NORTON - Town license forms and other municipal documents are expected to be available online when a new official town hall Web site launches, possibly in early January.

The site will replace the current nortonma.org, which primarily lists contact information, Thomas Golota told the board of selectmen Thursday night. The current site is about seven years old, said Golota, who monitors the Webmaster e-mail account.

The new site will be available through Virtual Town Hall, a firm that provides online services to municipalities.

Plainville and Norfolk have Web sites through this company.

Norton has a prototype new site that includes a calendar for such events as town board meetings, Golota said. Selectmen said the new site should include links to license and permit forms, contact information and links to resources that potential businesses would find useful.

"I think we'd like to make it more business-friendly. I think we'd like to put out feelers," Selectman Stephen Gradie said.

Selectmen also suggested listing open committee seats; the town charter; information about the local housing partnership; and town meeting warrants and town reports.

Golota said the water department will post its rules and regulations and frequently asked questions.

Town departments will be responsible for updating their information, he said.

"If you do it every week, it's going to become second nature," Golota said.

Virtual Town Hall will do a two-day training session and then provide a help desk, he said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER covers Norton for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.