The Board of Aldermen overturned a mayoral veto of the town’s new blight ordinance Thursday night.
But Mayor Mark A. Lauretti will likely get his requested changes to the ordinance anyway.
“The mayor’s reasons for vetoing the Anti-Blight Ordinance are understood and well taken,” said Board of Aldermen president John Anglace at the board meeting Thursday. “In fact, if offered to the Board during the time this ordinance was under consideration, they would have been adopted.”
But the board wants to get to work on enforcing its new, stronger, blight ordinance. And the mayor’s veto would have slowed that process down.
Lauretti had vetoed the approved ordinance because he objected to a provision that considered grass 10 inches tall blight.
Lauretti also objected to wording that put responsibility for inspecting properties on the fire department when, he said, the fire marshal and building department do inspections.
Anglace said those changes will likely still end up in the ordinance, but will be put there through an amendment process rather than a veto.
“The members believe that the issues suggested by the mayor have merit and should be incorporated,” he said.
But one board member, lone Democrat Jack Finn, questioned Lauretti’s objection to the fire department inspection provision.
“The subparagraph that he just made mention of vetoing is in the current ordinance,” Finn said. “Why did he veto it in 2009 and not veto it in 2007, when the language was exactly the same?”
Lauretti shot back at Finn.
“I don’t know why you didn’t pick it up sooner,” Lauretti said, noting Finn’s long term on the board and role on the subcommittee that rewrote the ordinance. “I may have missed it in 2007, but I didn’t miss it this time.”But Finn said he didn’t think it needed to be changed, because the fire department documents problems they see at houses and forwards suggestions to the fire marshal.
Lauretti told the board he doesn’t take issue with the veto.
“i just want everyone to be on notice that in my mind these are two flaws in the ordinance that need to be amended, and they will not be enforced. “
