City plans to go green, paperless

SANDPOINT — City Hall plans to go paperless and save a lot of greenbacks in the process.

Adopting a green, cyber version of city council packets, meeting agendas and minutes could save the city thousands of dollars annually, one council member said.

The plan includes adding computer screens in the council chambers to provide the public with minute-to-minute information during council meetings, according to the proposal being considered by administrators.

Council member Justin Schuck proposed the idea of reducing the amount of paper used by the city after noticing that the city budgets approximately $5,000 per year for paper used at City Hall in addition to $1,600 for copy costs associated with leasing a copier.

Instead of printing bulky packets for council members and commissioners at regular meetings, council members would either use their own laptops to download and view documents at home and meetings, or the city would purchase laptops for members who don’t own one.

The $300 cost for a basic laptop, Shuck said, would be overshadowed by the savings to the city.

“It’s not new money, just better-spent money,” Shuck said.

He also proposed adding two large screens in the council chambers where the public could follow along at meetings by literally being on the same page as the council.

“It lets the public know what we’re talking about,” he said.

Cities that shun using — and wasting — paper products in their daily grind are not a new idea. Post Falls took the jump approximately five years ago. The transition was not without its speed bumps.

“It was generally pretty good,” Debra Raymer, Post Falls executive assistant said. “A couple council people were not computer savvy, but they were coached through it.”

One of Kit Hoffer’s jobs as Post Falls’ public information specialist includes helping people maneuver through the green maze.

Some council members were initially opposed, Hoffer said, but they were not given a choice. Council members were given laptops and coached in their use. Documents were scanned and digitally archived, and bulky, 150 to 200-page council packets that were often discarded after meetings, became obsolete.

“There was a bit of bump,” she said.

An early concern was access to documents by members of the public who did not have a computer.

 After more than five years, she said, the public has also successfully made the transition.

 “Most have access to a computer and most use that as the format to get information before (meetings),” she said. “We walk the public through it.”

The change to paperless saved the city a significant amount of money, Hoffer said, in addition to providing the kind of transparency that the public expects.

“Those full agendas are out there and accessible,” she said. “It’s made a huge difference with how people feel about the process.”

Shuck doesn’t expect Sandpoint to be entirely paperless any time soon. But a transition to 90 percent paperless could happen within the next few years.

“Everyone has little apprehensions,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer to me as long as everybody else on the council signs on.”

The proposal will be further discussed at the April administration meeting.