ARLINGTON SELECT BOARD
PO Box 268
Arlington, VT 05250
802.375.6474 arladmin@comcast.net
MINUTES OF EMERGENCY SELECT BOARD MEETING
Monday, March 30, 2020
Board Members in attendance: Dan Harvey, Matt Bykowski, Tim Williams, Todd Wilkins, Cynthia Browning. Luke Nathan of the Bennington Banner also in attendance. The meeting took place remotely over the internet or the phone.
I. CALL TO ORDER.
Mr. Harvey called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm.
II. NEW BUSINESS.
1. 2020 Telecommunications Upgrade Plan.
Mr. Harvey stated that the sole purpose of the meeting was to consider the proposals about technology upgrades.
Mr. Bykowski first presented a proposal for upgrading the telecommunications facilities of the Town Hall. See the attached document.
The capacities of the new system would allow the Town to better meet community needs for the future and for the current difficult COVID-19 conditions, and for some possible situation in which we needed to re-locate the functions of the Town Hall. There would be a phone system using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) that could be switched for remote work and good teleconferencing and videoconferencing capacities. There could be less paper.
There were Board questions about the timing of the installation of the new system and the possibility that there might be re-imbursement from FEMA or other emergency funds depending on the terms of that funding. The phone numbers would not change.
Mr. Harvey noted that there is about $27,000 in the Town’s computer sinking fund. According to the presentation, there would be an upfront cost of about $3,000 but the annual carrying costs of the new telephones would be lower by about $1,300.
After further questions and discussion Mr. Wilkins made a motion to upgrade the technology and computer platform for telecommunications at the Arlington Town Hall according to Mr. Bykowski’s presentation. Mr. Williams seconded. Ms. Browning stated that she thought the Board was moving too fast. The motion passed 4 to 1, with Ms. Browning voting no.
2. 2020 Board Management Software.
Mr. Bykowski’s second proposal concerned a way to make all the documents and minutes of all Town boards and Commissions available to the public easily and to allow Board members to collaborate and share documents easily. See the second attached document.
After the presentation, the Board discussed the 45 day time line and the $3,500 per year cost. Mr. Bykowski stated that the “Diligent Community” management system would allow materials to be loaded onto the existing website. It would also allow a link to a searchable database containing all of the Town’s ordinance and planning documents. There was a question of whether the school could share the same system. There was discussion of whether the purchase of this system should be done when there is a new Town Administrator.
Mr. Harvey stated that this proposal will be discussed further at the next regular Select Board meeting.
III. ADJOURNMENT.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Minutes taken by Board Member Cynthia Browning.