Committee meetings for "signed up" members

I recently wanted to present my findings on our defective furnaces with the Landscape/Maintenace Committee meeting. Initially I was welcomed and the chair person said he would put it on the agenda for the May 13th meeting. I submitted my findings to him on May 12th early in the morning and 3-4 hours later I received this email:

I don't want to exclude anyone from the committee meeting, but it really is intended for just committee members; otherwise, the meetings could theoretically transform into ad hoc general meetings and that is not the intent of the committees, which are supposed to be "working" meetings that involve a lot of round-table discussion on specific topics in order to assist the Board and to provide thoughtful recommendations to the Board.
The Board Meeting, on the other hand, are intended for the general homeowner attendance and "open forum".

Can this chair person make this committee intended just for committee members?

I was encouraged by one of the Landscape/Maintenance committee members to join with him in submitting our findings about the furnace issue. I approached the chair person about my investigation and would submit my findings before the meeting. He said "yes" and would include it in the agenda.

Oh, I'm on the Budget Committee and the chair person allows guests residents to attend our meetings. Go figure...

Thanks,
PatsyO2

The furnace issue was designated to the Landscape/Maintenance Committee- beats me why. There were 132 townhomes installed with these defective furnaces.

I just found out from our board president that it's a board policy to only have members attend the committee meetings. A non-member can observe but not speak at the committee meetings.