Selectmen OK codification of ordinances, regulations

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BEACON FALLS — The Board of Selectmen on Monday approved the codification of the town’s ordinances and regulations.

The board hired the Rochester, N.Y.-based General Code to provide codification services for the town. Selectman Peter Betkoski was absent for the vote.

According to the proposal, the codification would cost $9,960 and have a yearly maintenance fee of approximately $1,200.

According to the proposal, the company will provide an editorial and legal analysis and codification of the town’s legislation since 1951, zoning regulations, Inland Wetlands and Watercourses regulations, and subdivision regulations.

The company will also provide the codification of meeting minutes.

All of the codified documents will then be uploaded to the town’s website in a searchable format, Town Clerk Len Greene said.

Greene said this will allow town employees and residents to search through all the regulations for a certain word or phrase.

“I think it is a valuable service to us and to the public,” Greene said.

Greene, who spearheaded this proposal, said the town clerk’s office has enough money in its Local Capital Improvement Project account to cover the initial cost.

Greene said the account, which is spent at the town clerk’s discretion, receives $3 out of the land recording’s $53 fee. Since the account has not been touched in years, there is more than $15,000 in it, Greene said.

According to Greene, once the project is approved, it will take about 18 months to complete.

Selectman Michael Krenesky said he originally recommended the town do this in 2008. He said he still supports it because the town uses ordinances and state statutes to govern rather than a charter. He pointed out that sometimes the ordinances reference the wrong statute because of either an error or because the statute has changed.

The codification process would ensure the ordinances and statutes are in line with one another, Krenesky said.

“If we are going to continue to work off of ordinances and state statutes, instead of having a charter, this is something we need to do,” Krenesky said.