[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Ashford as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-2-2007]
The purpose of this article is to safeguard members of the Town of Ashford boards, commissions, committees and agencies, and private citizens, by establishing authority and procedure for the cancellation or postponement of public meetings due to extreme weather conditions or any other emergency which may jeopardize public safety.
A. 
An emergency may be declared by the First Selectman or the chairperson or leader of any other Town of Ashford board, commission, committee or agency, resulting in cancellation or postponement of a public meeting in the following circumstances:
(1) 
Whenever the Town Hall office building or another posted meeting place is closed or inaccessible due to safety considerations;
(2) 
Whenever severe weather warnings from the National Weather Service, Central Office of Emergency Preparedness, or a similar agency remain in effect;
(3) 
In the case of a basic utility outage affecting the meeting location or a substantial portion of Ashford residences;
(4) 
In the case of a federal or state declared civil emergency including any portion of the Town of Ashford; or
(5) 
In the case of any other disaster which in the opinion of any such leader renders attendance at any such public meeting dangerous or extremely impractical.
B. 
If the First Selectman is unavailable, a decision to cancel or postpone a meeting per this article shall be made by the other two Selectmen. If a board, commission, committee or agency chairperson or leader is unavailable, authority under this article shall be vested in the vice chairperson or the nominee of any such chairperson or leader.
C. 
Reasonable effort shall be made to notify all members of any Town agency and the public of any cancellation or postponement made under the authority of this article.
Unless it is practically impossible to do so, notice of cancellation or postponement of any public meeting shall be conspicuously posted on or near the door of the place where the meeting was scheduled to occur. Any noticed Town Meeting which is postponed shall be rescheduled within 30 days and warned and posted in accordance with applicable law.
[Adopted 5-7-2012]
[Amended 6-7-2021]
Pursuant to §§ 7-1, 7-148(c)(2)(A), and 7-388 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended, a date no less than seven nor more than 14 days prior to the first Tuesday following the first Monday in the month of May shall be designated as the day and date to be warned for the holding of the Annual Town Meeting for consideration of the budget and the transaction of other Town business as required to come before the legislative body.
The Annual Town Meeting or annual budget meeting as referred to and described in Title 7, General Statutes of the State of Connecticut, as amended, shall be conducted as follows:
A. 
Once lawfully convened pursuant to § 7-1 et seq., General Statutes of the State of Connecticut, the meeting shall choose a Moderator and proceed to conduct its business in accordance with § 7-7 of the General Statutes of the State of Connecticut, which shall include a discussion of the annual budget, but there shall not be a vote on the annual budget at the meeting so held.
B. 
When all business other than the vote of the annual budget has been transacted, the meeting shall:
(1) 
Set a date, not less than seven nor more than 14 days thereafter, for a vote on the annual budget by a "Yes" or "No" vote on the voting machines.
(2) 
Set the hours during which such votes may be cast, not less than between the hours of 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m. and not more than between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
The vote on the annual budget shall include separate votes on the proposed education budget and the proposed general government budget, each such proposed budget to be considered by separate "Yes" and "No" votes.
In the event the meeting does not set the date and hours for such vote, the Town Selectmen shall set the date and hours of the vote.
The foregoing budget and voting procedure shall apply to all votes on the adoption of annual budgets, including any vote taken to adopt an annual budget by machine vote. No annual budget shall be adopted except pursuant to the procedures set forth in this article requiring a machine vote and referendum. However, in the event that only one of the two proposed budgets is approved at any referendum, any subsequent referendum shall include only a vote on the proposed education budget or proposed general government budget which was unapproved. Any approval of either budget shall be deemed a final approval of such budget.
This article shall become effective 15 days after publication in a newspaper pursuant to the provisions of § 7-157 of the General Statutes of the State of Connecticut.