Tunbridge board discusses hiring summer scanner to digitize records; uses restoration fund

Selectboard members and staff discussed options to speed up a long-running records-scanning project and make more land records accessible online. The group flagged a restoration fund the town could tap to pay for a temporary hiring of a student or part-time help for the summer.

One trustee said the work could be seasonal and that a college student would likely be able to do the scanning and basic quality checks. "I think it would be a good idea if we got a college kid maybe for the summer," a trustee said while outlining the work tasks and oversight. The board discussed pay rates in the $15-per-hour range and asked staff to return with a hiring timeline, responsibilities for oversight, and a projection of how much of the restoration fund would be needed.

Board members also asked that the scanning project include a plan for access and payment handling for online records and for a short sample pilot so the town could test workflows before expanding the program.