January 18, 2006

Dr. Sokolowski,

My office has been looking into all the Boards and Commissions in the Town of Wethersfield. I find that we are not missing any of the minutes for the Boards and Commissions which meet regularly as well as those meeting much more infrequently. We have received the minutes in a timely manner and file them as we receive them. Some minutes being voted on at the next meeting are posted under the agenda on the Town Clerks [sic] board prior to being voted.

As I said before, not all minutes are in my office. Some are filed in the departments which work most closely with a certain board or commission. They are readily available in Town Hall. The current year is frequently in a notebook for ease in viewing. Some have an agenda or index which makes them easier to review. There are lessons to be learned from doing such an involved review. People have developed a better way to track actions taken at the meetings.

Not all minutes are put online. They are filed and available in a hard copy. Most minutes are only put online after they are approved. The only minutes put on line unapproved are those of the Town Council. Any changes to these minutes are made in the following meeting where they are approved or amended and approved as amended. While Council minutes are done within the seven days they are not put online until they are sent out to the Town Council with their Thursday packet, prior to their Monday meeting. Councilors know I do have unapproved minutes available and, if requested, issue copies prior to the time they receive them.

I did discover a few boards and commissions which do not meet even on a yearly basis, just meeting as needed. I will be taking another look at these to be sure they are not required to meet at least once a year. If they are not required by Connecticut General Statutes or if they are no longer relevant, Council may want to disband them.

I can understand your concern in being sure that our boards and commissions are in compliance with FOI. The minute [sic] form I was looking into would have made it easier for the volunteers serving on these boards and commissions, including those taking the minutes. I did not mean to imply we were not meeting the requirements. I was just trying to streamline the form, making the minutes more uniform for more committees. I am sure you are aware that people do not jump up and volunteer to take minutes in the absence of a secretary. With the new form, it would be easier for someone to fill in the blanks. Most of our major boards do have a paid secretary, especially when there are public hearings. Besides being advertised, public hearings require more complete minutes of what is said at the hearing. The department representative also has a record of the votes taken and their notes available. We have and will continue to comply with FOI. We are always looking for better ways to help our volunteers in meeting legal requirements as well as keeping fellow residents informed.

As you know keeping a website up to date is difficult. It requires a tremendous amount of upkeep and constant attention. While posting on the web is not required, most, if not all of the major boards and commissions do post to the Town's official website, after the minutes are approved. As we modernize the systems in Town Hall we might be able to do web postings in a more effective as well as efficient manner.

If there is any other information you require, please do not hesitate in letting me know.

Sincerely,

Dolores G. Sassano
Town Clerk

Dr.Ken Sokolowski
- FOOT HEALTH SERVICES -
Wethersfield, CT, 06109 U.S.A.
Phone: (860) 529-6845