TOWN OF SIMSBURY
CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 4, 2005
The Regular Meeting of the Charter Revision Commission was held in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. Present were: Chairman Charles Howard; members William Ethier, John Ritson, Anita Mielert and Eileen Zaldonis. Also present was Town Attorney Bob DeCrescenzo.
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Howard called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m.
PUBLIC AUDIENCE
There was no public audience.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Ritson made motion to approve the minutes of September 19, 2005. Ms. Zaldonis seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.
CHARTER PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEETINGS
Mr. Howard said this issue dealt with the exception language for referenda. He handed out the version of the Charter dated 10/4/05 from Attorney DeCrescenzo. Mr. Howard asked everyone to go to page 18, Section 506. Mr. Howard added some language he had drafted to clarify that the Board of Selectmen had discretion to schedule a referendum at a time other than the two regular voting occasions each year. After some discussion, it was agreed that Attorney DeCrescenzo will revise this language. It should provide that at the discretion of the Board of Selectmen, a special referendum can be held at another time of the year upon a majority vote.
Mr. Howard now feels the Commission is close to completing the draft Charter, but there should be another meeting to go over final revisions to the Report and the Charter. This Special Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 at 7:30 p.m.
REVIEW DRAFT REPORT AND DRAFT CHARTER
Mr. Howard had a question on page 36 under Section 903 (b) - Capital Improvement Program Preparation. The first two sentences have parallel structure and Mr. Howard feels they should say “projects other than those published in the CIP for the ensuing year may be considered for approval and included in the adopted budget if the need to fund...” Attorney DeCrescenzo had suggested inserting the phrase “in the best interests of the Town.”
TOWN OF SIMSBURY
CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 4, 2005
Page 2:
Mr. Ritson made motion to keep the language “of public necessity affecting the lives, health, and property....” Ms. Mielert seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.
Mr. Howard noted that subsection (c) is redundant. After some discussion, Mr. Ritson made motion to eliminate subsection (c) and keep the language dealing with acquisition of real property referenced in subsection (b). Mr. Ethier seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.
After some discussion, Attorney DeCrescenzo will “clean-up” subsection (b) as it is too long at present and not structurally clear. Ms. Mielert wants the development rights language to be clear in this section.
Mr. Howard said Sections 301, 701 and 1101, as presently written, do not say that the current Boards and Commissions will be abolished. After some discussion, the Commission agreed that there should be a sentence stating the Boards and Commissions will be abolished so that the Boards and Commissions under the new Charter will then take effect. Attorney DeCrescenzo will propose some language for this purpose.
Attorney DeCrescenzo said the General Statute provides that members of the Library Board have six year terms. Therefore, Section 302 and sections of the Report need to be changed.
Attorney DeCrescenzo noted that a new Section 716 was added dealing with the Open Space Committee. He pointed out that the language came from the Open Space Committee ordinance and that it is a Committee, not a Commission.
Mr. Howard said there were some changes made in the Draft Report in hopes a minority report could be avoided.
Ms. Zaldonis said that there needs to be a meeting date change to October 4th on page 3 of the draft report.
Mr. Ethier noted that Ms. Mielert said there were no statistics about municipalities in her Minority Report. He said that he had given the Commission several studies and reports along with charts to go through.
TOWN OF SIMSBURY
CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 4, 2005
Page 3:
Ms. Mielert said they were only asked to study the Town Manager / First Selectmen form of government and they could have studied any other form of government if they wanted to. She feels the Commission didn’t do this issue justice.
Mr. Howard said he felt the Commission did go through this issue but felt there wasn’t a lot of public sentiment on changing the form of government.
PUBLIC HEARING DISCUSSION
Mr. Howard would like all corrections and changes in the Draft Charter, Draft Report, and Minority Report by Thursday, October 6th. There will be a Special Meeting on Wednesday, October 12th at 7:30 p.m. to approve this draft.
Mr. Howard said he would then give the Town Clerk copies of the drafts for the public to read before the October 18th Public Hearing
There was some discussion on the schedule for presenting the new Charter to the Board of Selectmen. The final Charter needs to go to the Board of Selectmen no later than November 22nd. There was some discussion on having the old or new Board of Selectmen voting on the new Charter.
Attorney DeCrescenzo said the Commission can open and close the Public Hearing, but do not need to transmit it to the Town Clerk until November 21st. The Board then has up to 45 days to hold a Public Hearing. This way the new Board of Selectmen can handle the new Charter.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Zaldonis made motion to adjourn at 9:00 p.m. Mr. Ethier seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathi Radocchio
Clerk
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