Attorney Asks Farmington Schools to Retain Eagle Documents

Plaintiffs suing over the sale of Eagle Elementary School to the Islamic Cultural Association (ICA) in Franklin have asked officials to pledge they will not destroy minutes of all meetings related to the sale. 

The state's Open Meetings Act allows officials to shred closed meeting minutes one year and one day following the date of the meeting. Attorney Robert Davis, who represents Eugene Greenstein of Farmington Hills and Melvin C. Sternfeld of West Bloomfield in the lawsuit, said his clients have concerns about minutes from closed meetings last January that they believe are related to the sale.

"We are now approaching one year from the time my clients believe the district and the board had improper closed sessions on the sale of Eagle Elementary School," Davis wrote in an email Tuesday.

Davis said an attorney general opinion that is part of the Open Meetings Act prohibits officials from discussing the sale of property in closed meetings. affirming that while administrators negotiated with ICA after an initial offer was made on Jan. 13, 2011, board members were presented with the final offer on May 12, 2011 and discussed it at their May 24, 2011 public meeting. 

Officials held three closed meetings in May, all related to contract negotiations, minutes show. The minutes of a Jan. 11, 2011 closed session would be eligible for shredding after today. However, the stated reason for closing that session was also contract negotiations. 

Closed meetings were also held Jan. 18, 2011 (personnel evaluation) and Jan. 25, 2011 (contract negotiations). 

District retains records

School officials say they generally don't get rid of minutes, and they would not do so with those related to the sale.

"Any records pertaining to the lawsuit are retained," Supt. Susan Zurvalec said after Tuesday's Board of Education meeting. "They are all in evidence."

Farmington Schools Assistant Superintendent David Ruhland said Tuesday that the district's legal counsel will respond to the request. However, he said, the district keeps meeting minutes "for years. We have records that go back a decade or more." 

He said closed meeting minutes rarely contain much detail, "because by law, you can't make a decision." The purpose of those meetings, he said, is to allow district officials to have open discussions about pending litigation, contract negotiations and other matters as allowed by law. 

The Michigan Court of Appeals in late December denied the district's motion to immediately affirm that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring their lawsuit. While the court case is pending, the Eagle sale is expected to close today. In the event it goes through, the deed and proceeds will be held in escrow, pending the outcome of the lawsuit, Ruhland said.