To the editor:

I attended the Little Compton town council meeting February 22, 2018. I was dismayed by the fact that the members of the Town Council, without any input from the community members in attendance, quickly made a motion and unanimously approved, an application for Sakonnet Vineyard to hold a total of 24 events in the three month summer period.

Prior to the open meeting, the Town Council and solicitor held an executive session. In the first five minutes of the open session, it seemed evident that this session had been choreographed to prevent the attending townspeople any chance to object or make comments on the application or its impact on the community. Furthermore, the Town Council seemed to have planned to deny the public any access to three pieces of correspondence on the agenda from the involved parties in order to suppress any discussion of the matters therein.

After the vote to approve the application by the Town Council, a frustrated public made comments but only three members of the Council responded. Most of those responses were that answers would not be forthcoming because of ongoing litigation. One counselor was rude and aggressive towards a member of the public before the chairman called for a new vote on the motion to grant the application - again unanimously approved without any discussion by the five council members.

I was extremely disappointed by the performance of the Town Council. I agree with many of the people in the audience and the community who believe that the approval of this application will lead to the degradation of the quality of life in Little Compton. I can only conclude that the Little Compton Town Council members voted out of fear of reprisals from Sakonnet Vineyards and its legal team.The burdens that may be put on the town and its citizens by this approval are very disturbing.

Dr. Gregory 0 . DeJean, USNR, Capt (ret)

Little Compton