NORWICH — The Selectboard has rejected a resident’s claim that it violated Vermont’s open meeting law when it met behind close doors last month to discuss making changes to Town Manager Brennan Duffy’s contract.

In Thursday’s special meeting, the board voted 4-1 not to act on the complaint, with the majority of members asserting they did nothing wrong.

“I don’t think we did anything inappropriate or out of line,” board member Priscilla Vincent said.

The board meeting at Tracy Hall on Thursday lasted only six minutes.

Resident Kris Clement alleged in her Nov. 12 complaint that the board had violated state law by failing to properly consider the need to enter executive session when it amended Duffy’s $145,000 annual contract to allow Duffy, who lives in Rutland, to continue working remotely two days a week.

In the complaint, Clement requested the new town manager contract be declared void and the board adopt “specific measures that actually prevent future violations.”

Chairwoman Pam Smith was the lone member to vote in Clement’s favor. “I think Norwich has no appetite for another lawsuit,” Smith said during the meeting.

Smith was referring to a three-year lawsuit over open meeting law violation allegations that wrapped up last year and resulted in the town spending about $100,000 in legal fees.

Vincent and Selectboard Vice Chairwoman Mary Layton said that the town counsel advised the board to deny Clement’s allegations.

“We received a helpful constructive opinion from the lawyer that there was no violation,” Vincent said in a phone interview Friday.

The Burlington firm of Stitzel Page and Fletcher, which represents Norwich, declined to comment.

In her complaint, Clement alleged that the board did not engage in a “careful analysis of the need to enter into executive session before the first motion was made,” during its Oct. 9 and Oct. 23 meetings.

In the Oct. 9 meeting, the board discussed changes to Duffy’s contract in executive session. On Oct. 23, during public session, the board voted 3-2 to approve amendments including to eliminating the requirement that he relocate to the Upper Valley, and allowing him to continue to work from home two days a week.

“I’m disappointed,” Clement said of the board’s vote in a phone interview Friday. “It is so obvious that they violated the open meeting law and the fact that they want this to move forward is perplexing.”

Vincent acknowledged that the vote during the brief special meeting might not have gone over well. “All we did was add to the frustration level last night because we didn’t discuss anything,” she said in an interview with the Valley News.

On Friday, Clement filed her complaint with the Vermont Attorney General’s office, which has the statutory authority to enforce the open meeting law. She also has the option to file suit in Superior Court, said Jenny Prosser, general counsel and director of municipal assistance for the Secretary of State’s Office.

“I’m going to allow the procedure to work as it should,” Clement said. “I am fully prepared to take this as far as necessary.”

Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vne ws.com or 603-727-3242.

CORRECTION: The Norwich Selectboard voted  3-2 on Oct. 23 to amend Town Ma nager Brennan Duffy’s contract to extend the town’s initial offer to pay $10,000 toward relocation expenses should he move from Rutland to the Upper Valley and to allow Duffy to continue working remotely two days a week. Duffy’s contract, first approved in September 2023, does not include a residency requirement. A previous version of this story gave an incorrect description of the changes made to Duffy’s contract.