Newtown’s Charter Revision Commission was still busily working through the holidays and into the New Year, but most of the commissioners’ efforts were focused in subcommittees, according to Chairman Jeff Capeci.

“We’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, but I’m hoping by about a month from now we can get closure on the committee work and get moving on our main charge,” he told The Newtown Bee January 7. “”We’ve actually been doing a lot of work at the committee levels.”

One committee is working on refining and modifying charter language related to appointed boards and commissions. Mr Capeci said that group’s goal is to make the language regarding appointment and service criteria consistent throughout the town’s constitutional document.

Another group is working on reorganizing the physical layout of the document. This is leading toward a major aim of the commission, which is to make the document more reader-friendly and usable by town residents and officials.

Commission Vice Chair Robert Hall is continuing his work redrafting Section 7-90 with the hope of eventually streamlining it. Last October, Town Attorney David Grogins asked the panel to try and simplify what he called the currently mandated and “elaborate procedure to acquire or dispose of town-owned property.”

He suggested commissioners consider language in other town charters that is effective but much less complicated.

Mr Grogins said the idea of such a complex process may have been more justified at the local level before the state initiated a recent law requiring all municipalities to conduct a “widely advertised public hearing to protect from [the] secret disposition” of town and city properties in so-called “sweetheart deals.”

During that meeting, Mr Hall, a former town attorney who handles land use litigation, previously told commissioners that he was opting to “start with a fresh slate,” as opposed to trying to recast the existing language.

Mr Capeci said Mr Hall is receiving some input and support to that end from Commissioner Deborra Zukowski. He said he expects the redrafting to be presented by about mid-March, but believes the other committees will be able to bring completed work back for discussion and deliberation by early February.

“I’d like to see the fruits of the three committees by then,” Mr Capeci said, adding that he wanted to start calling leaders from appointed boards an commissions in to get feedback on newly proposed charter language governing their panels.