1967/12/05October ~l, 1967
Received November 2, 1967
Mr. Arthur B. Powers, First Selectman
Town of Berlin
Town Hall
Berlin, Connecticut
Dear Mr. Powers:
This letter is in response to your letter of October 30th asking me to
advise you concerning Public Act #723, Public Act #791, the Resolution Creating
A Board of Finance In The Town of Berlin, Section 5-1 of the Ordinances and
Special Acts of the Town of Berlin and the legality of actions taken by the Board
of Finance since October 1st as it relates to Public Act #723 and #791.
Public Act #723 entitled, "An Act Concerning Access to Public Records and
Meetings," deals with the keeping of records and the scheduling of meetings by
the Boards and Commissions in the Town. The gist of the act is, in part, that
each board and commission must file not later than January 31st with the Town
Clerk a schedule of the regular meetings of such board for the ensuing year and
no such meeting of any such body shall be held sooner than thirty days after such
schedule has been filed. Since the Bord of Finance has regular meetings on the
first Tuesday of each month as required by Section 5-1 of the Berlin ordinances,
a schedule of these oregul~r meetings must Be filed with the Town Clerk not later
than January 31, 1968. If the Board wishes to have regular meetings on the
first Tuesday of each month before that time, they should immediately file such a
schedule. However, it is my understanding that most of the meetings of the Board
of Finance are special meetings. Public Act #723 goes on to provide that special
meetings may be held by giving 24 hour notice and posting a notice of this meeting
at the office of the Town Clerk and it further provides that a special meeting
may be held without posting notice provided a copy of the minutes be filed with
the Town Clerk not later than 72 hours following the holding of such meeting.
Public Act #791 deals with the polling by telephone of finance board
members in the absence of a regular meeting concerning amounts not exceeding
$1,000.00. This act requires that each member so polled shall deIiver to the
clerk a written statement signed by him stating how he vo~ed on the question.
It is further requred that the clerk filed with the town clerk within two weeks
~a statement of the result of such poll. The act goes on to provide that the .clerk
shall prepare and file with the town clerk ~ copy of the minutes and records of
each regular and special meeting held within two weeks from the date of such
meeting.
Therefore, my answer to your letter, in part, is as follows:
(1) Public Act #723 does apply to the Finance Board and that Board should
file a schedule of its regular meetings with the town clerk as soon as possible.
(2) Public Act #791 dealing with telephone pools by the chairman of the
finance board does apply to our finance board and it should comply with the re-
quirements of filing the statement of the result of such poll with the town clerk.
(3) There is a conflict between Public Act #791 and Public Act #723 con-
cerning the length of time that the finance board clerk has within which to
file minutes of the special meetings. Public Act #723 requires such minutes to be
filed within two weeks. However, inasmuch as Public Act #791 deals specifically
with town boards of finance while Public Act #723 is a generalized statute, it is
my opinion that Public Act #791 will control the length of time for the filing of
the minutes of the special meeting by the board of finance clerk which shall be
two weeks.
(4) With respect to Section 5-1 of the Ordinances and Special Acts of the
Town of Berlin, this ordinance, of course, establishes the board of finance within
the Town of Berlin. I would recommend that this act be revised as soon as
possible because there are many provisions in this act which no longer apply to th,
board of finance, including the times for preparing the annual budget, etc.
(5) With respect to the legality of any action taken after October 1st, it
is my opinion that since the meeting of last Tuesday, October 24th was a ~pecial
meeting and not a re~dlar meeting and I would strongly urge that the minutes of thJ
special meeting be filed with the town clerk wih~in two weeks from the date of' suc~
meeting in order that the board at least comply with ~he requirements of Public
Act #791.
If you have any other questions regarding these acts or any statements made
in this letter, please do not hesitate to call me. I am sending a copy of this
letter to Mr. Doran, Chairman of the Finance Board.
Very truly yours,
HARRY N. JACKAWAY
HNJ:cv
Opinion #8?
cc: Mr. Philip Doran, Chairman
Board of Finance
Copied into the records of the Board of Finance at the request of Chrmn. Doran.
November 29, 1967.
~. Typist
BERLIN BOARD OF FINANCE MEETING
~ECEMBER 5, 1967
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chrm. Doran, Messrs. W. Brown, T. Ward, Jr., R. Sprague and Mrs.
Delaney
~THEHS PRESENT: (Part time): Mrs. Mahan; Mr. A. Powers
Dhairman Doran opened the meeting at 7:45 P.M.
~ISCELLANEOUS:
1. A. Powers letter Nov. 28, 1967 requesting approval of this Board of
proposal by Town Engineer and Director of Public Works Morgan Seelye for additional
personal financial compensation to offset an attractive offer by another firm.
At the request of the Chairman, Mr. A. Powers appeard before the Board to further
explain the importance of holding Mr. Seelye if at all possible.
It was voted that this Board will recommend an annual salary of $13,250 for Town
Engineer and Director of Public Works Morgan Seelye in the budget for presentation
at the Annual Budget meeting for fiscal year commencing July l, 1968.
Note: The foregoing action was taken in an effort to retain for the town the
services of a qualified engineer.
2. Chairman Doran suggested and it was agreed by consensus that each Board
member separately submit in writing his own version of or comments regarding
a revised ordinance establishing the Board of Finance. The Chairman would collate
all these and forward them to the Town Counsel for his consideration. This should
avoid prolonged discussion which would probably occur in attempting to develop
a majority Board opinion on this matter at a time when the Board will be very
heavily occupied in preparing the new budget.
RECEIVED FOR FILING Philip D. Doran
~-'~ ~.~. j~ j2~d~ ~ha~iVman
TO~/N CLERK'S OFFICE Entered in the public record
December 18, 1967 at the request of
~ Chairman Philip D. Doran
y Joanne G. Ward