Bid to toss lawsuit over inaudible public meeting denied
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A judge in northeastern Tennessee has denied an effort to throw out a lawsuit arguing the public has right to hear deliberations under the state’s open meetings laws.
The ruling by Chancellor Douglas T. Jenkins on Thursday stems from complaints by members of a group called Save the Nolichucky that they could not hear the deliberations when the Greene County Industrial Development Board approved the a 12-mile pipeline connecting the river with a US Nitrogen plant.
The board and US Nitrogen argued that open meetings requirements were met by allowing the public to attend, but that the law doesn’t require the proceedings to be heard. Media report that while Jenkins denied their bid to toss the lawsuit, he also refused the group’s motion to halt construction while the lawsuit heads for trial.
