After months of public outreach, Bend officials met behind closed doors Tuesday to begin deciding the fate of Mirror Pond , potentially violating Oregon’s public meetings law.

The Bend City Council and park district board voted last month to create a new Mirror Pond ad hoc committee and assigned its members a specific job: to select and refine a final plan for the future of Mirror Pond. Officials have been discussing how to manage the buildup of silt in the Mirror Pond section of the Deschutes River for years. Cost estimates for the four options that remain under consideration range from no expense, if officials decide to do nothing, to $10.9 million to remove a dam, alter the river channel to keep water flowing past homes on the north side of Mirror Pond and prevent the growth of riparian vegetation that would block their views. The committee met for the first time on Tuesday.

However, the Bend Park & Recreation District and city of Bend never published notice of the 3 p.m. Tuesday meeting. They also never provided an agenda. Park district employees told members of the media they could not attend the meeting.

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