Sport Licensing

On Hold At Town Hall

By John Voket

State hunting and fishing licenses are no longer available at the Newtown Town Clerk’s office, or through any municipal town office. On-site licensing for fishing, bow hunting, firearms, muzzle loaders, waterfowl, and deer permits is now available electronically at Newtown Bait & Tackle, at 78 South Main Street, during normal business hours.

While some have been slightly inconvenienced after stopping in to Edmond Town Hall during the recent transition, only to be told they need to head a mile or so down the road, sports enthusiasts now have much broader access to immediate sports licensing.

Newtown Bait & Tackle is open seven days a week, as early as 6 am, and as late as 6 pm on weekdays. Owners Rich and Jan Newman are getting accustomed to the new kiosk-based license station, and are recommending that anyone who can plan to pick up their needed licenses and permits in advance, to do so.

“We don’t want to see them lined up out the door on opening day when they can come in now to get their licenses for 2009 when it’s relatively quiet,” Ms Newman told The Newtown Bee recently. Currently, the only items not available at the local retail store are bird stamps, she added.

Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia said the current cramped conditions, and limitation to IT connections and electrical service made it impossible to continue the service once the state formally switched to an on-line and computer-based system for issuing sports licenses.

“They were requiring a dedicated high speed Internet connection and several plugs for the computer and electronic equipment,” Ms Aurelia said. “We couldn’t even find the counter space they needed for all the new equipment.”

The town clerk said she will reconsider the matter once her office has relocated to new space at Fairfield Hills later in 2009, but wondered whether or not it was worth the effort.

“We only make $1 for every license we sell. It involves a lot of staff commitment as well as additional training on the new computer system,” she said. “So we’ll have to consider all that once we move.”

According to a memo issued by the Connecticut Association of Town Clerks, any office opting to host the electronic service will require every staff person to undergo a minimum of two-hours of off-ite training.

The “automated sportsmen system” requires space for a touch-screen terminal, a small thermal printer and a scanner, terminal and printer power cords, connection cords for the printer and scanner, an Ethernet connection, and a six-outlet power strip.

According to the Town Clerk’s Association memo, the benefits of accepting the system include:

*Eliminating specialty license stock.

*Eliminating special storage and inventory management of licenses.

*Eliminating the ordering of additional licenses when supplies are depleted.

*Eliminating the return of unused licenses at year-end.

*Eliminating the existing interdependency between town clerks and commercial agents for

license stock supplies, resupplies, monthly reporting, and year-end returns.

*Eliminating accountability for license costs between town clerks and commercial agents.

*Providing access to the full range of CT DEP licenses, permits, and other products to be

offered by CT DEP through a single sales channel, thereby improving customer service.

*Provides town clerks a full accounting of sales and revenues through an administrative

control center that will allow for a variety of reports from the automated system.

*Will provide a simplified process for submitting payments to CT DEP for license sales.

Ms Aurelia said more information, and access to Internet licensing is also available to sports enthusiasts online by visiting www.ct.gov/dep/hunting.