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Committee removes fee schedule from ordinance and directs fees to selectmen
Summary
Committee voted unanimously to remove Appendix C (fee schedule) from the ordinance, saying fee tables should be maintained by the selectmen (separate on the town website) to retain flexibility for routine fee changes.
The ordinance committee on March 4 approved a motion to remove Appendix C, the fee schedule, from the town ordinance and to have fee schedules set by the selectmen and maintained separately (for example, on the town website). Chair (speaker 1) and committee members argued that embedding fee tables in ordinance language ties the town’s hands and requires repeated ordinance votes to change routine fees.
A committee member observed that the fee schedule is already posted separately and that many towns keep fee tables out of codified ordinances for flexibility. After discussion, the committee made and seconded a motion to remove Appendix C; the motion passed unanimously by voice vote.
The committee recorded that penalties should remain in ordinance text, but fee schedules can be administered by the selectmen so that the town need not return to a town‑meeting vote for routine fee adjustments. Staff will remove Appendix C text from the ordinance draft and prepare an updated redline for the next meeting.
