Downe Township agrees to make minutes promptly available

After receiving my notice of an intended lawsuit, the Downe Township (Cumberland County) Committee passed a May 7, 2012 resolution promising to make draft copies of both its public meeting minutes and the nonexempt portions of its nonpublic (closed or executive) meeting minutes publicly available "the sooner to occur of thirty (30) days after a meeting or prior to the next scheduled meeting, whichever occurs first."  My threatened lawsuit, Committee resolution and cover letters are on-line here.

Downe Township is a rural township of about 1,700 inhabitants that borders the Delaware Bay.  Some towns, due to their small size, claim that they don't have the staff or resources to keep their minutes up to date.  The fact that Downe is able to promise to make both its open and closed minutes publicly available prior to the next meeting challenges the "we're too small" excuse.