George T. Ferguson, Chair
John Aurelia, Sr.
James S. Belden
Jeffrey A. Capeci
Mary Ann Jacob
Richard Woycik
Legislative Council Ordinance Committee
Minutes (Draft) and Motions for Meeting of June 2, 2010
Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT
Committee Members Present: Honorables John Aurelia Sr., James Belden, Jeff Capeci, George Ferguson, Mary Ann Jacob, and Richard Woycik
Also present: Town of Newtown Chief of Police Michael Kehoe
Honorables Jan Andras, Gary Davis and Dan Amaral.
John Voket, Associate Editor, Newtown Bee
Hoa Nguyen, Editor, Newtown Patch
The meeting was called to order at 6:38 p.m. following a public hearing on the Design Advisory Board Ordinance
Public Participation
There were no members of the public present
Review and Approval of Minutes
Mr. Woycik moved to table the approval of the minutes of the May 19, 2010 meeting. Jan Andras seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.
Discussion and possible action on expanding the Design Advisory Board from 3 to 5 members, Chapter 27 of the Newtown Code Book. (Public Hearing immediately proceeded this meeting)
Mr. Capeci made a motion to recommend to the Legislative Council that the Design Advisory Board Ordinance, as amended by the Ordinance Committee, and following a public hearing held on June 2, 2010 in the Municipal Board Room to hear all public comment, be recommended to the Legislative Council for adoption. Seconded by John Aurelia. Approved unanimously.
Discussion of a new Ordinance to Protect Children (with Chief Kehoe)
First hearing of this proposed
Chief Kehoe provided background information on the proposed Ordinance to Protect Children and indicated that this was the first hearing or action that was being taken by the Council on this matter. He indicated that the proposed ordinance was the brainchild of the Police Commission and was developed after one or more of the Commissioners became aware of surrounding communities adopting similar legislation. Chief Kehoe made it clear that it was important to make sure that in enacting and implementing this legislation that we do not infringe upon anyone’s Constitutional Rights.
The Chief briefed the Committee on the specific circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Ordinance by the Town of Ridgefield, CT. He noted that it was his understanding that Ridgefield adopted their Ordinance as a result of a particular concern about controlling the whereabouts of a registered sex offender who was a resident of New York State but who visited relatives in Ridgefield. The ordinance was prepared by Ridgefield’s Town Attorney, David Grogins, who holds the same position with the Town of Newtown.
Chief Kehoe indicated that the proposed legislation is not the result of any particular incident or concern in Newtown but should rather be viewed as preventive in nature and would give the Officers of Newtown Police Department an additional ” tool in the toolbox.” The Chief indicated that in addition to Ridgefield, that New Milford and Danbury had adopted similar legislation.
The Chief mentioned that offenders might be drawn to parks, schools or other Town owned property where children would tend to be found. By creating Child Safety Zones encompassing these areas and the along with knowledge that the Newtown Police Department possesses, including photographic profiles of resident registered sex offenders, it would make it easier for the Police Department to ensure that certain people stayed out of the proposed Child Safety Zones.
The Chief indicated that he thought that the definitions were helpful in that they helped to describe what is permissible and not permissible in regards to those on sexual offender registry. Registry is online but Newtown PD gets notified by mail. PD has a binder book with all the info on the local sexual offenders and follows up periodically to make sure that addresses remain current. Offenders are required to report when they move.
Mr. Woycik said he hears on state news concerns about the effectiveness of monitoring sex offender population and he likes the idea that the PD has a binder and checks up on the info. Chief said he’s very comfortable with it and said that the offenders must notify before moving or changing phone number. He also said many are on probation.
Mr. Ferguson asked the Chief if he saw a down side in terms of resources and administrative burdens associated with creating and implementing protocols and regulations. The Chief said the department will have to assign certain personnel, but he doesn’t think it will take much of their time.
Mrs. Jacobs said she would be interested in a map of the safety zones and if enforcement would be more reactive than proactive. She also asked if it was possible that someone could live in one of the safety zones. Chief said that all the safety zones are public areas where children are present. He said signs must be posted indicating child safety zones enabling officers to enforce the ordinance.
Mr. Belden said everyone has heard stories of persons that ended up on the list. He asked what the genesis of someone’s name ending up on such a list was. The Chief said state law mandates who is on the list and the State produces it. Mr. Capeci noted that when someone goes online to see the list of sexual offenders they are not privy to the details of the case – only the statute they violated. Chief said he thinks the department has the details and said he would get a file (on a particular sexual offender) if he needed one.
Mr. Woycik questioned what would happen if someone lived out of town.
The chief said the police would run the persons information through National Data Base and if they were on the sexual offender registry it would come up.
Mrs. Jacob said at first she was concerned about the Ordinance inasmuch as she thought it might restrict where people where able to reside, further marginalizing them and creating a bigger problem.. I now see that this is not the case here. She said this sounds reasonable but indicated she wants a map before they make a decision.
Mr. Woycik noted that the restricted areas would be foot print specific.
Chief noted that ordinance does not and cannot include public roads or sidewalks.
Mr. Ferguson indicated that he was pleased the Ordinance Committee was able to take their first bite into the Ordinance. He invited Committee members to share their notes and questions and would aggregate these for use in future discussions.
Mr. Capeci suggested they have Attorney David Grogins come in to review/discuss the ordinance.
The chief said he will get GIS map started and get it back to ordinance committee in 2 or 3 weeks.
Chief left at 7:15 pm
Biennial Review of the Purchasing Regulation
Mr. Ferguson reminded Committee member of an email he sent to all stakeholder advising that this effort would resume after the budget has passed.
Fire Lane Ordinance
Mr. Ferguson said that once it is referred to them by the Council, the committee needs to review it before sending it around again. It went through most of the process during the last Council. .
Open Space Acquisition
Mr. Ferguson explained that he anticipated this would soon be referred to Ordinance and involves crafting local legislation based on State Statute that allows municipalities to acquire easements that preserve open space through the abatement of taxes over time.
Conclusion
Mr. Ferguson said they were going to have a future meeting so it did not conflict with the Administration Committee. Committee agreed on a meeting in two weeks, June 16, 2010 at 7 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm.
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