Bonnyville is Going e

The Town of Bonnyville is in the process of providing ebilling for the residents, along with a slew of other technical advances. Town Council has approved the purchase of VadimOpen, which is a program designed for municipalities that’ll handle financial aspects of governing; such as, payroll and utilities.

Two months ago the Town gave residents the option of receiving their water bills online, 59 people signed up for the program so far, with more to come suspects Town Director of Fiance Renee Stoyles. Stoyles presented Council with the option to install and use VadimOpen programming to further streamline town billing.  The program will allow the people of Bonnyville to view their accounts via logging in. In each resident’s account will be information on property taxes, utilities, business licenses and even municipal tickets. Residents will be able to pay any outstanding amounts online, such as their monthly water bills.

Not only will Bonnyville save time and money with VadimOpen, they will also decrease the number of calls and visits to the Town Office regarding account inquiries. Council approved the motion to carry out the program, with a cost of $3,075.50 and will begin the process of switching over asap. Residents will receive notification when the program is active.

Town Council is also going e. Council has approved the purchase of six Microsoft Surface Pros for every member of Council. Mayor Gene Sobolewski already received his tablet and has been using it for a few months to rave reviews. As part of the Town’s agenda to go paperless, each Councillor member will receive the tablet, along with a docking station, stylist pen, and removable keyboard.

Should the Councillor wish to use the device for personal use they can pay for the device upfront and then will be paid a monthly amortization rate on a four-year term, for  town use of the device. Much like how the town pays out employees for using personal phones. If the Councillor chooses only to use for work then at the end of four years the Councillor will be given the option to buy the device or hand it in. (In the case that a Councillors term ends before the four-year term of the device then it will be amortized for that time period.)

The goal is to have every Councillor and the Town on the same technical programs, Microsoft. This will make electronic and technical elements of governing easier for all. Town Administration will order the tablets and upon their arrival Councillors will begin to use the devices. Money for the purchase will be used from the 2016 Capital Budget.