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Commission votes language updates to Chapter 3 drafting and public notice rules; legal counsel to confirm statutory requirements
Summary
Commissioners agreed to several wording updates in Chapter 3 — including replacing 'journal' with 'record,' changing publication references to 'published', adding 'ELECTED' to quorum wording, and aligning notice/publication timing to Connecticut statutes — and asked legal counsel to confirm statutory obligations.
The Charter Revision Commission reviewed Chapter 3 of the red-line draft and agreed to multiple technical and procedural wording changes intended to modernize and align the Charter with state law.
Chair Joseph W. Britton and commissioners approved edits to the Preamble (restoring the omitted phrase 'and resident'), replaced outdated phrasing such as 'printed in book form' with 'published' for codes and regulations, and agreed to change 'journal' to 'record' and 'signature' to 'attestation' in procedural sections. For clarity in quorum language, the Commission agreed to add the adjective 'ELECTED' to specify that a majority of elected members is required.
The Commission recommended that public notice provisions in Sec. 3-8 and publication timing in Sec. 3-10 be revised to match current Connecticut State Statutes: public hearings should be posted at least five but not more than fifteen days in advance, and ordinances should be posted in accordance with state statute and become effective after the specified posting period (the draft suggested a ten-day posting window for ordinances). For several items — notably whether two copies of certain codes must be maintained with the Town Clerk — legal counsel was asked to confirm whether the requirement stems from state statute.
Commissioners also updated committee language to allow the City Council to establish standing committees and to rescind them by resolution. Commissioner Safranek suggested specifying a higher vote threshold to refer matters to ad hoc committees; the Commission left the exact threshold to be determined.
No further substantive changes to fiscal year, audit procedures, or conveyance procedures (Secs. 3-15, 3-16, 3-17) were recommended. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
