A.Â
No
ordinance shall be voted upon by the Board of Selectmen or the Town
Meeting until a public hearing shall have been held thereon.
B.Â
Notice
of the date, time and place of the public hearing on any proposed
ordinance, together with the full text of the proposed ordinance or
a summary thereof, shall be published by the Board of Selectmen in
a newspaper having general circulation in the Town not less than 10
nor more than 20 days in advance of the date set for such hearing.
C.Â
The
Board of Selectmen shall set a date for a public hearing on a proposed
ordinance within 60 days after one of the following events:
A.Â
The Board of Selectmen must act upon any proposed ordinance within 35 days following the public hearing held thereon. If the Board of Selectmen fails to act within such 35 days or if the Board of Selectmen makes substantial changes to the proposed ordinance following such public hearing, the Board of Selectmen shall call another public hearing on the proposed revised ordinance subject to the notice requirements of § C-22B before calling a meeting of the Town Meeting to consider the revised ordinance or before the Board of Selectmen may adopt the revised ordinance.
A.Â
Upon affirmative action of the Board of Selectmen on a proposed ordinance,
the Board of Selectmen shall publish a legal notice of such action
and a summary of the ordinance in a newspaper having a general circulation
in the Town within 20 days of such affirmative action.
B.Â
Not less than 10 nor more than 20 days in advance of the date set for any meeting of the Town Meeting called pursuant to § C-9 at which a proposed ordinance is set to be voted upon, the full text of such proposed ordinance or a summary of such proposed ordinance shall be published by the Board of Selectmen in a newspaper having general circulation in the Town. The Board of Selectmen shall prepare, in writing, a summary report of the issues raised by the proposed ordinance. The report shall include the opinion of Town Counsel on any substantial legal issues raised by the proposed ordinance and may, but need not, include the recommendations of the Board of Selectmen. Such reports shall be available to the public in the office of the Town Clerk not less than 10 days in advance of the date set for the meeting of the Town Meeting at which the proposed ordinance is set to be voted upon and shall be presented orally to the Town Meeting.
If an ordinance shall have been amended on the floor before
passage by the Town Meeting, it shall not go into effect unless and
until approved as provided in this section. The session of the meeting
at which such amendment was passed shall be reconvened on a day certain
not less than 10 days nor more than 25 days in the future. Not less
than five days prior to the date set for such reconvened session,
the amendment to the ordinance or the ordinance as amended or a summary
thereof shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation
in the Town.
An ordinance may include any standard code of technical regulations
by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance. The procedure and requirements
governing such an adopting ordinance shall be as prescribed for ordinances
generally.
Unless otherwise provided for in the ordinance, any ordinance
passed by the Town Meeting or the Board of Selectmen shall go into
effect 21 days from affirmative action by the Town Meeting or the
Board of Selectmen, as the case may be.