Senate orders third reading of H.516 approving Essex charter amendments after committee reports

The Vermont Senate considered H.516 on Feb. 25, an act approving amendments to the charter of the town of Essex. The Senate read the bill for second reading and received floor explanation from the Senator from Orleans, who described multiple "cleanup" revisions throughout the charter.

Senator from Orleans said the bill updates references to "Vermont Statutes Annotated," replaces outdated department and office names (for example changing the name of a department to "Department of Assessment" and removing an elected-listers provision), clarifies appointment procedures for the select board and cemetery commission, and establishes procedures for filling vacancies (including a special election process if the select board cannot agree on an interim appointee within 45 days). The senator also noted a provision that attendance below 50% of meetings may constitute incapacity and discussed making the annual auditors' report available to town voters at least 30 days before the annual meeting.

The senator summarized that most changes are cleanup language, that the bill passed the House Government Operations committee and the Senate Government Operations committee by voice votes, and asked the Senate to concur. The presiding officer then put the question to order the third reading of H.516; the ayes prevailed and the Senate ordered the bill to third reading. The transcript records the floor explanation and the voice vote ordering third reading; no further roll-call tally is recorded in the available floor transcript.