CHESTER – The Town of Chester has signed onto two shared services agreements, one with the Town of New Windsor and the other with the Chester Fire District.

The pact with New Windsor will see Chester using that town’s Information Technology Department to upgrade, improve and maintain the town’s computer system, said Chester Town Supervisor Steven Neuhaus.

“Right now we have been contracting out piece-mealing it when the town gets a virus,” he said. “The town was very vulnerable.” Chester officials didn’t want to suffer the same problem as Sullivan County, which earlier this year faced a computer system shutdown when it was attacked by a virus.

In the long run, Chester will save money on the deal, said Neuhaus.

In the other inter-municipal agreement, the town’s highway department will begin maintaining the fire district’s equipment.

In the past, the fire district contracted out the maintenance work.  This will save significant dollars to the taxpayers, he said.