There shall be a Board of Selectmen consisting of five members.
The members shall serve without compensation except for the reimbursement
of authorized expenses incurred in the performance of official duties.
No more than three members of such Board shall be members of the same
political party.
The Board of Selectmen shall have the powers and duties which,
at the effective date of this Charter, were conferred by the Constitution
and General Statutes of the State on Boards of Selectmen and shall
have such additional powers as shall enable them:
A.
To enact and amend ordinances not inconsistent with this Charter
or the General Statutes and to repeal ordinances or amendments adopted
under this section;
B.
To recommend to the Town Meeting the creation, consolidation, modification
or abolition of Town Agencies and departments of the Town, provided
that any such Town Agency or department created, consolidated, modified
or abolished shall be bound by the provisions of this Charter;
C.
In adopting ordinances, to incorporate any nationally recognized
code, rules or regulations or any portion thereof, by reference thereto
in such ordinance; provided upon adoption of any such ordinance wherein
such code, rules or regulations or portions thereof have been incorporated
by reference, such code, rules or regulations shall be duly filed
in the office of the Town Clerk for inspection and copying by the
public at reasonable hours in lieu of publication in any newspaper;
D.
By resolution to regulate the internal procedure of agencies;
E.
To fix the charges, if any, to be made for services rendered by the
Town;
F.
To prepare and have published the Annual Town Report;
G.
To accept roads on behalf of the Town, provided that any road so
accepted 1) complies with planning and zoning regulations, 2) is certified
by the Town Engineer as having been constructed in accordance with
Town standards and 3) that proper deeds, which have been approved
by the Town Attorney, are in the hands of the Board of Selectmen.
Once acceptance is given, the Town Clerk shall be provided with a
copy of the resolution accepting any road(s) and the deed(s) for inclusion
with the land records of the Town;
H.
To make such appointments to local and regional agencies as are provided
by law subject to the limitations of this Charter and any ordinances
of the Town;
I.
To acquire or dispose of any interest in real estate by the Town
less than a fee title;
J.
To lease personal property; and
K.
To authorize, apply for, accept and appropriate the proceeds from
federal, state and other grants in aid or bequests for any Town purpose.
All grant applications must be approved by the Board of Selectmen
prior to submission.
At its first meeting, following each biennial Town Election,
the Board of Selectmen shall fix a time and place of its regular meetings
and provide a method for the calling of special meetings. At this
meeting, the Board of Selectmen shall choose one of its members to
be the Chairman. Also at this meeting, a Vice Chairman shall be chosen
who shall act in the absence or temporary disability of the Chairman.
Nothing shall prohibit the Chairman or Vice Chairman from being a
full voting and participating member of the Board of Selectmen. The
Board of Selectmen shall, by resolution, determine its own rules of
procedure, except that each Selectman shall be able to make a motion
or offer a proposal which shall be considered by the Board of Selectmen
without the necessity of a seconding motion. All meetings of the Board
of Selectmen for the transaction of business shall be open to the
public, except that the Board of Selectmen may stand in executive
session whenever otherwise permitted or required by law. The votes
of each member shall be recorded at the session at which they occur
and reported in the minutes of such meeting. The majority of the entire
Board of Selectmen shall constitute a quorum, and no ordinance, resolution,
or action except a vote to adjourn or fix the time and place of the
next meeting shall be adopted by less than a majority of the entire
Board of Selectmen.
At least one public hearing, notice of which shall be given
at least five days in advance by publication in a newspaper having
a general circulation in the Town, by posting a notice in a public
place, shall be held by the Board of Selectmen before any ordinance
shall be voted upon.
Every ordinance, after passage, shall be duly recorded by the
Town Clerk and available for inspection and copying by the public
during reasonable hours. Within 10 days after final passage, the text
of each ordinance shall be published in summary form in a newspaper
having circulation within the Town. Nothing herein shall prohibit
the periodic codification or recodification of existing Town ordinances.
Every ordinance, unless it shall specify a later date, shall
become effective on the 21st day after such publication following
its final passage except if overruled as provided in Section 405 of
this Charter.
All actions of the Board of Selectmen on ordinances, except
emergency ordinances, shall be subject to overrule at a special referendum
in the following manner:
A.
A petition must be filed with the Town Clerk within 20 days after
final action by the Board of Selectmen. Two percent of the electors
of the Town, as determined by the latest official registry lists of
the Registrars of Voters, may file with the Town Clerk a petition,
signed in ink or indelible pencil, requesting that such ordinance
be submitted to the voters of the Town for special referendum.
B.
The Town Clerk shall, within seven days of receipt of said petition,
certify to the Selectmen as to whether the petition yielded sufficient
valid signatures. If sufficient valid signatures are not found, the
Clerk shall so inform the Selectmen who shall declare the petition
invalid and the ordinance shall take effect on the following Monday.
If sufficient valid signatures are found, the effective date of the
ordinance shall be set aside and the Selectmen shall call a special
referendum to be held within 30 days of the certification of the petition.
C.
The ordinance shall stand approved unless a majority of those voting
shall have voted in favor of overruling such ordinance, providing
however that at least 10% of the voters of the Town shall have voted
on the matter. Any ordinance not so overruled shall take effect on
the day following the referendum.
Whenever a public emergency exists or threatens to arise involving
or threatening the lives, health, or property of the inhabitants of
the Town or property of the Town, the Town Manager or his designee
with the consent of the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen may declare
a public emergency and shall have the power to mobilize, organize,
and direct the forces of the Town and to call upon the forces of the
federal government, the State of Connecticut and other political subdivisions.
The Town Manager, or in his absence, the Chairman of the Board of
Selectmen may summon, marshal, deputize or otherwise employ other
persons to do whatever may be deemed necessary for the purpose of
meeting the emergency. Spending to meet said public emergency shall
be pursuant to Section 909 of this Charter. Emergency ordinances shall
be enacted pursuant to Section 407 of this Charter.
An ordinance adopted by the Board of Selectmen as a public emergency
measure and stating the facts constituting such public emergency shall
become effective immediately and shall be published in a newspaper
having a general circulation in the Town and by posting a notice in
a public place as soon as possible thereafter. No public hearing or
notice of public hearing shall be required for any public emergency
ordinance.
Every such emergency ordinance, unless repealed at an earlier
time, including any amendment thereto, shall automatically stand repealed
at the termination of the 61st day following passage of said ordinance,
except that if the emergency continues the Board of Selectmen may
continue said ordinance for an additional period not to exceed 60
days.
The Board of Selectmen shall coordinate through the Town Manager
the activities and operations of the Town government and from time
to time may convene joint meetings of Town agencies for such purposes,
and from time to time may require such reports or information to be
submitted by the agencies as the Board of Selectmen may deem necessary
for such purposes.
The Selectmen shall forthwith, after the election or appointment
of any Town officers of whom an oath is required by law, cause them
to be sworn to a faithful discharge of their respective duties by
the Town Clerk. Notice of election or appointment shall be in written
form indicating if the oath is needed, as well as the time and the
location of the next regularly scheduled meeting of the appropriate
group.
