Old Lyme Annual Town Meeting is Tonight; Citizen of the Year to be Announced, Vote on Ethics Commission Ordinance Scheduled

OLD LYME — At their Jan. 6 Regular Meeting, the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen passed a motion to schedule an Annual Town Meeting for Monday, Jan. 27. The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. and be held in the auditorium of the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, 53 Lyme Street, Old Lyme.

The agenda for the meeting will be:

1. To accept the Annual Town Report for the fiscal year July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, as submitted by the Board of Finance.

2. A request by the Board of Selectmen to appropriate $8,750 as a grant to a non-profit (Lyme Academy of Fine Arts).

3. To consider and vote on the following proposed Ordinance amendments:

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN OF OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT THAT §§ 43-7(A) and 43-7(A)(2) OF THE OLD LYME CODE OF ORDINANCES SHALL BE AMENDED AS FOLLOWS:

43-7(A). Creation and composition of Ethics Commission. There shall be a municipal Ethics Commission composed of five electors of the Town of Old Lyme and at no time shall more than three members be of the same political party.

43-7(A)(2). Appointment/Removal. The initial Ethics Commission shall be appointed by the unanimous vote of the Ethics Formation Committee. The Ethics Formation Committee will conduct an open solicitation of community-minded individuals and create a pool of candidates based upon their citizenship, political affiliations if any, and business, professional and personal history. Subject to the requirements of this subsection, the Ethics Formation Committee will randomly select and thereafter appoint the above five electors as the Ethics Commission. Thereafter, Commission members shall be appointed and/or vacancies filled by a two-thirds vote of the existing Ethics Commission (appointing authority). Removal from said Commission shall only be by two-thirds vote of the appointing authority or by unanimous vote of the Board of Selectmen. Of the five members of the Ethics Commission initially appointed, three members shall be appointed for the term commencing June 2008 and ending January 31, 2011, and two members shall be appointed for the term commencing June 2008 and ending January 31, 2012. After the stated expiration date of those initial terms, the term of office of  all members shall be two years, with two members to be appointed for a term to begin and end on January 31 of the even-numbered years, and three members to be appointed for a term to begin and end on January 31 of the odd-numbered years, provided that each person occupying the position of member of the Ethics Commission on the effective date of this Ordinance amendment and each member appointed thereafter shall continue in office for the term for which she/he was appointed and until her/his successor is duly appointed and qualifies. If a vacancy occurs, the appointing authority will appoint a member to the Commission to complete the unexpired term. Commission members may serve without limitations on the number of terms served.

[Amended 7-1-2008]

This ordinance amendment shall become effective fifteen (15) days after the date of publication of notice of its passage, per Connecticut General Statutes § 7-157 (a).

(Copies of these proposed amendments showing the proposed deletions from and additions to the existing Ethics Ordinance are available in the office of the Town Clerk and for download here.)

4. To announce the recipient of the Board of Selectmen’s Citizen of the Year for 2019.