Circuit Court Date Set For Brickyard Controversy

The Montgomery County Government Circuit Court is scheduled to hear the Brickyard Road case, Nick Maravell versus Montgomery County Board of Education, on Dec. 15, 2011.

The court will decide if the Montgomery County BOE violated the Open Meetings Act when it transferred the Brickyard Road lease from Maravell to Montgomery County. Maravell had been farming a plot of land at Brickyard Road on lease from the board of education for over 30 years, before the board voted in March of 2011 to lease the land to the county to develop into soccer fields. Maravell's suit against the board claims that residents were not properly clued into the board's actions.

The Open Meetings Act is a sunshine law that requires local governments and school boards to make meetings open and available to the public. The Maryland Open Meetings Law Compliance Board had stated earlier this year that Montgomery County residents were not made sufficiently aware of the proceedings.

Maravell and his attorney, Jim Parsons of Rockville, filed suit in court in July claiming that the sunshine law had been violated, and that the court should therefore reject the county’s claim on the land.

Parties involved in the case in front of the state board of education had hoped for a resolution by Oct. 25, during the board’s monthly meeting. The state board is still collecting briefs and information from the parties, according to Bill Reinhard, spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Education, and a schedule for the case has not yet been set.

"There's not going to be any action taken this week," Rienhard said, adding that the case would not be decided this month either.