Suppose you own a vacant lot in town and you want to build a small, six-unit apartment building on the site. What standards apply? Who decides and how much discretion do they have? Do the neighbors get to weigh in? … Read more

On June 21, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) became effective. Many local government employers didn’t pay much attention. After all, the ETS was publicized as applying to employees in healthcare. … Read more

What investments should our town make to lure new economic development? How can we improve housing options? How can we revitalize downtown? How do we preserve our agricultural lands and ensure property rights? How do we protect our community from … Read more

Update: On January 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued the Final Rule, which governs the eligible uses of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“SLFRF”) under the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”). The Final Rule makes … Read more

COVID-19 never really went away but now, with the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant, local governments have an increasing problem. They are finding that employees are unable to work because they are infected with Delta or have been … Read more

In December 2020, I published a blog post titled May a Public Employer Require Vaccination Against COVID-19?. In that post I concluded that a public employer may require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. … Read more

Update: On January 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued the Final Rule, which governs the eligible uses of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“SLFRF”) under the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”). The Final Rule makes … Read more

UPDATES (July 27, 2021): On Monday, July 26, Bloomberg Law reported on a July 6 U.S. Department of Justice memo that addressed whether public or private entities may require COVID-19 vaccinations while they are under emergency use authorizations. The memo … Read more

It’s been 10 years since the General Assembly limited the authority of municipalities to annex property into their municipal limits.  My colleague Frayda Bluestein explained the details of these changes here and here. The most consequential of those changes was … Read more

In May of 2020, early in the pandemic, the legislature enacted a new law setting out provisions for remote meetings during a state-level state of emergency. See my blog post here, to see a review the statute, and my blog … Read more