This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Town of Mansfield's
Notification and Public Hearing Ordinance."
Unless notification and public hearings are already required under federal
law or regulation, state law or regulation or other town ordinance or regulation,
improvement projects for town or state roads and bridges, and for town parks,
buildings and facilities costing more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.)
or affecting more than five (5) separately owned parcels of land shall be
subject to the notification procedures and public hearing requirements set
forth herein.
Routine maintenance activities are exempt from these notification requirements.
Examples of these activities include: road resurfacing, ditch cleaning, catch
basin cleaning, roadside mowing, tree removal, roof replacement, painting,
culvert replacement, small drainage system installation or repair, emergency
repair work of any kind, grading dirt roads, the erection of signs and guideposts,
crack sealing, road striping, screening sand and gravel, cleaning and repairing
sewers, maintaining fire holes, mowing, baseball and soccer field maintenance.
The final decision regarding exemptions in cases where a question exists shall
be the responsibility of the Mansfield Town Council.
Public hearings will be held for all town or state facility improvement projects projected to cost more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.) or to affect more than five (5) separately owned parcels of land unless exempted by the provisions of §
143-8, or unless waived by a majority vote of Town Council. Said public hearings shall be held at the completion of preliminary design so that the final design can be modified to incorporate residents' concerns in so far as possible and practical.
Nothing in this Article shall preclude more informal ways of soliciting
public opinions. Preliminary workshops to investigate various ideas and options
prior to the start of the design process are encouraged whenever feasible.