Voluntown Town Hall

The results of the Special Town Meeting held on Saturday, March 20, are below. The meeting can be viewed on the Town of Voluntown,CT- Government YouTube channel. 

1.   To consider and act on adoption of the following proposed Ordinances:

(a)        AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE APPOINTMENT OF THE TOWN CLERK        

Item 1 PASSED.

2. To consider and act on repealing the following Ordinances:            

(a)        THE PUBLIC SAFETY VOLUNTEER REIMBURSEMENT ORDINANCE

(b)        AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION V OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY VOLUNTEER   REIMBURSEMENT ORDINANCE (Can be viewed in the link above)

Item 2 PASSED. 

Minutes of the meeting will be available here, or by request to the Town Clerk’s office.

Please note that the Public Hearing and the Special Town Meeting are hybrid meetings, meaning they will both be held via Zoom and in person. Those eligible to vote will have the options of which to attend. PLEASE READ ALL OF THE DIRECTIONS.

For those attending via Zoom only:

You must have a Zoom account to join via Zoom. To sign up for your own free account, visit zoom.us/signup and enter your email address. You will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us). In this email, click ‘Activate Account’. 

Electors and all others eligible to vote in town meetings in the Town of Voluntown must register with their legal name that appears on the Tax list or their voter registration card through the following link; https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvdO-qpjMsGteMeZACKeCROC776U13MyWG. Note: This link is the registration link only, not the meeting link. After you register you will receive a unique meeting link. This link will only work for that individual person. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED IN ORDER TO RECIEVE A MEETING LINK. 

Please log into zoom or be at the in person meeting prior to 9:30am for the Special Town meeting, as it will begin immediately following the Public Hearing. The Public Hearing is not expected to be long.  

The hearing and Special Town Meeting will both be live streamed on the Town of Voluntown, CT – Government YouTube page, for those who want to watch in real time, but not vote. In order to vote, attendance must be in person or via Zoom.

Those who attend in person must wear a mask and social distancing rules will be followed.

Voting will take place on Zoom via poll. Because of this, only those who are qualified to vote at a town meeting will be admitted into the Zoom meeting. This would mean the attendee would be a registered voter in the town of Voluntown, OR a property owner in the town of Voluntown whose name is on the tax rolls with property assessed at more than 1,000. If more than one resident in a household is qualified to vote, they must be logged into the Zoom meeting with separate devices. Only one poll vote is allowed per device. Devices must have video and audio for voter verification. Information on how to join a Zoom meeting can be found on the Zoom website. Due to the time it takes to verify those who are eligible to vote in a Zoom meeting, logging in could take time. Please log in as early as 45 minutes before the meeting so we can get everyone checked in and be patient.

These hybrid meetings are new to all of, but we believe it is a positive move to get as much participation as possible in town government. Please be patient as we are all learning how to do this together.

TOWN OF VOLUNTOWN
NOTICE OF
PUBLIC HEARING

Notice is hereby given that a Public Hearing to discuss the repeal of the following: Public Safety
Volunteer Reimbursement Ordinance and An Ordinance to Amend Section 5 of the Public Safety
Volunteer Reimbursement Ordinance on Saturday March 20, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. at The
Voluntown Elementary School at 195 Main Street. This meeting will also be held via Zoom and
livestreamed on the Town YouTube channel which is Town of Voluntown-Government. More
information will be posted on the Town Website www.voluntown.gov.

Public Hearing Ordinances for review can be viewed here. 

NOTICE OF

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING – MARCH 20, 2021

TOWN OF VOLUNTOWN

The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Voluntown, Connecticut hereby warns and gives notice that a Special Town Meeting of the Town will be held at the Voluntown Elementary School 195 Main St., Voluntown, Connecticut on Saturday March 20, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. or immediately following the Public Hearing scheduled for that time.  This meeting is a hybrid meeting and can also be participated in via zoom. Electors and all others eligible to vote in town meetings in the Town of Voluntown must register with their legal name that appears on the Tax list or their voter registration card through the following link; https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvdO-qpjMsGteMeZACKeCROC776U13MyWG. All users will be approved before being allowed into the meeting.  Participants on zoom will be voting via poll.

1.   To consider and act on adoption of the following proposed Ordinances:

(a)        AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE APPOINTMENT OF THE TOWN CLERK        

2. To consider and act on repealing the following Ordinances:            

(a)        THE PUBLIC SAFETY VOLUNTEER REIMBURSEMENT ORDINANCE

(b)        AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION V OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY VOLUNTEER       REIMBURSEMENT ORDINANCE     

Copies of each ordinance listed above are available at the office of the Town Clerk and on the Town of Voluntown website www.voluntown.gov.

Signed and dated this 9th day of March 2021, at Voluntown, CT

Tracey L. Hanson                    Ronald J. Millovitsch             Mark G. Oulton

First Selectman                       Selectman                                Selectman

The public hearing explaining this An Ordinance Authorizing the Appointment of the Town Clerk can be viewed here on the Town of Voluntown YouTube channel.

http://www.voluntown.gov/9570-2/

Posted at 5:39am, 3/2/21, updated at 3:37pm

GOOD NEWS!!   The Town Hall will be reopening to the public starting on Monday, February 22. Masks are mandatory in Town Hall. All offices are available Tuesday evening by appointment only.   Hour for specific offices are as follows;

Selectman’s Office:  

One person in the office at a time. Must wear a mask. 

Open for pistol permits 9-4 Monday – Thursday. 

Selectman available by appointment. 

The Town Clerk’s Office: 

One person in the office at a time. Must wear a mask.  

Vault by appointment only. 

Monday – Thursday 9-4.   

Tax Assessor’s Offices: 

By appointment only.  

Use the drop box if possible. 

Tax Collector’s Offices: 

One person in the office at a time. Must wear a mask.  

Monday 9-2, Tuesday 9-4, and Thursday 9-2. 

Use the drop box if possible. 

Building Official’s Office: 

One person in the office at a time. Must wear a mask.  

Monday – Thursday 9-2 

1st and 3rd Monday, 2nd and 4th Tuesday and Thursday nights 4-6pm 

All Offices available Tuesday nights by appointment only. 

The video of the Feb 9, 2021 Public Hearing is available on YouTube. It can be viewed through this link https://youtu.be/BSobqGcLRmo

The ordinances that are being discussed can be found here:

 An Ordinance Authorizing the Appointment of the Town Clerk

 Beach Pond Slow No Wake Zone Ordinance

February 10, 2021

Last night during our Zoom Public Hearing we were Zoom bombed. For those that are not familiar with ‘Zoom Bombing’, this is when people join a Zoom meeting for the purpose of creating the most shock in the least amount of time.

We had two instances of Zoom bombing during last night’s meeting. One was visible during the livestream, and one was visible only to the people in the meeting. Both instances were apologized for by members of the Board, and both offenders were removed from the meeting as quickly as possible.

One of the Zoom bombing instances, the one that was visible on the livestream, involved the “n word” showing up on a shared screen document. Knowing that the unknown offender was doing this for shock value, our reaction was to remove the offensive word from the screen, apologize for it, and carry on with the meeting. Our reaction should not be construed to mean that we are “laughing it off and moving on”. In the shock of the moment, we treated the “n word” like any other offensive word and removed it without further comment. We neglected to publicly recognize that it is more than that. It is a word that is loaded with racism and hurt. It is a word that does not belong in a public meeting, and racism does not belong anywhere in Voluntown.

The second Zoom bombing instance exposed meeting participants to sexual harassment, which is also unacceptable and not anything that the BOS condones.

We apologize for any offense that was taken in our responses to the Zoom bombings. The video of the public hearing has been removed from the YouTube channel and will be reposted when the Zoom bombing is edited out, so as not to cause more offense. It was not our intention to diminish the situations at all. We were focused on not giving undue attention to those who seek it, to remove them from the meeting, and to carry on with business. We learned a lot during our first large Zoom meeting and we will be better prepared for our next one.

Respectfully,

First Selectman Tracey Hanson

Selectman Ronald Millovitsch

Selectman Mark “Skip” Oulton

NOTICE OF

Public Hearing –Tuesday, February 9, 2021

TOWN OF VOLUNTOWN

The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Voluntown, Connecticut hereby gives notice that a Public Hearing will be held on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 6:00PM with the Board of Selectmen’s Meeting to follow.  This public hearing is being held via Zoom. To participate in the Zoom public hearing, residents can join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85705815517pwd=M0NoYi9wbmZFcUYycHVjSTBqYTBpZz09 or call 1-929-436 –866, Meeting ID: 857 0581 5517,  Passcode: 06384  The Public Hearing will be livestreamed on the town YouTube channel which is: Town of Voluntown,CTGovernment, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXdF6kZQMhDVNetgjDX2MAQ

1. To discuss the following proposed Ordinances:

(a)        An Ordinance Authorizing the Appointment of the Town Clerk

            (b)        Beach Pond Slow No Wake Zone Ordinance

2. To discuss the following resolution:

(a)        BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE TOWN OF VOLUNTOWN shall appropriate $23,246.95 from the Undesignated Fund for the completion of the Voluntown Public Works Garage.

Potential action on the foregoing items may be taken at a subsequent town meeting, notice of which will be given in accordance with all legal requirements.

Copies of each ordinance listed above are available at the office of the Town Clerk and on the Town of Voluntown website www.voluntown.gov.

Signed and dated this 2 day of February 2021, at Voluntown, CT

Tracey L. Hanson                    Ronald J. Millovitsch             Mark G. Oulton

First Selectman                       Selectman                                Selectman

Monday, January 11, at 6:30PM the Voluntown Housing Authority is scheduled to meet. Cancelled

Tuesday, January 12, at 6:30PM the Board of Selectmen is scheduled to meet. **please note that the meeting was moved to 6:30PM

The Board of Selectmen’s  meeting will be held virtually via Zoom and livestreamed on the town YouTube channel which is: Town of Voluntown, CT-Government,  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXdF6kZQMhDVNetgjDX2MAQ. To submit a public comment, please send an email to voluntownwebsite@gmail.com at least one hour before the scheduled meeting time. Comments received will be read during the Citizens Comments part of the Agenda.

Agenda

Wednesday, January 13, at 7:00PM the Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to meet.

Thursday, January 14, at 6:30PM the Library Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet via Zoom.

For live access to this meeting the public can join this Zoom meeting in listen mode only by calling: 1 929 436 2866 US (New York), Meeting ID: 818 6223 5595

A recording of this meeting will be available upon request.

Agenda 01-14-21

23 – Use of Exhibit Space Policy

27 – Dress Code Policy for Staff

25 – Use of Volunteers

Thursday, January 14, at 7:00PM the Board of Education is scheduled to meet.

This public meeting is being held via Zoom and can be watched “live” in view mode only on the Voluntown School
YouTube channel below: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3I7dQmnXMxoTlNHzaSZ1zw
Public must submit any comments via email at least one hour before the scheduled meeting time to the BOE Clerk
(djackman@voluntownct.org). Comments will be read during the Citizen’s Comment section. A recording of this
meeting will be available on the school website and on the YouTube channel within 7 days.

Agenda

Wednesday, January 6, the Recreation Commission is meeting at 7:00PM via Zoom. The Recreation Commission meeting will be held virtually via Zoom and livestreamed on the town YouTube channel which is: Town of Voluntown, CT-Government, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXdF6kZQMhDVNetgjDX2MAQ.  To submit a public comment, please send an email to recreation@voluntown.gov at least one hour before the scheduled meeting time. Comments received will be read during the Citizens Comments part of the Agenda.

Agenda

Thursday, January 7, the Inland Wetland & Watercourses Commission is meeting at 7:30PM. This meeting will be held virtually via Zoom and livestreamed on the town YouTube channel which is: Town of Voluntown, CT-Government, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXdF6kZQMhDVNetgjDX2MAQ.

Meeting agenda and relevant documents can be found here: http://www.voluntown.gov/inland-wetlands-committee-minutes/