How can a government of, for, and by The People hide its actions from The People? It’s simple: we are no longer the republic created by our founders. We are a nation of two entities — the governing and the governed. In other words, the very thing we fought a revolution to escape.
You will probably find this was done illegally at the behest of Peter Schumlin and Barack Obama. Vermont open meetings law does not provide for negotiations such as these to be held secretly in “executive session”.