Centerville residents file lawsuit against council over offshore 'side agreement'

A group of Centerville residents is pushing for a temporary restraining order to block Avangrid Renewables' plan to route power cables through the village as part of its New England Wind 1 project, saying the Barnstable Town Council broke the state's Open Meeting Law by negotiating a deal on easements in closed sessions.

Barnstable and Avangrid recently brokered an agreement that conditionally grants easements for the company to bring the cables ashore at Craigville Beach and route them through Centerville village's historic Main Street.

The lawsuit, filed July 18 in Barnstable Superior Court, asserts that the Town Council violated the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law in reaching the so-called "side agreement" with Avangrid. Also named in the suit are Barnstable Town Manager Mark Ells and Anderson & Krieger, an outside law firm the town hired to help negotiate with the company.

Led by attorney Edward Kirk, the nine residents filed the 21-page complaint along with various attached documents. They want the court to nullify "any and all actions, decisions and votes taken by the council" related to the agreement during executive sessions on April 4 and June 13, and halt any further movement on the easements while the complaint is active.

The lawsuit comes less than three weeks before the state is due to announce new offshore wind contracts, for which New England Wind 1 — formerly called Park City Wind — is a contender.

The town's legal department on Monday acknowledged receiving the complaint, but declined further comment. The court will open a hearing on the matter later this week.

Complaint arises from pact made behind closed doors

The residents' complaint surrounds a deal that supplements the host community agreement associated with the 791-megawatt offshore wind project.

Publicly announced by town attorney Karen Nober at the council's June 27 Town Council meeting, the side agreement provides additional money and other concessions to the town, while simultaneously lifting a hold on granting easements to the company.

Last October, the council called for a pause on officially signing off on the easements because of uncertainty about the project's status after Avangrid withdrew from a deal with Connecticut because of changing market conditions. The company is seeking a new contract under better terms through the current multi-state bidding process.

The council learned the terms of the side agreement in executive session on June 13, and members voted 7-5 to direct Town Manager Mark Ells to finalize the deal. At a June 27 council meeting, several residents let the council know they are very unhappy about the deal, wth some calling it a "gut punch."

According to Kirk, the easements have since been signed and placed in escrow with Anderson & Krieger. At a hearing Thursday in Barnstable Superior Court the plaintiffs will seek an injunction "against their release until the Open Meeting Law complaint is resolved," he said in an email.

The easements are in escrow pending the wind developer receiving a bid award in the multi-state procurement. Awards are anticipated to be announced on Aug. 7.

Residents: Decision improperly made in executive session

In the lawsuit, the Centerville residents assert the council had "no lawful or legitimate basis" to be in executive session on (April 4 and June 13) and that the board improperly invoked executive session "to vote on and approve documents and agreements on matters of substance behind closed doors, and out of the public eye." That decision, they said, "deprived residents of the right to be heard "on a topic of great concern to the town at large."

Under the Open Meeting Law, there are 10 exemptions allowing for public bodies to call for private sessions, including for certain legal matters.

Besides calling for the council's votes to be voided, the residents want the court to void all action taken since June 27 to execute the side agreement and authorize the conditional granting of the easements, and to issue a temporary restraining order to prohibit release of the easements from escrow.

Additionally, they have requested the court to order the town to release all documents related to the side agreement — something the legal department on Monday pointed out has already been posted on the town website under a new tab called "public documents" on the right side of the council's dedicated page.

Kirk said the quickest way to resolve the residents' concerns "is for the council to simply rescind the executive session votes and consider the proposals in open session." Otherwise, he said, "it could be a matter of months."

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Centerville residents suing council over offshore 'side agreement'