There shall be a Board of Selectmen consisting of the First
Selectman and six (6) others, hereinafter referred to as the Board
of Selectmen, who shall be elected at each biennial election of the
town. With the exception of the First Selectman, the Board of Selectmen
shall serve without compensation except for reimbursement of actual
expenses incurred in the performance of official duties, as authorized
by said Board of Selectmen. The First Selectman may appoint members
of the Board of Selectmen to serve as ex-officio, non-voting members
of the several regular and special town boards, commissions, and agencies.
Notification of any such appointment shall be filed in writing with
any such board, commission or agency. Said ex-officio members shall
be given reasonable notice to all meetings of the several regular
and special town boards, commissions, and agencies by their chairmen
or secretaries. No member of the Board of Selectmen, including the
First Selectman, during the term of office for which elected and for
one (1) year thereafter, shall be eligible for appointment to any
salaried office or position of profit with the town.
With the First Selectman presiding, the Board of Selectmen shall
meet on the first Monday in December 1993 and biennially thereafter
on the first Monday in December for purposes of organization. At said
organizational meeting the Board of Selectmen shall elect, from among
their own members, a Deputy First Selectman who shall serve as acting
First Selectman in accordance with the provisions of Section 803 of
this Charter. The First Selectman shall preside over all meetings
of the Board of Selectmen and perform such other duties consistent
with his or her office as may be imposed by the Board of Selectmen.
The Board of Selectmen may, at least once a year, call a general meeting
of the chairmen of all town boards, agencies, commissions, and all
other town officers. The purpose of these meetings shall be to coordinate
the activities of all town officers, boards, agencies and commissions.
At these meetings the chairmen of the various boards, agencies, and
commissions, and town officers shall present a report of the activities
of their board, agency, commission, or office. [Amended 11-5-2002]
At the first meeting of the Board of Selectmen following each
biennial town election said Board of Selectmen shall fix the time
and place of their regular meetings and provide a method for calling
of special meetings, all such meetings to be held in accordance with
the provisions of Section 1-21 of the General Statutes, as amended. The Board of Selectmen shall, by resolution, determine
its own rules of procedure. All meetings of the Board of Selectmen
for the transaction of business shall be open to the public and shall
afford to the electors of the town an opportunity to address to the
Board of Selectmen with suggestions, petitions, and complaints. The
votes of all meetings shall be recorded as prescribed by Section 1-21
of the General Statutes, as amended. Four (4) members of the Board
of Selectmen shall constitute a quorum. Emergency ordinances, resolutions,
or votes shall be adopted by affirmative vote of a majority of those
members present. The Board of Selectmen shall appoint a qualified
person who is not a member of the Board of Selectmen to serve as secretary
of said board. Said secretary shall keep a public record of all proceedings
of the Board of Selectmen, including all roll call votes, which shall
be the official record of its proceedings. The record so kept shall
be authenticated for each meeting by the signature of either the First
Selectman or the Deputy First Selectman and said public record shall
be kept in the office of the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen
shall appoint an Auditing Committee consisting of not less than three
(3) of their members whose duty it shall be to oversee and review
all claims and charges against the town except those incurred by the
Board of Education.
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Charter, the
Board of Selectmen shall have the powers and duties conferred by the
Constitution and general laws of the state. The Board of Selectmen
may recommend to the town meeting the creation, consolidation, or
abolition of boards, commissions, departments, and offices and may
recommend to a special town meeting the adoption of a proposed ordinance
or the repeal of an existing ordinance. The Board of Selectmen may
appoint, by resolution, special and temporary boards, commissions,
and committees as it may deem necessary and appropriate; said special
and temporary boards, commissions and committees shall terminate not
later than one (1) year after their creation. Except as otherwise
provided in this Charter, the Board of Selectmen may contract for
services (Section 7-194 of the General Statutes, as amended). Said
Board of Selectmen may regulate the internal operation of boards,
commissions, and offices, which it fills by appointment, provided
such regulatory resolutions are in accordance with the state statutes,
including prescribing the manner in which minutes are filed, and notices
of meetings and agendas are published. Said Board of Selectmen may
fix the charges to be made for services rendered by the town. Said
Board of Selectmen shall make all rules and regulations relating to
purchasing and bidding procedures. Said Board of Selectmen shall present
to the Board of Finance a program concerning municipal improvements
of proposed capital projects for the ensuing fiscal year and for five
(5) fiscal years thereafter. Estimates of the costs of such projects
shall be submitted to the Board of Selectmen by each department, office,
and agency annually by December 1, in the manner prescribed by the
Board of Selectmen. No later than the last Tuesday in February in
each year the Board of Selectmen shall recommend at a Board of Finance
Meeting those projects to be undertaken during the ensuing fiscal
year and a method of financing the same. The Board of Selectmen shall
have the authority to accept, on behalf of the town, deeds conveying
to the town interests in real estate for which the town pays consideration
less than forty thousand dollars ($40,000), deeds for roads which
have been approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission as part of
a subdivision plan, and may accept and grant deeds for the purpose
of establishing accurate road boundary lines or for the realignment
of existing town roads. The Board of Selectmen shall determine and
set all policies of the operation of the town not specifically granted
to another board or commission by statute or this Charter and shall
develop and shall annually review and modify as needed, goals to be
accomplished over the next five (5) years. [Amended 11-5-2002; 11-6-2007]
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Charter, no
ordinance shall be acted upon by the Board of Selectmen pursuant to
the provisions of this chapter, or by the town meeting pursuant to
the provisions of Chapter VII of this Charter, until and unless one
public hearing on such ordinance shall have been held by said Board
of Selectmen. Notice of such public hearing shall be given at least
seven (7) days in advance by publication in a newspaper having general
circulation in said town and by posting a notice in a public place.
Copies of such proposed ordinance shall be made available for public
inspection at the Town Clerk's office at least seven (7) days
in advance of said public hearing. If substantive changes, as determined
by the Town Attorney, are made in any such proposed ordinance subsequent
to the public hearing required under the provisions of this section,
a second public hearing shall be held on such proposed ordinance prior
to final action by the town meeting. Every ordinance, after passage,
shall be filed with the Town Clerk, and recorded, compiled, and published
by him or her as required by law. Within ten (10) days after final
passage the Town Clerk shall publish a legal notice in a newspaper,
having general circulation within the town, announcing that the ordinance
passed and that a copy of the full text is on file in the Town Clerk's
office. Each ordinance, unless it shall specify a later date, shall
become effective on the twenty-first day after such publication following
its passage. [Amended 11-5-2002]
For the purpose of meeting a public emergency threatening the
lives, health, or property of persons, the Board of Selectmen may
enact emergency ordinances stating the facts constituting such public
emergency which ordinances shall become effective immediately; and
such ordinances shall be promulgated forthwith. No public hearing
or notice of public hearing shall be required for any public emergency
ordinance. Every such emergency ordinance, including any amendments
thereto, shall automatically stand repealed at the termination of
the sixty-first (61st) day following final passage of said ordinance,
provided, however, that if action has been initiated on the same subject
matter providing for a permanent ordinance under Section 605 of this
chapter prior to such sixty-first (61st) day, then such emergency
ordinance shall remain in full force and effect until final action
is taken on said permanent ordinance.
The Board of Selectmen shall, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of
the members present, have the power to investigate any and all offices,
boards, commissions, and agencies of the town and for such purposes
shall have the power to call witnesses to appear before said board
to testify and to furnish documentation on any matter under investigation.
No member of the Board of Selectmen, except the First Selectman,
shall give orders, either publicly or privately, to any administrative
officer or employee as defined by Sections 803 and 1001 of this Charter,
except that a properly constituted meeting of the Board of Selectmen
may call before it any employee or officer for the purpose of information
or investigation.