BEAUFORT - Port Royal officials violated state law when they met in private this week to discuss the future of the town's port without releasing an agenda to the public, a South Carolina media attorney says.

The officials included all five Town Council members and notices about the meeting did not reveal who would be attending or what they would be discussing.

"That process should have been public, that is illegal," said Jay Bender, a Columbia-based attorney for the South Carolina Press Association. "That is not significant enough to have an executive session."

Although some town officials say they were discussing contractual matters, Bender said that is not always enough reason alone to justify a closed-door meeting.

Phil Fairbanks, chairman of the port redevelopment commission, said the executive session was held to explain the process of forming a development agreement for the port site and the purchase of the land. An unidentified private developer attended the closed-door meeting.

The town's port is scheduled to be closed and the property sold by the end of the year.

The State Ports Authority has been working with town officials on a plan for the port site that will be sent to private developers for bids.

The state and the town have disagreed about how much green space should be included in the redevelopment.