FARMINGTON — Selectmen on Tuesday night confirmed the appointment of veteran Lewiston employee Tammy Bureau as town treasurer.
“We’re very excited to have her start here Feb. 13,” Town Manager Christian Waller said. “She brings a wealth of accounting experience and quite a bit of knowledge about grants as well.”
In 1997, Bureau started as a counter clerk for the city of Lewiston. “I worked there for 21 years, moved up to deputy chief tax collector, investment officer, excise agent, a little bit of everything,” she noted. “I moved over to the school department in Lewiston, have been there four years in October managing their grants. We have upwards of 90-plus grants that I take care of, including the huge COVID grants that have been the nightmare of my life for the past two years now.
“I missed the municipal side, so I am back on that side,” said Bureau, who lives in Wayne. “I’m happy to be here.”
“Have you had an opportunity to familiarize yourself with our software and bookkeeping processes?” Selectman Stephan Bunker asked.
“I know that you use TRIO (accounting software),” Bureau said. “I used that in Lewiston for vehicle registrations, know a bit about it. It seems to be a lot simpler compared with what I use now.”
In other business, selectmen tabled authorizing Waller to sign a memorandum of understanding between Farmington and Franklin County for licensing upgraded public safety and informational services.
If approved, Farmington would reimburse the county $24,339.19. The total includes $17,373.40 for licenses and upgrades, $6,365.79 for maintaining the upgraded services and $600 for the subscription fee for those services. The funds would be due no later than Dec. 31, 2024, and could be spread out over the next two years.
“It’s not just law enforcement,” police Chief Kenneth Charles said. “It’s actually everything that dispatch uses at the county level, everything from assigning calls to running registration plates on behalf of the officers.”
The software, being developed now, would not be implemented until the end of 2024, Charles said. The current software program isn’t expected to make improvements, he noted. All towns in the county with police departments will be asked to support their share of the upgrades, he added.
Companies keep changing outdated programs and stop updating them, Farmington Fire Rescue Chief Tim “TD” Hardy said. It is funded at the county level through American Rescue Plan Act money, he noted.
Franklin County is using its share of the federal money for the first $500,000 for the updated communications system, Charles said. Emergency management obtained additional funding for it, he added.
The total cost for the new system is about $700,000.
Selectman Joshua Bell asked if this was something that should be put through the county budget process. Every town in the county, not just those with organized police departments benefit, he noted.
Waller is expected to get more information and bring it to the Feb. 14 board meeting.
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