It would appear that this is a violation of Nebraska's Open Meeting Act. They probably do it because no one has ever called them on it. I've seen this Act used to get zoning permits for confined animal feeding operations tossed because the county board visited the operation with a quorum and no notice to the public.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-1409(2) Meeting means all regular, special, or called meetings, formal or informal, of any public body for the purposes of briefing, discussion of public business, formation of tentative policy, or the taking of any action of the public body;
"The public meetings law is broadly interpreted and liberally construed to obtain the objective of openness in favor of the public, and provisions permitting closed sessions must be narrowly and strictly construed. Grein v. Board of Education of Fremont, 216 Neb. 158, 343 N.W.2d 718 (1984)."
As long as public business is discussed, it has to be open to the public. There are a few exceptions but it doesn't appear that these meetings would fall into those exceptions.
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