Select Board votes to continue Europa IT contract, agrees to deficit-spend if needed

The Townshend Select Board voted to continue its managed-services contract with vendor Europa and authorized deficit spending for the coming fiscal year if required. A board member moved to “continue our contract with Europa and deficit spend if we have to,” and the motion carried on a voice vote with all those present saying “aye.”

Board members and staff framed the decision as weighing short-term budget strain against the operational and compliance risks of losing contracted IT support. Alicia, the town’s point person on the IT review, warned that the town does not have a written cancellation agreement and that, per the contract, the vendor could impose a 50% fee for the remaining term and “reserve the right to change the passwords on our network equipment that we own, which would make them not usable.” Supporters of staying with Europa emphasized the vendor’s bundled Microsoft 365 licensing and the difficulty of rapidly replacing services before July 1.

Opponents and independent advisers urged the town to continue seeking more favorable written terms and to gather competitive proposals, but said an immediate termination would risk service outages and potential compliance failures. The board asked Europa to provide monthly security reports and directed staff to continue pursuing alternatives and to return with written cancellation options and cost comparisons at the next meeting.