When Metro’s Sports Authority met in November 2018 to approve the contract for a new professional soccer stadium, the group violated the Open Meetings Act, according a new ruling in a Nashville court.
Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle says Metro’s $192 million contract with Mortenson/Messer Construction Company has no effect.
“The evidence is clear: Metro’s delayed 48-hour notice of an irregularly scheduled meeting of the Sports Authority to approve a matter of significant public importance of the $192 million construction Contract on the MLS stadium to be located on the iconic Fairgrounds property, when there was no immediate urgency or emergency for such short notice, was inadequate notice to the public,” the ruling reads.
If Metro wants to move forward with the stadium for the Nashville SC franchise, it will have to reaffirm the contract in a public meeting.
Bob Cooper, the city’s director of law, says in a statement the city will wait for the Sports Authority to do just that.
In the lawsuit, Metro argued it hadn’t violated the Open Meetings Act because the public can only observe Sports Authority meetings. There’s no allocated time for comments from the public.
But Lyle called that argument “irrelevant.”
“Even if they have no voice in the meeting proceedings, the public is required by section 8-44-103(b) of the Act to be provided adequate public notice that will fairly inform them of the meeting,” Lyle said. “That is because the purpose of the notice is not merely public participation at the meeting where that is allowed but more importantly notice so that the public has an opportunity to attend and observe to assure openness and accountability of government.”
According to the ruling, Metro has not paid for many of the costs associated with construction of the stadium. This makes the procedural slowdown “damage” to the city less than what was argued.
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