Encampment police department back on line with Spillman

After more than a year-and-a-half, the computer problem that kept Encampment’s police department from accessing critical law enforcement information has been resolved.

During Thursday’s Encampment Town Council meeting, Encampment Police Chief Grayling Wachsmuth announced that the Spillman Technologies Incorporated-based software application database, which keeps track of law enforcement activities across multiple jurisdictions, was finally working on his end. The Encampment Police Department is linked to the Saratoga Police Department’s computers using a virtual private network (VPN), but a computer glitch on Saratoga’s end locked out Encampment police from remotely accessing the Spillman program, which is stored on Saratoga’s servers.

Encampment had been unable to connect to the Spillman system on a secure VPN since August of 2012. Because of the inability to connect, Wachsmuth had trouble completing written reports on calls his department had responded to.

With the connection back to normal again, Wachsmuth expressed gratitude for Saratoga Police Chief Tom Knickerbocker’s help.

“Spillman is up and running, so things are going good there, thanks to Tom,” Wachsmuth said.

Knickerbocker said the VPN was fixed and hooked up March 29. He said the old router was replaced with a new one as part of the process.

“Andi Ward, our IT person, had been bringing in another guy to help her, and the two of them brought in a third guy to help them,” Knickerbocker said. “She changed out our router and replaced it with another Cisco brand router, so ultimately, what they had to do was set up a Cisco VPN. They got that done and up and running, and communicating with Spillman is something I’ve been working on since I took over last September.”

During the council meeting, Ben Tieszen, Encampment’s public works operator, said he needed to hire three full-time summer employees before May.

“Two of the positions would be for park stuff, like cutting grass, weed eating, watering the parks and visitors center and stuff like that, and they would have to be 16 or older,” Tieszen said. “Then someone else will be more hands on with the maintenance of fire hydrants and stuff like that with us, and they would have to be over 18 to run equipment if need be.”

Tiezen said there were several projects his department planned to get done this summer.

“We have a lot of projects around town that we’re just trying to do, and it’s some new fencing at the cemetery and different’ projects like that,” he said. “We’re in need of a few more hands.”

The council also approved the first reading of the Fiscal Year 2013-14 budget amendment and the Fiscal Year 2014-15 budget. Two more readings on both budgets are required by law.

Encampment Town Clerk/Treasurer Doreen Harvey said the 2014-2015 budge was still in the preliminary stages. “I’m still waiting on some estimates from the state, and because it requires three readings and a public hearing, we need to get started in April,” she said. “There’s your first reading for revision, and I don’t know if i’ll have all the estimates before the next council meeting. We’ll have to have a budget workshop.”

The next Encampment Town Council meeting is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 8.