Village municipal code available online
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
When Village of East Troy Clerk-Treasurer Eileen Suhm uploaded the updated municipal code to the village’s website last week, it was the final step in a process that took more almost two years to complete.
“The project actually began in 2013 when we signed the contracts to start, but it didn’t really get rolling for a while,” Suhm said.
The massive undertaking, done in conjunction with General Code, which already hosted part of the village’s online code, had a 400-day timeline, Suhm said.
“We have a big code, even General Code said to me a couple of times ‘You have a really big code,’” she said.
The real work on the project began in early 2014.
“The first big step I remember happened in 2014, General Code went through our entire code and looked at state statues the might be outdated,” she said. “They read the whole code and then brought back issues with things like wording or organizational problems for us to look at. There were also specific things we asked them to look at as well.”
Suhm said after General Code examined their municipal code, it was returned to them with a 138-page Editorial Analysis, which had pages upon pages upon pages of questions for Suhm and the other department heads – Mike Miller (Department of Public Works) and Police Chief Alan Boyes – to answer.
“Mike and the chief were great about this,” Suhm said. “There were a lot of questions to answer – the three of us spent two days sitting in the room answering these questions.”
After answering all the questions from General Code, Suhm said they sent it back with some changes of their own and suggestions from the zoning administrator and village engineer.
“That all got submitted back to General Code earlier this year,” she said.
They incorporated all those changes into a new document and submitted a draft of the entire code to us and then they give me another set a questions on the changes, which went to each department.”
Suhm said the Village Board and Plan Commission were kept apprized of all the changes throughout the process and the members were able to review the changes “so there was nothing they would be surprised at.”
She did say one of the hardest things about the whole project was to not get
“bogged down” with each ordinance and try to change everything all at once.
“It was hard not to get sidetracked,” Suhm said. “This couldn’t be the time to reform our whole code. We need to make a list of things to revisit at a later time.
“The municipal code is a living, breathing document and this really brought that to light.”
Suhm said she was very grateful for all the help she received during the process, from the department heads, to staff to the Village Board and committee members. “Everybody took this project very seriously and everyone pitched in to get it done.”
And in the end, she said it was worth the effort.
“The new online code offers the most flexible access for citizens from any location – at home, at work or on-the-go,” she said. “It’s a valuable tool for our citizens to gain access to the information they need, when they need it and where they need it.”
The new online code has been designed for optimal viewing on desktops and laptops as well as smartphones and tablet devices. An app can be downloaded for Android and iPhones (search for eCode 360 in the app store).
A link to the Village’s eCode is available at www.easttroy-wi.com.
