Are you curious about websites and how they are made? Ever wondered what
the steps are in order for you to create your own website? How do pages
of text become something full of graphics and animation? John Bradford
will show how to get started and, building on Rich Field's workshops on
Linux and Ubuntu, will show you where you can find free open source
tools to help you create your own vision of what a website can be. Come
on down Tuesday night - March 10 - 7pm and learn or teach or just
collaborate. The idea is to have some fun and not spend a penny.
We have yet to explore "the cloud" including Google and Microsoft hosted
applications and storage. And we will in the future take a look at
"Smartphones" both Android and Windows phones. All these workshops
will take place at the town hall beginning at 7 pm and are offered at no
cost to you, our residents, taxpayers and customers.

You are going to receive a letter from our Broadband Committee inviting
you to participate in the next step in making fiber optic service
possible by sending your $49 earnest money to WiredWest. I hope you will
join me by taking this step. In the few months remaining leading up to
town meeting we will have a series of forums where folks can ask and
answer questions about this proposed service.

Town meeting is, as ever, the first Monday in May, this year it is the
4th. Town election follows two weeks later. Nomination papers are now
available from the town clerk.

As a result of this memorable winter the Selectboard had to vote to
permit deficit spending for snow and ice removal costs at an earlier
date than I recall ever having to do so. Town had voted $102k as a snow
and ice budget which is the average cost and as of last week were
already $20k in the red. Each $77k of expenditure equals one additional
dollar on the tax rate. We will be able to off-set some of this expense
with savings in other areas at the highway department however if this
weather keeps coming at us as it has, it will be expensive. Rule of
thumb, about 20% or snow removal costs are labor and lion's share is
material be it fuel, sand, or salt.

The telephone situation at the town hall has become downright confusing.
Since we have fiber to the building we were able to switch the town
department's three numbers to IP phone lines which lowered the cost in
half to about $15 per month for each line. And with IP phone lines one
phone number actually gives you three dial tones to use. We got our
final bill from Verizon but they can't seem to be able to turn off the
old service. It means that if you are calling from 544 or from much of
Franklin County you are coming in on the old service but if you call
from a cell phone or from anywhere that is of out of the county you get
to the new service. I look forward to the end of checking two voice mail
systems and fumbling for the right handset