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Town to Vote on Charter Changes Nov. 5

OLD SAYBROOK - On the Nov. 5 ballot, town voters will have two jobs: to select their preferred candidates and to decide whether or not to approve changes to the Town Charter proposed by the Town's Charter Review Commission.

Earlier this month, the Board of Selectmen accepted the commission's report and agreed to place a question asking voters to approve or deny the proposed Charter Changes presented by the commission.

The State of Connecticut requires that all towns review and consider amending their charters at least every 10 years. Last year, it was again time to assess the Old Saybrook Town Charter.

The Board of Selectmen appointed a Charter Review Commission in July 2012. William Childress was chosen to chair the body. Childress summarized the work of the commission and presented its recommendations in a report to the Board of Selectmen dated July 19.

"After an initial organizational meeting in September, we held our first public hearing on Oct. 12, 2012 and met monthly thereafter. All town boards, commissions, and officers (as well as the chairman of the Democratic and Republican Town committees) were notified of our charge and invited to participate in our process?We completed a draft of the proposed revised charter and held another public hearing to discuss that on July 10, 2013," Childress wrote.

What are the changes the Charter Review Commission proposes?

The first proposed change is to remove alternates for the land use commissions from the list of elective positions and add them to the list of appointive positions. The rationale for this amendment was to address the problem of ballot design: there usually is too little space on election ballots to include these posts, so they must now be elected at the annual Town Meeting.

Another change would allow the first selectman to delegate his or her powers and duties to another elector in town, subject to the approval of the Board of Selectmen. This provision was to provide the first selectman with more flexibility.

Other proposed changes would allow the Board of Selectmen to appoint up to five additional members of the Board of Assessment Appeals in years of full or statistical revaluations and to remove specific positions the Board of Selectmen must appoint and instead substitute language requiring them to appoint and remove such other officials and employees as are required by statute and may be permitted by law.

Also included is a new provision making a current best practice of town leaders a requirement. The new provision will require the town to hold a referendum on the annual budget.

The Charter Commission also proposes the addition of a new section to the Town Charter that addresses employment and personal services contracts that bind the town for more than one year.

As recommended, "It requires a legal opinion as to the authority of the entity purporting to bind the town for the performance of the contract, and requires the Board of Finance approval of the monetary obligation created by the contract."

The new section would not apply to Board of Education contracts, collective bargaining agreements, bonding agreements, contracts that pre-exist the proposed charter amendment, contracts for other goods or services, or contracts required by the charter or law to be approved otherwise.

Another new section addresses emergency contracting issues associated with the town's response to municipal emergencies like those presented by the major storms Irene and Sandy.

The Board of Selectmen was scheduled to set the final language of the ballot question at its meeting this week (after press time).