Southborough technology committee approves minutes, readies short town‑meeting survey and May strategy session

The Town of Southborough Technology Committee voted to accept the minutes of its Jan. 21 meeting and spent the bulk of its session planning a brief town‑meeting survey, a May strategy workshop to refine its five‑year technology plan, and a pilot for point‑of‑service feedback.

Committee chair Matt (committee member) opened discussion by describing a proposed “literally a 30 second survey” of four questions that would be distributed before the town meeting on April 7 and again in a shortened form during the meeting. Matt said the survey would ask whether recipients plan to attend and, for nonattendees, the primary reasons they might not (options would include conflicts, lack of awareness and accessibility). He said the survey would include an open‑ended question for suggested improvements and an optional follow‑up survey for attendees.

The nut graf: committee members framed the short survey as a way to gather quick, actionable feedback the Select Board could use in June when it sets goals that feed the town budget. Members agreed the committee should tie survey questions directly to the committee’s priority items so the results can inform Select Board discussion and departmental budgets.

In discussion the group also prioritized a May in‑person strategy session to reassess the five‑year tech plan, refine measurable goals and produce a short list of priorities for the Select Board’s June goal‑setting meeting. Yash (committee member) recommended reviewing which year of the plan items fall into (year 1, 2, 3, etc.) to determine what is realistic given current and projected licensing and cloud costs. Jay (staff member) and other members said some application costs are already borne from departmental budgets and that documenting net benefits (security, efficiency, user experience) will help justify central funding requests.

Members discussed specific program areas to emphasize, including shared technology and cloud migration, building‑inspections and permitting software usage (noting the town already pays for a SaaS application and that the town IT staff administers users and some reporting), and public‑facing options for the Department of Public Works (DPW) such as day‑pass tracking at the transfer station. One committee member suggested license‑plate readers at the transfer station could deter illicit dumping and generate data to support enforcement or fee collection; speakers noted both privacy objections and potential revenue/operational benefits.

The committee also endorsed piloting a lightweight point‑of‑service feedback mechanism that would send a single‑click star or emoji rating after a transaction (for example, after issuance of a building permit) and prompt a follow‑up question only when ratings fall below a threshold (a suggestion discussed was 4 stars). Members cautioned that point‑of‑service feedback tends to skew toward dissatisfied users and recommended keeping any pilot extremely simple to maximize participation.

Logistics: the committee agreed to schedule its in‑person strategy session for Monday, May 5, with a 5 p.m. start and reserved a two‑hour room, aiming to complete the meeting in 90 minutes. Members asked staff to prepare a short priority list and supporting metrics for that session so the committee can present recommended priorities to the Select Board for the June goal‑setting meeting.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved acceptance of the Jan. 21 minutes (motion carried by voice/roll call) and later moved to adjourn; roll‑call ayes were recorded for the motions.

The committee closed by confirming next steps: finalize survey questions and distribution channels (town website, town Facebook groups), prepare a priority list tied to measurable outcomes for the May strategy session, and design a simple proof‑of‑concept for point‑of‑service feedback.