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7 8 <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 /> Rule 2. Meetings to be Open. (a) It is the public policy of <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 "called or held to evade the <br /> spirit and purposes"of the laws requiring meetings to be open. <br /> Rule 3. Closed Sessions. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions <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 that <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 /> 1. To prevent the disclosure of information that is privileged or confi- <br /> dential pursuant to the law of this State or of the United States, or not <br />