Charlton commission approves two‑week trial to digitize sewer customer records; rate language inconsistent

The Town of Charlton Water/Sewer Commission on Feb. 4, 2026 authorized a two‑week trial to digitize sewer customer records. Vincent Masterson proposed hiring temporary help to scan full customer folders and save them to a master folder on the town’s sewer drive, with backups on memory sticks. The commission approved a motion to proceed with a two‑week trial and named Masterson to carry out the test as a separate invoiced task.

Masterson described the project as scanning complete folders (not just tie‑in cards) and optionally creating a checklist of common items (e.g., grinder pumps, meter type, whether lot is tied in) that could later be exported to Excel. He said the town already has a scanner and a laptop and that scanned files would be accessible to town staff via the shared drive.

Commissioners discussed future enhancements: Masterson said a GIS‑based system could be proposed later by one of his business partners for a more sophisticated searchable map; the commission did not authorize GIS work at this meeting.

A point of numerical inconsistency arose during the discussion. Masterson and others referenced an estimated daily rate of about $250 for the temporary scanner operator, but the motion as recorded and moved on the floor was worded "at the rate of $2.50 a day for 2 weeks as a trial run." The commission approved the motion as moved; the meeting record contains both figures. The commission asked for the trial to be performed on a separate invoice through Masterson’s consulting arrangement and asked for progress reporting after the trial period.

Next steps: proceed with the two‑week scanning trial, track completion percentage and checklist items, and report results and recommended next steps (including cost and whether to pursue a searchable database or GIS) at the next meeting.