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Written by Chris Daniels Thursday, 22 March 2012 14:07

The St. James City Council will go paperless. In an effort to save money and be more environmentally friendly, the council has opted to change the way that members access information.

The council voted paperless for monthly packets. (City Clerk) Sarah Wheeler surveyed and discovered that with labor, cost of paper, copier costs, folders, and postage, we spend around $3,870 a year putting those packets together. After doing a quick look at the costs of going paperless, she found that we could do so around $4,000, Mayor Dennis Wilson explained. The city will request bids for ipads and laptop computers to see which would be the best option moving forward. Other advantages of going paperless are many. Weve had previous meetings when a topic arises from a past meeting. The council usually doesnt have last months packet on hand. By going with computers, they would have access to all of that data, Wilson said. Eventually, city codes would also be available to the council in the event a code needs to be reviewed. Benefits from cost alone made the decision easy, as the council unanimously agreed to pursue going to a paperless system. Time savings, easy access to record keeping, and better communication with citizens were also important aspects to the decision. Each council person will be assigned a city email address. If a citizen has a problem or concern they can call or email their ward. Apart from that we also want to go green. This building already has wireless, so there wouldnt be any additional cost to install a new wireless system, Wilson said.

Read the original here:
Aldermen going digital to save time and money