Any office, board, commission or agency, hereafter referred
to as office, which is operational at the time that this Charter shall
take effect and shall be abolished by this Charter, shall continue
in the performance of its duties until provisions have been made for
the discontinuance of such offices and until the Town Clerk has notified
the member(s) of such offices that successors have been qualified.
The powers conferred on and duties imposed upon any office that is
abolished by this Charter shall be transferred to the office performing
like functions, powers and duties under the provisions of this Charter.
Should the Board of Finance be abolished, all the powers conferred
on and duties imposed upon this Board under the C.G.S., Charter or
ordinance, and in force at the time this Charter takes effect, shall
be exercised and discharged by the Selectmen unless otherwise provided
in this Charter.
All records, property and equipment of any office or part thereof
all the powers and duties which are assigned to any other office by
this Charter shall be transferred and delivered intact to the office
to which such powers and duties are so assigned. If part of the powers
and duties or any office or part thereof are by this Charter assigned
to another office all records, property and equipment relating exclusively
thereto shall be transferred and delivered intact to the office which
such powers and duties are so assigned.
No action or proceeding, civil or criminal, pending on the effective
date of this Charter, brought by or against the Town or any office
thereof, shall be affected or abated by the adoption of this Charter
or by anything herein contained; but all such actions or proceedings
may be continued notwithstanding that functions, powers and duties
of any office party thereto may be or under this Charter be assigned
or transferred to another office, but in that event the same may be
prosecuted or defended by the head of the office to which such functions,
powers and duties have been assigned or transferred by or under this
Charter.
This Charter may be amended in the manner prescribed by the
Connecticut General Statutes. The Board of Selectmen shall cause the
Charter to be reviewed at least once every 10 years in the manner
prescribed by the Connecticut General Statutes. The ten-year period
shall commence on the date the immediately preceding Charter Review
Commission files its final report with the Board of Selectmen.
If any section or part of any section of this Charter shall
be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding
shall not affect the remainder of this Charter nor the context in
which said section or part thereof so held invalid may appear, except
to the extent that an entire section or part of a section may be inseparably
connected in meaning and effect with the section or part of a section
to which such holding shall directly apply.
This Charter shall become effective December 2, 2021. Wherever
a change in the composition of a board or term of office is called
for by this Charter, that change shall be effected by appointment
or election, as provided for in this Charter.
Town Meeting approval shall be required before land or buildings
owned by the Town shall be dedicated to departmental use or rededicated
to a new departmental use. The Board of Selectmen may hold a public
hearing on this subject and shall make its recommendations along with
concurrence from the Planning and Zoning Commissions to a Town Meeting
before the Town land or buildings are committed to use. All reports
concerning such proposed use shall be available to the public at the
office of the Town Clerk at least 14 days prior to the Town Meeting.
New or amended ordinances shall be periodically codified. They
shall be codified at least once every 10 years.
Authority is given to the Selectmen for the purpose of a blanket
bond or individual bonds conditional upon honesty and good or faithful
performance of official duties of those officials designated by ordinance
to post a surety company bond. Premiums for any official bonds shall
be borne by the Town.
Whenever used in the context of this Charter, the following
words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
1. Masculine gender terms shall be read as the feminine or neuter equivalent.
2. Selectmen shall mean Board of Selectmen.
3. Town agency shall mean all of the elected and appointed boards, agencies,
commissions, authorities and committees of the Town, including the
local board of education.
4. Supplemental appropriation shall mean an appropriation that is in
addition to the total amount of the budget at any given point in time.
It is not a transfer within or between departments.
5. Special appropriation shall mean an appropriation of funds not previously
included in the approved annual Town budget.
6. Department shall mean a unit of administration for budgetary purposes.
There need not be a director of a department.
7. Town Officer shall mean a member of a Town agency.
8. C.G.S. or General Statutes shall mean the Connecticut General Statutes
as may be revised from time to time.
9. Singular shall include the plural and the plural shall include the
singular unless the context otherwise requires.
10. Day shall mean a calendar day unless otherwise specified in the Town
Charter.
All boards, commissions, agencies and committees shall determine
their own rules and procedures in accordance with applicable provisions
of the C.G.S. and Roberts Rules of order, as amended, for meetings.