The Charter Revision Commission continued its work weeding down its list of charges to a shorter, more manageable list for further discussion at its August 12 meeting.

Before they discussed charges, Chairman Maureen Crick Owen confirmed that First Selectman Bruce Walczak and Finance Director Glenys Salas would be attending the CRC's September 9 meeting. Those who suggested other charges discussed at the August 12 meeting will be invited for a special meeting on September 23.

The first charge considered was eliminating Legislative Council districts and introducing staggered terms.

Crick Owen said all boards have learning curves; staggered terms would help.

Commission member Herb Rosenthal said he would favor staggered terms for the Board of Finance but not Legislative Council.

"Legislative bodies should be limited to two years," Rosenthal said.

Commission member Tracey Pertoso said she thought the suggestion had been expanded to include additional boards and commissions, not just the council.

Schwarz said many boards are already staggered; he did not think it would work for the Board of Selectmen, but it would for the LC. The commission voted to keep staggered terms and eliminating districts as a charge.

Crick Owen will research which boards and commissions already have staggered terms, and which do not, and report back to the commission.

The second charge was on a housing moratorium.

Crick Owen reminded commissioners that a housing moratorium will not apply to homes in the Borough, which is its own municipality.

Commission member Will Drew said this is meant to cover how to present a moratorium during a time when more and more people are feeling polarized and think a moratorium can be thrown out to create a pause.

Commission member Peter Schwarz said there are different tools available for moratoriums, depending on subjects, using 8-30g housing and Flock cameras as examples. Pertoso said a lot of people don’t understand the word moratorium, and what they can create when used. She thought people use the term when they just want a pause.

Following additional discussion, it was decided to eliminate the housing moratorium from the list of charges. Commission member Aidan Music said he didn't feel it needed to be in the town charter.

Charge three, regarding online access to town meetings, revolved around discussion of being able to call in or otherwise listen to meetings remotely. Currently the town can only stream from the Council Chambers. Music said residents "at least" need the ability to remotely dial in to meetings. Pertoso said that in any discussion about increased access, TTY (Teletypewriter) needs to be included; full compliance of ADA needs to be considered.

Rosenthal had concerns about costs.

The commission decided that more discussion was warranted, so the charge moved forward.

For the charge on public decorum, Pertoso suggested combining this into the previous charge, with suggestions on limiting how long people can speak in person or in writing. It was decided to combine this with charge three and move forward.

The fifth charge concerned reducing the scope of the Board of Finance and introducing staggered terms. Schwarz suggested combining all Board of Finance suggestions into one charge. This was moved forward.

Charge six included moving the Fairfield Hills Authority to be a commission in the Charter; P&Z POCD status reviews; term limits; and about political affiliation of members on appointed boards.

Schwarz said the powers of FHA are described in the ordinance; he would like to move it into the Charter. Schwarz said it is "more difficult to fiddle with powers once things are in the Charter," and that the Authority would be "taken more seriously.”

There will also be, he said, some kind of dedicated revenue stream for FHA such as parking fees, or event permits, and other options. The Charter change will change the scope of its activities to make FHA more self-sufficient, he said. The campus is subject to P&Z, but FHA needs power to do its own things such as event permits, event permit fees, and other fees.

Rosenthal noted it would have a budget that would be submitted. Commission member John Zachos said it would have a line item in the budget. Schwarz noted the FHA has to give status reports to the Legislative Council twice annually.

Following discussion it was agreed this charge would move forward.

On the P&Z status reviews, Schwarz said P&Z has tried to create reporting lines, or accountability, among the boards and commissions. A few months ago P&Z asked for status reviews, which has not been formalized. Schwarz would like to make this happen, just to have reviews so people know what others are working on. It was agreed this charge would move forward.

For term limits, Schwarz said there are some people who sit on appointed commissions for too long.

"Thinking changes over time," said Schwarz. "There should be opportunities for new people, and new energy, to be introduced."

Music said term limits can be productive, especially when there are people who want to join a board but will not step up because someone else may be on a board for so long, they do not want to work with or go up against them. He thought term limits would be a step in the right direction.

Crick Owen said sometimes it is more of a challenge to fill seats. She referenced a board with a recent opening, where no one stepped up to join.

Pertoso said the middle ground at this time may be the staggering of terms, and seeing if more people step up.

Following discussion, it was agreed this charge would move forward.

Schwarz said filling a seat on an appointed board based on political affiliation is no longer needed. He said that except for minority representation rule, he would like to see affiliation eliminated. Following discussion, it was agreed this charge would move forward.

Charges seven to 13 were all moved on to be discussed on September 9 when Walczak and Salas will be in attendance at the commission meeting.

The first part of charge 14 concerning public meeting standards was folded into charge three.

The second part, about road discontinuance, sparked some discussion. Rosenthal said few roads have been discontinued. Those that have been were discontinued most often after they had not been paved or they were overgrown with trees. Music found and read the section already in the Charter, which says the Board of Selectmen can discontinue any Town owned public highway. However, in a recent case concerning Reservoir Road, an error was corrected when the Town followed the state statute already in place, Crick Owen noted. Rosenthal agreed, noting the error was corrected with notices and signs. Following additional discussion it was decided to eliminate this from the list of charges.

Charge 15 had items for town communications and guidelines for appointed and elected board members. Both were eliminated from the list of charges.

Charge 16 contained items for eliminating Legislative Council districts; staggering term limits; allowing no town or Board of Education employee on appointed/elected boards; and the process for ballot questions. The first two were combined with other BOF work.

Concerning town or Board of Education members serving on commissions, Crick Owen said a current perfect example is currently happening with an employee of C.H. Booth Library. Crick Owen said that person should recuse herself from anything concerning finances that have to do with the library. Rosenthal said this has happened in the past as well. It has not been spelled out, he said.

Schwarz said a suggestion should be made to the Board of Ethics any time something like this happens. There is nothing that spells this out, he said, so no one can be forced to recuse themselves on votes with a conflict of interest.

Following additional discussion it was decided to address this with the Board of Ethics and eliminate this from the list of charges. Rosenthal made a motion to eliminate it from the list of charges, which was seconded by Schwarz. The motion passed unanimously.

The last item in the charges, to look at the process for ballot questions, was retained. Crick Owen felt this is a procedural thing; Music agreed. Rosenthal felt this used to be under the Board of Finance. Schwarz felt there should be a clearer rule in the charter. Following additional discussion it was decided to move forward with this charge.

Charge 17, to eliminate alternates on the Planning & Zoning Commission, was itself eliminated after discussion showed that the alternates serve a purpose and are an opportunity for commissioners to learn before becoming full commissioners.

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Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.