By Jennifer Bradley
Correspondent
Village of East Troy residents will have fast, online access to all ordinances in the next year or so.
The Village Board Monday night hired the firm General Code to recodify the village’s ordinances for $18,835.
Marcia Clifford, Codification Account Manager and Wisconsin’s representative for General Code (based in New York), spoke to the board about the proposal, which includes a user-friendly electronic format.
She said it takes approximately 12 to 18 months, but after it is finished, the village and its residents will have the ability to search all of the village’s ordinances online.
The current version of the code of ordinances is in PDF or Word files and hasn’t been completely updated or reorganized since 1999, Village Administrator Judy Weter explained.
She said the ordinances are used by citizens, elected officials, the building inspector, police officers, the village attorney and other staff members on a daily basis.
“It is not a product that is easily searched or used,” she said. “With the General Code service, the board and village staff will go through an in-depth process of ensuring the codes are consistent with Wisconsin statutes, are free of inconsistencies in terminology or with the codes themselves and easily accessible for all.”
The comprehensive review process will incorporate new ordinances and any revisions to existing ordinances. The initial cost will cover the process itself. The board also approved a $495 annual fee for the company to continue to host the information on its server and digitally update the code files as time progresses.
