Kilmartin filed the lawsuit against the Lincoln fire district in June 2012, citing three separate violations for holding meetings in locations that were not handicapped accessible. Marcel DesMarais had filed an initial complaint with the Office of Attorney General on Aug. 22, 2011, claiming he was denied access to a meeting. After an investigation, the Office of Attorney General cited the Fire District for being in violation of the law for holding the meeting on the second floor of the Manville fire station, which was not handicapped accessible. •

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