§ 162-24. Ordinances; adoption by Selectboard

(a) If the Selectboard desires to adopt an ordinance, it shall cause the ordinance to be entered in the official record kept of the Board's proceedings, and, thereafter, the Board shall adopt the ordinance subject to final approval after the public hearing as hereafter set forth. The ordinance shall then be published in a newspaper of general circulation of the Town together with a notice of the time and place of a public hearing to consider the ordinance for final passage, such publication to be on a day at least one week and not more than two weeks prior to the date of the hearing.

(b) At the public hearing or at any time and place to which the hearing may from time to time be adjourned, the ordinance shall be read in full, unless the Selectboard elects to read the ordinance by title, and after such reading, all persons interested shall be given an opportunity to be heard.

(c) After the public hearing, the Selectboard may finally adopt the ordinance, with or without amendment. If the Board amends the ordinance prior to passage, it shall cause the amended ordinance to be entered into the official record of Board proceedings and shall also cause the amended sections of the ordinance, as finally passed, to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town on a day not more than 14 days after adoption. Any published notice shall explain citizens' rights to petition for a vote on the ordinance at an annual or special meeting pursuant to Title 24 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated.

(d) Every ordinance shall become effective upon passage unless otherwise stated. If a referendum petition is filed within 40 days of adoption, the ordinance shall not become effective until after the question of repeal is voted.

(e) The Town Clerk shall prepare and keep in the Town Clerk's office a book of ordinances which shall contain each Town ordinance, together with a complete index of the ordinances according to subject matter. Failure to comply with this provision shall not invalidate a Town ordinance lawfully passed.

(f) A Town ordinance may provide:

(1) that any professional fees or costs incurred by the Town in the enforcement of any ordinance shall be charged to the violator; those charges shall constitute a lien against real property or a levy against personal property and shall be enforced within the time and in the manner provided for the collection of taxes or personal property; and

(2) that the Selectboard may authorize the Town Attorney to bring action in the name of the Town of Woodford for any relief which the Selectboard may deem appropriate for the enforcement of any Town ordinance. (Added 2013, No. M-8, § 2, eff. May 23, 2013.)