Council Slates Hearings On Proposed Ordinances

By Jan Howard

The Legislative Council will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, September 17, at 7 pm, in the meeting room of the C.H. Booth Library in regard to three proposed ordinances: underage drinking, blight, and a master ordinance that would create an appeals board for ordinances that impose fines and provide that they could be enforced by citation and in Superior Court. The town would receive the revenues.

The three ordinances were recommended by the Ordinance Committee, which met prior to the council’s regular meeting.

Ordinance Committee Chairman Will Rodgers said this week that the Legislative Council, following the public hearing, can approve the ordinances as presented, approve them with modifications, or disapprove them. He said the Ordinance Committee is continuing discussion on a proposed noise ordinance.

The Ordinance Committee also referred to the Board of Finance a proposed ordinance to expand tax relief for veterans. There is an enabling state statute that allows towns to give up to $10,000 or a ten percent reduction in assessment to married veterans. According to Legislative Council minutes of the August 20 meeting, Tax Assessor Denise Hames prefers a dollar value reduction rather than a percentage.

According to the minutes, applications for tax relief for veterans need to be received in the office of the tax assessor by October 1 to be effective July 1, 2004, though the proposed ordinance for veterans’ tax relief does not have to be in place by October 1. Mr Rodgers said that if the tax assessor does send out applications, she would need to make it clear that an ordinance has not yet been passed and it is not certain that an ordinance will be passed. Mr Rodgers said he would leave the decision to her whether to send out applications before an ordinance is in place.

Chairman Don Studley said this week that the Legislative Council voted unanimously August 20 that the town should discontinue a portion of Land’s End Road. The Board of Selectmen recently approved discontinuing a portion of the road.

A bridge on Land’s End Road would need to be either repaired or destroyed by the town if the road was not discontinued. The property remaining will be given one half to each of the adjoining property owners, according to the meeting minutes.

Over a year ago, the town blocked off a portion of the road to prohibit vehicular access to the cul-de-sac because of the insufficient condition of the bridge, according to a letter to the council from First Selectman Herb Rosenthal. A letter is to be sent to the state Department of Transportation confirming that the road is not going to remain a town road so the bridge does not have to be rebuilt.

In other council business, members Joe Borst and Peggy Baiad were appointed as an observer and alternate respectively to the negotiations for the teachers’ contract.