The upcoming municipal elections for the town of Ridgeway will be under new management this spring, if an ordinance, which passed first reading Thursday night, proceeds as expected.

Ordinance 1-1010, read into the record by town council Thursday, will transfer the authority to conduct municipal election from the town’s election committee to the Fairfield County Voter Registration and Election Commission.

The Ridgeway election committee resigned last year, said Mayor Charlene Herring, and the town was unable to recruit any new volunteers.

According to the ordinance, the town will continue to advertise the elections and will continue to accept candidate filings and filing fees. But beginning with the April 6 elections, Fairfield County will now prepare and distribute ballots and election materials, as well as appoint “managers of election” for polling places, and “otherwise supervise and conduct all municipal election[s] within the Town of Ridgeway.”

The county will also be charged with counting the votes and certifying the results. The county will also “hear and decide protests,” should any arise.

Costs incurred by the county for the elections shall be reimbursed by the town.

Council will give the matter its second and final reading, followed by a vote, at their Feb. 11 meeting.

In other Ridgeway Town Council business, council elected to retain James Ashford as the town’s only police officer, but did not name him Chief of Police.

“We’re just going to give him a little more time and see what happens,” Herring said.

Ashford’s 90-day review period ended this month.