The Select Board has agreed to update its welfare software.
The board gave the nod to welfare director Carrie Traffie to use $175 for set up costs and $306 annually for the software for a more comprehensive software that will allow the town to more closely track its welfare distributions.
Thirty-eight other towns in the state use the software, and it allows towns to check whether an applicant has applied for welfare in other towns.
The board unanimously agreed to the update and approved the cost.
“In comparison to what we pay for our other software costs, that’s quite economical,” said Select Board member David Lage.
In other Select Board news:
The town has received notice from the Municipal Pipeline Coalition, a group of towns that were expected to be impacted by the Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline, that the coalition will be returning lawyer fees collected from the towns. The Northeast Energy Direct line has been shelved permanently due to a lack of buyers for the gas. New Ipswich contributed $10,200 for 2016 law fees. The coalition is returning the remainder, which is about $4,866.
The Select Board is still seeking an additional member for the heritage commission, a committee formed this year at the direction of the voters during March Town Meeting. The commission is made up of five members in total. Interested members should contact the town offices.
The Select Board approved a cheerleading camp sponsored by the Recreation Department, serving children grades 1-4. If there is sufficient interest, there will be a second cheerleading program run from December through February. Dates and sign up forms will be available on the town’s website soon.