diff --git a/cmd/registeruser/main.go b/cmd/registeruser/main.go
index dd27c8d..fd573db 100644
--- a/cmd/registeruser/main.go
+++ b/cmd/registeruser/main.go
@@ -1,10 +1,31 @@
 package main
 
-import "fmt"
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+
+	"git.tilde.town/tildetown/town/towndb"
+)
 
 // TODO this command adds a new user to /town/var/town.db
-// it's meant to be invoked by the welcome binary upon successfully creating a new user account
+// it's meant to be invoked by the welcome binary upon successfully
+// creating a new user account
+
+func _main(db *sql.DB) error {
+	return nil
+}
 
 func main() {
-	fmt.Println("lol")
+	towndb, err := towndb.ConnectDB()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	if err = _main(towndb); err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+		os.Exit(2)
+	}
 }
diff --git a/models/models.go b/models/models.go
index f6a25b0..ffce1c6 100644
--- a/models/models.go
+++ b/models/models.go
@@ -193,22 +193,3 @@ func (s *TownSignup) All(db *sql.DB) ([]*TownSignup, error) {
 
 	return out, nil
 }
-
-// below is all TODO and unused rn
-type UserState string
-
-const (
-	StateActive  = "active"
-	StateTempBan = "temp_banned"
-	StateBan     = "banned"
-)
-
-type TownAccount struct {
-	ID       int64
-	Emails   []string
-	Username string
-	Signup   int
-	//Notes    []AdminNote
-	State UserState
-	Admin bool
-}
diff --git a/signup/signup.go b/signup/signup.go
index e7c6cc5..72d3562 100644
--- a/signup/signup.go
+++ b/signup/signup.go
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 package signup
 
-// TODO delete this file
-
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 
diff --git a/towndb/towndb.go b/towndb/towndb.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f009e41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/towndb/towndb.go
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+package towndb
+
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+	"time"
+
+	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+)
+
+const dsn = "/town/var/town.db?mode=rw"
+
+type UserState string
+
+const (
+	StateActive  = "active"
+	StateTempBan = "temp_banned"
+	StateBan     = "banned"
+	StateDeleted = "deleted" // some users request deletion
+)
+
+type AdminNote struct {
+	ID       int64
+	Created  time.Time
+	AuthorID int64
+	Content  string
+	UserID   int64
+}
+
+func (n *AdminNote) Insert(db *sql.DB) error {
+	n.Created = time.Now()
+	stmt, err := db.Prepare(`
+		INSERT INTO notes (created, authorid, content, userid)
+		VALUES (
+			?, ?, ?, ?
+		)`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	result, err := stmt.Exec(
+		n.Created.Unix(),
+		n.AuthorID,
+		n.Content,
+		n.UserID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer stmt.Close()
+
+	liid, err := result.LastInsertId()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	n.ID = liid
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+type TownUser struct {
+	ID       int64
+	Emails   []string
+	Username string
+	Notes    []AdminNote
+	State    UserState
+	IsAdmin  bool
+}
+
+func ConnectDB() (*sql.DB, error) {
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", dsn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return db, nil
+}