There shall be a Board of Selectmen consisting of the First
Selectman and two additional Selectmen. No Selectman shall by employed
by the Town in any other capacity or be a member of any Board or Commission
except as provided in Section 5.1 relating to ex-officio membership.
Except as provided in Article 3, the legislative powers of the
Town shall be vested in the Board of Selectmen, and the Board of Selectmen
shall have the powers, duties and responsibilities conferred on them
by the Constitution of the State of Connecticut and the General Statutes,
as well as the Charter, including the power:
(a)
to enact and amend ordinances consistent with the Charter and the
General Statutes, and to repeal ordinances or amendments adopted under
this Section;
(b)
by ordinance, to create, change, or abolish Boards, Commissions,
committees and offices of the Town other than elected offices, Boards
and Commissions; provided that (i) the abolition of an appointed office
or a reduction of the membership of, or the abolition of, an appointed
Board or Commission provided for in the Charter must be approved by
a Special Town Meeting in accordance with Section 3.4(f); and (ii)
the Board of Selectmen may provide for the addition of elected alternates
to the Planning & Zoning Commission;
(c)
by resolution, to enter into agreements with the State or federal
government or any agency of either such government; and
(d)
in adopting ordinances, to incorporate all or part of any code, rules
or regulations; provided that any such code, rules or regulations
shall be available for public inspection in the office of the Town
Clerk or online.
The Board of Selectmen shall also have the power, duty and responsibility:
(e)
to fix the charges, if any, to be made for services rendered by the
Town;
(f)
to obtain a blanket bond for such Officials as are to be bonded;
(g)
to review and approve: (i) plans for reorganization, creation or
elimination of positions and; (ii) job descriptions for Town employees
who are not appointed or elected Officials but who report to the Board
of Selectmen, directly or indirectly;
(h)
at the direction of the First Selectman, to conduct a periodic review
of current (two-year time span) and projected (at least five-year
time span) financial, administrative, governmental, physical and other
needs of the Town, and to initiate programs to meet such needs; and
(i)
except to the extent otherwise provided by ordinance, and subject
to normal budget approval, to review and act on recommendations of
the First Selectman to hire, and fix the compensation for, or discharge,
any Town employee at the department head level who reports, directly
or indirectly, to the Board of Selectmen.
(a)
At its first meeting, to be held not later than two weeks following
each biennial Town election, the Board of Selectmen shall fix the
time and place of its regular meetings and shall elect an acting First
Selectman as required by Section 5.2. Special meetings of the Board
of Selectmen may be called by the First Selectman or by the other
two Selectmen jointly, with reasonable advance notice being given
to the other member(s) of the Board. The Board of Selectmen shall
determine its own rules of procedure, by reference to Robert's
Rules of Order. Two members of the Board shall constitute a quorum.
(b)
Meetings of the Board of Selectmen shall be conducted, and notice
and minutes thereof shall be made available, in accordance with the
provisions of the State Freedom of Information Act and otherwise in
accordance with the General Statutes.
At least one public hearing, Public Notice of which shall be
given at least ten days in advance, shall be held by the Board of
Selectmen before any ordinance shall be passed. Every ordinance, after
passage, shall be given a serial number and be recorded by the Town
Clerk, and shall be properly indexed. Such ordinance shall be published
online or in such other form as is readily available to the public.
Within ten days after final passage, the Town Clerk shall give Public
Notice of the text of each ordinance, except as otherwise provided
in Section 4.5, relating to emergency ordinances.
Every ordinance, unless it shall specify a later date, shall
become effective on the 21st day after such publication following
its final passage unless it is overruled as provided in Section 3.6
or is an emergency ordinance as provided in Section 4.5.
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 Public Notice shall be given thereof
as soon as possible thereafter. No public hearing or notice of public
hearing shall be required for any public emergency ordinance. Every
public emergency ordinance, including any amendments thereto, shall
automatically expire at the end of the 61st day following initial
passage of the ordinance.
The Board of Selectmen shall coordinate the activities and operations
of the Town government and, from time to time, may convene joint meetings
of Officers, Boards and/or Commissions for such purposes, and/or may
require such reports or information to be submitted by them as the
Board of Selectmen may deem necessary for such purposes.
