Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 502. Organization (a) Three Selectboard members shall constitute a quorum. No action of the Board shall be valid or binding unless adopted by the affirmative vote of at least three Selectboard members. In cases where a statute requires a greater number of the Board for an affir…

§ 503. Record of proceedings (a) The Selectboard shall keep an official record of its proceedings. (b) The minutes of each meeting shall be approved by the Selectboard and shall be filed in the Town Clerk’s office. A duly certified copy of such minutes, attesting to the accuracy …

§ 701. Appointed by Selectboard The Selectboard shall appoint a Town Manager whose responsibilities, powers, and terms of employment shall be as provided by general law, except as otherwise provided by this charter.

§ 901. Appointments The Selectboard may appoint and compensate commissions, committees, and employees as needed and delegate incidental powers necessary for the proper functioning thereof as established by law.

§ 902. Fire Department; appointments (a) Fire protection shall be provided by the Town of Poultney Volunteer Fire Department equipment and by the personnel of the Poultney Hose Company #1. (b) The Fire Chief and assistant fire chiefs shall be elected annually by and shall be memb…

§ 903. Police Department; appointments Public safety services shall be provided for the Town in a manner acceptable to the Selectboard.

§ 1. Merged municipality Upon approval by the voters of the said municipalities, and ratification hereof by the Vermont General Assembly as provided in 17 V.S.A. § 2630 et seq., the Town of Readsboro and the Village of Readsboro shall be deemed merged and consolidated, the said V…

§ 2. Village property All the land, buildings, property, and funds of the Village of Readsboro shall, on the date this merger is effective, including water works, sewage treatment plant and sewerage collection systems, and electric service, become vested in and be the property of…

§ 21. Legislative body The Town of Readsboro shall be managed by the Selectboard, which shall be its legislative body.

§ 22. General powers Said Board shall have all the powers and authority given to it under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Vermont, together with all the implied powers necessary to effectuate and execute the powers granted.

§ 23. Specific powers Without limiting any of its duly vested powers and authority, the Selectboard shall have the power to: (a) appoint and remove a Town Manager; (b) create, change, and abolish officers, departments, or agencies in managing the affairs of the Town of Readsboro;…

§ 24. Transitional board The Selectboard members of the Town of Readsboro, serving on the effective date of this merger, shall continue in office and be deemed Selectboard members of the merged and consolidated Town of Readsboro for the remainder of the terms of their respective …

§ 25. Chair and quorum The Board may elect one of its members as Chair, and a majority of the Board present shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

§ 26. Rules and procedures The Board shall determine its own rules and procedures, but in compliance with pertinent laws of the State of Vermont, and shall keep a public record of its doings.

§ 3. Village indebtedness Payments of all indebtedness and obligations, contractual or otherwise, of the said Village of Readsboro, and of the Town of Readsboro, shall, on the date this merger is effective, be assumed by the merged and consolidated Town of Readsboro.

§ 31. General powers Said Town shall have the authority to exercise all powers relating to municipal affairs conferred and granted by law, including those implied powers necessary to effectuate and execute granted powers.

§ 32. Specific powers Without limiting any of its duly vested powers and authority, the Town of Readsboro may exercise the following powers and functions: (1) to levy, assess, and collect taxes; (2) to appropriate and borrow money within limits prescribed by general laws; (3) to …

§ 33. Existing ordinances Existing ordinances of the Village of Readsboro will be carried over and be deemed in force and effect for the merged and consolidated Town of Readsboro.

§ 4. Village books and records The officers of the Village of Readsboro shall, before this merger goes in effect, and so far as possible or practicable, settle the affairs of said Village of Readsboro and shall, on the effective date hereof, turn over and deliver to the Clerk of …

§ 41. Limited use services funding All municipal services provided to a limited area or group of voters shall be maintained and operated through revenues derived solely from those using the services. The legislative boards or bodies thereof shall keep, or cause to be kept, separa…

§ 42. Public lighting costs The cost for power for public street lighting shall be paid from the General Fund of the consolidated Town of Readsboro.

§ 43. Construction of special public services The cost of initial construction of any special public services and facilities not in existence on the effective date hereof, and/or costs to expand existing facilities to areas not heretofore served, and/or costs to enlarge, expand, …

§ 44. Charges for municipal services Subject to the provisions and limitations of existing laws and regulations, the Selectboard of the Town of Readsboro, or other appropriate legislative body, is empowered to establish charges for the said municipal services and methods of payme…

§ 101. Merger of the Village and Town of Richford Effective as of midnight at the end of December 31, 1998, the Village of Richford, as constituted by 1878 Acts and Resolves No. 202, as amended, shall merge with and into the Town of Richford, within its present geographic limits,…

§ 102. Assets transferred and liabilities assumed (a) Upon the effective merger date, all assets of whatever kind, nature, and description, including lands; easements; rights and interests in lands; buildings and other improvements; vehicles, equipment, and other personal propert…

§ 103. Finances On the effective merger date: (1) the funds and other assets of the Village of Richford for its General Fund, along with its corresponding liabilities, shall become those of the Town of Richford for its General Fund; (2) the funds and other assets of the Village o…

§ 104. Water and sewer rates (a) All water and sewer rates of the Village of Richford in effect at the time of merger shall continue in effect until changed by the water commissioners or sewer commissioners of the Town of Richford. The Selectboard shall be the water and sewer com…

§ 105. Police protection (a) Police protection in the former Village area shall be considered a special services district for those residing therein, provided that boundaries may be altered as provided in section 208 of the charter. Voters residing in the special services distric…

§ 106. Trash collection Trash collection in the former Village area shall be considered as a special services district for those residing therein. Voters residing in the special services district may, by a majority vote of those present and voting at a duly warned meeting, author…

§ 107. Existing ordinances (a) The Village zoning and flood hazard regulations, as amended, are hereby incorporated into the zoning ordinance of the Town of Richford for the purpose of defining a Village district within said Town ordinance and establishing area, density, use, bui…

§ 108. Election of Selectboard (a) Members of the Selectboard in office at the date of the adoption of the merger shall continue in office until the end of their respective terms. (b) The four Village trustees whose terms do not expire in 1998 shall remain on the new Board until …

§ 201. Applicability of general law (a) All provisions of the Constitution and general laws of the State of Vermont relating to towns and their officers shall apply in the Town of Richford. (b) The Town of Richford shall have all the powers now or hereafter conferred upon towns a…

§ 202. Officers (a) The officers of the Town of Richford shall be those provided by law for towns except as otherwise provided by this charter. Such officers shall have all the powers and duties necessary to carry out the provisions of this charter as well as those provided by la…

§ 203. Tax collection The Town Treasurer shall collect property taxes and penalty and interest charges. The Town shall not elect other collectors of current or delinquent taxes. The Town Treasurer shall deposit all taxes, penalties, and interest charges in the Town accounts for t…

§ 204. Town and School District officers The Clerk, Treasurer, and auditors of the Town of Richford shall perform those duties imposed upon the Clerk, Treasurer, and auditors of the Town of Richford School District by the general laws of the State of Vermont and this charter. (Ad…

§ 205. Appointed officers, commissions, and committees (a) The Selectboard may appoint any officers required by the Town’s personnel regulations, this charter, or the general laws of the State of Vermont. (b) The Selectboard may appoint commissions or committees as needed, and de…

§ 206. Town meeting (a) Provisions of the laws of the State of Vermont relating to voter qualification, warnings, methods of voting, the duties of the Town officers at Town meetings and elections, and all other particulars relating to preparation for, conduct, and management of T…

§ 207. Ordinances Any rule, ordinance, regulation, or bylaw of the Town of Richford may apply to a limited area and not to the whole Town, notwithstanding that the rule, ordinance, regulation, or bylaw might also have been applied to another area or areas within the Town. (Added …

§ 208. Special districts (a) The Selectboard may designate areas apart from the rest of the Town as a special service district and may provide that said area of the voters therein shall be provided with special services not common to all the voters of the Town, provided that the …

§ 301. Existing Water and Sewer Departments (a) The municipal water system taken over from the former Village of Richford and any additions thereto shall be maintained separate from all other departments of the Town, and all rents and revenue therefrom not necessary for current e…

§ 302. Voting procedures for water and sewer; capital improvements and extensions (a) Voting for capital improvements for water or sewer service within the areas served by the water and sewer systems shall continue to be by the voters using these services in the same manner estab…

§ 401. Fire prevention For the prevention and control of fires, the Town of Richford may function with a volunteer fire department. Annually, the Selectboard shall appoint, based on recommendations from the Firefighters’ Association, three fire wardens. These appointments shall b…

§ 402. Ambulance service (a) The Town of Richford may provide for an ambulance service for the Town. If so provided, the Richford Ambulance Service shall be owned and operated by the Town of Richford under the supervision of the Selectboard with the advice of an Ambulance Committ…

§ 403. Arvin A. Brown Public Library The Town of Richford shall provide suitable rooms in a Town property for the Arvin A. Brown Public Library and shall keep the rooms furnished and heated without expense to the Arvin A. Brown Library Trustees, as set forth in the deed of March …

§ 501. Severability If any provision of this charter shall, for any reason, be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions that can be given effect without the invalid provision. To this end, the provisions of this charter are severable. (Added 1997, N…

§ 502. Continuance in office Except as specifically provided by this charter, if at the time this charter takes full effect a Town officer holds any office or position, he or she shall continue in such office or position until the taking effect of some specific provision(s) under…