Council moves into closed session for legal advice on Memorial Day event; certifies compliance with FOIA

Councilman Cleon Long moved that the council close the meeting "for the purpose of consultation with legal counsel, the subject which is a legal advice concerning permitting and contractual questions related to a city sponsored Memorial Day event," citing a provision of the Code of Virginia as read in the motion. The motion was seconded, the clerk called the roll, and the council carried the motion by roll call.

After the closed meeting, Councilman Long moved that council certify, to the best of each member's knowledge, that only public matters lawfully exempted from the open-meeting requirement under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act were discussed and that only the matters identified in the motion were considered. That certification motion was seconded and carried by roll call.

The motion language as read into the record included a textual citation from the Code of Virginia as spoken in the meeting; the transcript rendering of that citation was garbled. The council recorded the certification required by the Freedom of Information Act and the city clerk retains the written remote-participation and certification documentation.