LIBERTY — Township trustees voted to give raises to three employees, and a township attorney apologized for a discussion that occurred in an executive session that should have been held in an open meeting.

During the meeting Thursday, the trustees went into an executive session to discuss compensation for township employees, a reason they are allowed to go into the private session.

Members of the public joined the meeting virtually, either by phoning in or through Zoom. But when the trustees entered the executive session there was a technical glitch, which allowed a few minutes of the private discussion to be heard by people waiting for the trustees to exit the executive session.

During that time, the trustees could be heard discussing how to use CARES Act funds and discussing with their attorney the process they would have to go through to purchase a certain truck. Neither of those topics qualify as an exemption from public discussion, and were not declared as topics of discussion for the session — a requirement for executive sessions.

Cherry Poteet, attorney for the township, apologized for the violation and said the trustees became “distracted” by the issues during the session, and would be sure to discuss the items next time in an open session.

After the session, the trustees voted to give the following raises to township employees:

• Rob Kondzich, a part-time groundskeeper, will earn $14 per hour, up from $11 an hour;

• Teena Wylie, the fiscal officer’s assistant, will earn $16.86 per hour, up from $14.73 an hour;

• Roberta Martin, part-time administrative assistant, will earn $14 an hour, up from $11.83 per hour.

Trustees also hired Megan Goehring, Matthew Gray and Tanner Baker as full-time firefighters and paramedics.

The trustees requested an amended certificate from the county auditor’s office to increase their revenue by $491,819 because of CARES Act funds the township received.

Trustees are expected to meet 8:30 a.m. Thursday for their regular meeting. Information about how to attend by Zoom is available on the township’s website, LibertyTWP.com. The meeting ID is 854 0866 1881 and the passcode is 732614.

rfox@tribtoday.com