The Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved three new expenditures at a town meeting on Oct. 5, including two technological upgrades related to town operations and information access.

Funds for the approved upgrades will be allocated from the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) reserve, totaling $85,000 in spending.

The first approved upgrade, totaling $20,000, will allow for the installation of new cameras as part of a new audio system specifically for town meetings held in the auditorium at Town Hall. The large room is an audibly inadequate space for viewers watching meetings over Zoom, partly due to its high ceiling, according to Finance Director Tracey Celentano. Installed cameras will allow for online meeting attendants to better see and hear meetings. Similar systems were recently installed in two meeting rooms at Town Hall. Celentano said the cameras will likely be installed in the auditorium within the next six months.

The second ARPA-funded technological upgrade is for the digitization of all land use records, an effort which was appropriated $65,000. The project had a long-standing determination by the Town given that it will provide easier and quicker access for individual and groups such as households, contractors, and others when applying for a permit, while prior permits will also be available. According to Celentano, digital access to permit request and retrieval is more cost-effective method of application and distribution.

The upgrade for Essex is being in collaboration with the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, who chose to work with the tech company ScanOptics on the digitization project for its own records and its represented towns like Essex. Quantitative measurements by the IT company found that there are currently 490,000 town documents relating to land use to be scanned and digitized.

Both of the upgrades met with unanimous approval by the BOS.