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7 <br />12 <br />the board to discuss public business. The rules also apply to <br />informal work sessions or committee meetings where public <br />business is discussed but no official action is taken. <br />II. Open Meetings <br /> (a) It is the public policy of <br />Rule 2. Meetings to be Open. <br />North Carolina and of Orange County that the hearings, delib- <br />erations, and actions of this board and its committees be con- <br />ducted openly. <br />(b) Except as otherwise provided in these rules and in accor- <br />dance with applicable law, each official meeting of the Orange <br />County Board of Commissioners shall be open to the public <br />and any person is entitled to attend such meeting. <br />Comment: See G.S. 143-318.10(a). <br />(c) For the purposes of the provisions of these rules concerning <br />open meetings, an official meeting of the board is defined as <br />any gathering together at any time or place or the simulta- <br />neous communication by conference telephone or other elec- <br />tronic means of a majority of board members for the purpose of <br />conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting <br />upon or otherwise transacting public business within the ju- <br />risdiction, real or apparent, of the board. <br />Comment: See G.S. 143-318.10(d). The Open Meetings Law <br />provides that a social meeting or other informal assembly or <br />gathering together of the members of the board does not consti- <br />tute an official meeting unless it is Ñcalled or held to evade t <br />spirit and purposesÒ of the laws requiring meetings to be open. <br /> (a) Notwithstanding the provisions <br />Rule 3. Closed Sessions. <br />of Rule 2, the board may hold a closed session for the reasons <br />listed below. It is the policy of the state of North Carolina th <br />closed sessions shall be held only when required to permit a <br />public body to act in the public interest as permitted in this <br />section. A public body may hold a closed session and exclude <br />the public only when a session is required: <br />To prevent the disclosure of information that is privileged <br />1. <br />or confidential pursuant to the law of this state or of the <br /> <br />