During a regular meeting January 19, the Board of Selectmen completed and moved a number of suggested charter revisions to the Legislative Council, whose responsibilities include seating and charging a separate commission to regularly review and make changes to Newtown’s constitutional document.

As the council continues to recruit and interview possible commission members and to formulate a roster of charges, various elected boards and some local department heads or staff members have been asked to submit possible revisions for consideration.

Rosenthal said a vote was not in order, and fellow Selectman Jeff Capeci concurred as the suggestions requested were just guidance around areas the selectmen thought the council should consider adding to their charge.

The first selectman said his board agreed that language around the acquisition and disposition of town property, which was substantially altered and expanded during a revision in 2015, should be updated.

“George Benson [land use director] and Dave Grogins [town attorney] are working on refining that language and cleaning some of it up,” Rosenthal said.

The selectmen also asked to consider the charter language that currently connects special and emergency appropriations, suggesting “a decoupling between the two.”

“I think we learned the hard way around the macroburst in 2018, because the council has only so much appropriation authority. And if the council has already used it and we have some kind of emergency event, we could be in a situation where we need a referendum to authorize that emergency spending because they are linked,” Rosenthal said.

In Charter Section 6-35, Rosenthal said the selectmen are suggesting looking at the idea that any appropriation over $1.5 million would automatically go to referendum, versus those with true taxpayer impact.

“We [suggested] making any taxpayer obligation or bonded amount over $1.5 million has to go to referendum,” he said, which would eliminate the need for taxpayers to authorize accepting grants in that amount or higher. “If the impact statement shows no future impact, like a $1.5 million grant for roads — right now, that would have to go up for voter approval.”

He said any grants that would obligate taxpayers to future obligations should still get voter approval, like in the case of getting a grant to build a facility that would require operating expenses beyond the scope of the grant award.

The selectmen also agreed Section 6-40 deserved a review.

“That’s also tied to grants,” he said. “We have seen situations where we get a small or nominal grant for $1,000 tied to say, cutting the grass at cemeteries. Maybe authorization to accept that should not have to go before the selectmen, Board of Finance, and council for approval before we can accept the funds.”

Instead, Rosenthal suggested providing grant reports in writing for small funds that generate no further spending obligations. The selectmen may also suggest a possible revision around the amount automatically approved for transfers.

“Right now in-department transfers up to $50,000 can be signed by the finance director and me,” Rosenthal said, “Over that has to go to the finance and council, which makes sense. But if I’m transferring $500 between Parks & Rec to Public Works, it needs to be approved by selectmen and finance.”

Tait clarified that any transfer between departments up to $200,000 must be handled that way, but any amount over $200,000 must also be added to the council’s agenda for approval.

“I understand there has to be a cap, but small amounts should not have to go onto the board’s agenda. It’s an efficiency measure,” Rosenthal said.

Town Manager Idea

Currently the charter directs the town to maintain a five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), but Selectman Capeci suggested removing the “five-year” specification, since both the school district and town now informally maintain a ten-year CIP even though it is not codified in charter language.

“The idea is we must complete one, whether it is five, ten, or something else,” the first selectman said.

Rosenthal said Selectman Maureen Crick Owen “did a pretty detailed review” of charter language, and came up with numerous points of “housekeeping” related to language in a number of sections that would likely have no or little impact if changed or made consistent throughout the document.

Finally, as in several cases over the past couple of decades, Rosenthal said he is suggesting the council consider whether it is time for Newtown to engage a town manager as its top executive administrative office holder, while retaining the First Selectman post as more of a ceremonial position.

“Running a town this size is complex, and a number of other towns have moved to this,” he said. “Maybe that person reports to the board of selectman. As time has gone on, maybe it’s time to look at that.”

The selectmen’s questions will now go to the council for consideration along with those made by other local boards, commissions, staff members, and the town attorney. Any registered Newtown voter who would like to be considered for the commission should notify Council Vice Chair Dan Wiedemann in writing by February 1, as the commission is expected to be seated in March.

Details and contact information are available on the home page of the municipal website, newtown-ct.gov, or e-mail Wiedemann at dwg0315@yahoo.com.