In an effort to reduce records costs and clean up the
environment, the city council Wednesday will consider a purchase of
Apple iPad devices to replace paper agendas that are printed for
each meeting.
In an effort to reduce records costs and clean up the environment, the city council Wednesday will consider a purchase of Apple iPad devices to replace paper agendas that are printed for each meeting.
City staff proposed the purchase of eight of the oversized PDAs that feature most of the functions found on laptop computers though in a more lightweight device – one each for the five council members, city manager, city attorney and the city clerk’s office.
The iPads proposed for purchase are the 32-gigabyte variety, and are estimated to cost up to $840 each, according to a city staff report. If approved, the council would spend up to $6,720 on all eight iPads. Half the cost would be covered by the general fund, and half by the RDA.
The purchase is on the council’s consent calendar for Wednesday.
City staff proposed the purchase as a follow-up to a council decision in December to upgrade the public’s web-viewing capacity for council meetings. Through a contract with Granicus, council meetings will be broadcast on an improved web streaming service, allowing for faster download, clearer images and better indexing.
The iPad proposal is part of the “iLegislate Pilot Project” by Granicus, which has been offered to 10 agencies including the city of Morgan Hill, according to city staff. Participation in the project will allow the city to tap into other online resources and services offered by Granicus.
Aside from the potential benefits achieved through the pilot project, the city could see its own savings through use of the iPads, according to city staff.
The city’s records office printed about 190,000 pages for council meeting agendas in 2010, requiring about $1,400 worth of paper plus another $1,600 worth of printing equipment costs and maintenance.
About 20 copies of each agenda are printed, and the purchase of eight iPads would reduce that need to 12 copies.
Thus, city staff think the iPads could save staff time associated with the agenda’s production, and would likely pay for themselves within two years.
Furthermore, iPads are greener than the sheaths of paper used for each council agenda now, and are consistent with existing council policies to reduce the city’s environmental impact as well as the amount of paper used in council communications.
All of the data contained in the paper agendas can be stored on electronic files that are viewable by most computers. The agendas are currently stored electronically on the city’s website, and members of the public and council members have the option to download them for viewing.
Former Santa Clara Valley Water District board member Cy Mann set a South County precedent for iPad use by a public official last year, when the appointed director asked a staff member to purchase one of the devices for Mann’s use at meetings. The district paid $829 for Mann’s 64-gigabyte iPad.
