Vassalboro select board hears second presentation on TownCloud system

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro select board members heard a second presentation on the TownCloud company’s system for municipal computer functions at their Oct. 24 meeting.

On Sept. 7, 2023, Dennis Harward, the company’s founder (identified on his business card as Wizard of Light Bulb Moments), and his son-in-law and partner Christopher Haywood (Chief Amazement Officer) explained the company’s municipal website program.

At their Oct. 19, 2023, meeting, board members unanimously accepted TownCloud’s as Vassalboro’s new website.

Harward explained this year that after providing many municipal websites, the Maine-based company developed a following – at the most recent Maine Municipal Association convention, he said, officials using TownCloud websites were bringing colleagues to the TownCloud booth. He and Haywood began getting requests for municipal government systems; so in June, they launched the first part of one, covering accounting and finances.

So far, Durham, Farmington and Madison are using it.

So far, he said, Paris, Durham, Farmington and Madison are using it. Meanwhile, TownCloud is working on the remaining necessities, notably the Motor Vehicle section. Personnel at the state Motor Vehicle office have been extremely cooperative, he said.

Harward said TownCloud’s system is up to date (the TRIO system widely used in Maine, including in the Vassalboro town office, is 25 years old), and is more stable, less cumbersome and less expensive than current systems. Officials in towns that sign up during 2024 are being invited to submit suggestions as the program grows.

Vassalboro Town Manager Aaron Miller has used TownCloud for years and endorses the change. With board member Chris French absent Oct. 24, chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico and member Michael Poulin postponed a decision.

In other business Oct. 24, Denico and Poulin reviewed a report Miller prepared on cemetery maintenance, focusing on the balance between keeping shade trees and protecting gravestones from falling trees in Vassalboro’s 27 cemeteries.

After reviewing historic and legal issues, Miller concluded that a municipal cemetery committee has authority over cemetery maintenance. If there is disagreement, as between Vassalboro’s Cemetery Committee and Conservation Commission, select board members are to resolve it.

Miller recommended:

— Develop a five-year cemetery maintenance plan;
— Budget about $11,500 a year specifically for tree work;
— Each summer, have the cemetery sexton and an arborist inspect trees and set priorities within the budget;
— Explain to residents and relevant committees which trees are to be removed or trimmed, and why; and
— Have necessary tree work done annually after the ground is frozen.

Select board members appointed Erica Roy a member of the Vassalboro Sanitary District board of trustees, until the next board election (assuming voters on Nov. 5 approve the proposed amendment to the VSD charter).

They discussed ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds, which are currently fully allocated; possible Efficiency Maine grant applications; and their future meeting schedule.

The schedule calls for a workshop meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30 (instead of the usual Thursday evening, which will be Halloween); a regular meeting Thursday evening, Nov. 14; and skipping the Thursday, Nov. 28, meeting, because that day will be Thanksgiving.