Lakeville Journal
Towns wary of state Web site directive
By KAREN BARTOMIOLI
09/18

NORTH CANAAN — It’s another state law that doesn’t work in small towns. Public Act No. 08-3, an Act Concerning Comprehensive Ethics Reforms, which impacts what towns include on their Web sites, has sparked reaction from town officials across the region.

In North Canaan, the Board of Selectmen voted to suspend the town Web site in response to the bill, which requires all municipal Web sites to make available, within seven days, minutes of meetings of boards and commissions. The bill is effective Oct. 1.

Most of the area’s first selectmen heard of the amendment, passed as part of large bills in both the House and Senate in May and June, at a recent meeting of the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governments (COG).

COG Executive Director Dan McGuiness said the initial reaction was that towns will have to take a step back in going public.

“Everybody supports getting information out to the public. That’s why towns have all set up Web sites,” McGuiness said. “But many are relying on volunteers to take minutes, and to be the Webmaster. There are too many ways to get tripped up and not be in compliance with the law. Someone can go on vacation, and the next thing you know, there’s a Freedom of Information complaint.”

McGuiness said the changes were buried in an ethics bill approved in special session.

State Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30) was among those who voted for it. He told The Lakeville Journal this week it is “a virtual certainty it will be changed.”

“It was a very big bill that dealt mostly with things like pension revocation. This was added on almost as an afterthought. As with many bills, the state and the Legislature didn’t perceive the consequences for small towns. The intent was to allow the public to be easily informed, but it’s just not workable here.”

Approved minutes or raw data?

It remains unclear what the timeframe is for posting. The bill states “within seven days of the session to which such minutes refer.”

But Roraback said it has to mean approved minutes.

“Minutes are not approved until the board or commission meets again, which is usually a month. The approved minutes are what need to be posted. There could be corrections that need to be made. So it’s not like it’s even providing a timely look at what went on at a meeting, if that was the intent of the legislation.”

But Cornwall Town Clerk Vera Dinneen said minutes actually have to be filed in the Town Hall within seven days of a meeting. Any corrections are made at the next meeting, and noted in the minutes of that meeting.

So, any posted minutes have the potential for inaccuracy.

At any rate, most towns are accepting the new law — for now. They are also using it as the impetus to hasten plans to tighten up Web site procedures.

A look at town Web sites shows a wide disparity. North Canaan’s is basically a static site with basic information that is rarely updated, such as the names of town officials. There isn’t even a calendar of meetings.

Bottleneck in getting the data

Others are comprehensive, but none are entirely up-to-date when it comes to posting minutes and agendas. There is definitely a pattern. Where boards or commissions pay a clerk, or it is part of the duties of a Town Hall staffer, minutes almost always appear on a timely basis. Where volunteers are used, that is rarely the case. That’s not because they are unreliable. It’s a matter of getting the information to the Web site.

In more than one town, the first selectman noted with some amusement there may still be a few individuals out there who still stype minutes on a typewriter.

“That may be so, but I think it is less and less the case,” said Salisbury First Selectman Curtis Rand. “The key is having minutes e-mailed. In Salisbury, the selectmen’s secretary manages the Web site, so it’s not that big a deal if we have everything electronically. Minutes can be e-mailed to the Webmaster the same time they are e-mailed to the town clerk. I don’t think it’s a big deal anymore.

“We are making an effort to catch up and get better at posting. We know how to do it, and that’s half the battle.”

The town of Canaan/Falls Village Web site is a good example of the disparity that often occurs. Minutes from selectmen and finance board meetings from early last week were posted before the week was out. Other boards and commissions have no postings at all.

First Selectman Patricia Mechare said setting up a central location to receive Web site information is vital, an effort already in the works. She has sent a letter to all chairmen advising them of the new requirement. It is part of a plan to make it all work, and it may require taking on a small additional expense.

Towns with paid Webmasters are looking into the potential for additional costs.

“I can’t see giving up on a Web site,” Mechare said. “It’s important and probably the next state mandate will be that we have to have them.”

The Kent Web site is in serious need of updating. It turns out officials have been having their own issues. First Selectman Ruth Epstein said the town clerk will act as Webmaster, on a volunteer basis, and is just starting to establish new procedures.

Epstein spoke of an option that was discussed at COG.

“We can use other Web sites, such as libraries, as long as they don’t use tax dollars. But that can be tricky. I’m not sure it’s something we want to get into.”

It’s an entirely different story in Cornwall, where a comprehensive Web site was developed by a group of individuals, with sponsorship from the Cornwall Association. Its home page notes that it is “independent of municipal government and all civic organizations.”

It appears to be the most complete and up-to-date of all area Web sites, when it comes to posting minutes and agendas, but it doesn’t come close to complying with the revised law. Again, the problem lies in the Webmaster only being able to post what is sent.

Potential impact on land use cases

McGuiness warned that the requirement will create another source of potential technicalities to muddy town business.

“It can be a problem for land use agencies. That’s where you have applicants, a lot of money being spent, opposition and lawyers involved. A perfectly good decision could be tripped up by something like not posting the minutes on time. It happens, and this is another place for it to happen. Projects end up not being considered on their merits.”

So the questions remain: Will maintaining up-to-date Web sites prove to be too much of a burden on small towns that still rely heavily on volunteers? Will the legislation be changed?

Roraback’s suggestion is for towns to continue to work on their Web site procedures. In the meantime, he will work on his end, maybe not to repeal a well-intentioned law, but to make it easier for towns to comply.

“I’m not sure if this applies here, but there is a law that says when a new mandate is passed, there is a one-year delay in implementing it, to allow time to be in compliance. I would recommend as much as two years.”


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