Town Clerk Margaret West is applying for a state grant to update the way the town keeps track of its ordinances.
Currently, local laws dating back to the 1950’s are on file in binders at the town clerk’s office.
West said the ordinances are indexed chronologically, often making them difficult to find if residents are looking for information on a specific subject.
West the laws are available on the town Web site — but only as a single, very large PDF document.
“Because they are all in one file, it makes them essentially non-searchable,” West said.
The $3,000 grant, if obtained, would allow the town to reprint the local law book, indexing the laws by subject instead of chronologically.
The town would also be able to post the laws online in a user-friendly format.
At the Jan. 20 Board of Selectmen meeting, West said she wants to hire the American Legal Publishing Company of Ohio to do the job.
The project’s cost — $7,900.
In addition the the grant, West said she’ll use money from the state to cover the cost.
West said American Legal Publishing will update and maintain the Web info for an annual fee of $250, which will come out of the town clerk’s operating budget.
The deadline for the grant application is April 30.
