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WEST HARTFORD — Harwinton residents hoping to learn about recycling policies and library hours online are out of luck.
The town's Web site, which also includes a listing of municipal services, parks and recreation information and key town phone numbers, is gone. It's been replaced by a simple message that the site is "currently unavailable."
It's not an error.
Officials in the small Litchfield County town and several other Connecticut communities worry they could face lawsuits if they don't comply with a new state law requiring towns to post agendas and minutes for every board and commission on their municipal Web sites.
The law went into effect Oct. 1.
Towns such as Harwinton say they don't have the resources to post agendas at least 24 hours before all public meetings and minutes within a week afterward.
"There are so many questions," said First Selectman Frank J. Chiaramonte, who worries some town residents may leap at the opportunity to sue if Harwinton doesn't follow the law perfectly. So they've pulled the plug on their site.
The town of Roxbury, population 2,500, has the same fear. First Selectman Barbara Henry says town hall employees work part time, some only two days a week. Getting the town's board and commission meeting minutes posted on time would be impossible, she said.
State Sen. Andrew Roraback said the new law got little discussion during this year's General Assembly session. It was tacked onto a law that revokes pensions of state officials who are convicted of illegal activities in office.
Roraback said he's gotten complaints from officials in the 15 communities he represents, all saying the law is unworkable. Most towns don't have a full-time Webmaster or other person designated to regularly update municipal Web sites.
"In our zeal to make information more available to the public, we're making information less available because towns are taking down their Web sites," said Roraback, promising lawmakers will revisit the issue next year.
Mitchell Pearlman, a member of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and former executive director of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, agrees the law didn't get enough discussion in the General Assembly.
But he disagrees with towns that are stripping their online presence.
"That's like cutting off the nose of the people who will benefit from the information to spite the nose of the legislature," Pearlman said.
