Just yesterday, Wilton Parks & Recreation debuted a new online registration software and facility reservations program that will allow residents to manage their own accounts remotely, and register for Parks & Rec programs online. The new system is now operational and can be used to register for spring and summer programs, which begins today, March 8.
The system that was chosen is called Etrak, and according to Parks & Rec director Steve Pierce, it was the best option.
“We found it to be very user friendly. So you can go online and register for a program, and there are no extra fees associated with it, so whether you come in the office to pay or whether you do it online, it’s the same fee. You can request rooms. You can do all kinds of different things with it. We can send out mass emails to everybody that say fields are closed,” he said.
Not only will the system reduce paper usage by the department, but it will also save time for Parks & Rec personnel. It also enables users to print receipts that include tax identification information.
“There are courses like day camp and others like that, where people like to use that for tax purposes. Etrak will print out those receipts if you need them for your tax records,” Pierce adds.
The program also provides a cost savings for the department. According to Pierce, the prior model would have cost $36,000 a year to run, but Etrak will only cost around $8,000. “The cost also comes out of our program costs, so there’s no cost to the town and operating budget. It comes out of our self-sustained budget. So, people who are signing up for programs, a portion of that is going to be paying for this system. So, it’s not costing tax payers anything.”
The only area not yet covered by Etrak is Merwin Meadows. Anyone who wants to purchase a pass to that park would still need to do so in person at Comstock. “We have to have some control as to exactly where they’re going out to and that they’re Wilton residents and all that,” Pierce explains, adding that hopefully the program will be able to accommodate processing entrance at Merwin Meadows.
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