HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.2 Paperless Agenda OptionsG~~~ OF DUB~
. /9/ ~~ ~s2
~~~~~~
~ ~'1L7`~'pR~~~~
STAFF REPORT
DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL
CITY CLERK
File # ^~~~-~1 ~
DATE: June 22, 2010
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: . Joni Pattillo, City Manager
SUBJE . Paperless Agenda Options
Prepared By: Caroline P. Soto, City Clerk
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
One of the City Council's High Priority Objectives for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 is to "Investigate
opportunities and implement solutions for paperless Council Meetings." This Staff Report will
present options to the City Council regarding the objective.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The costs for the implementation of this project are not currently included in the proposed Five
Year Capital Improvement Program. The costs for the project range from $20,500 -$126,000
and would be dependent on City Council direction.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council review the options and, at a minimum, conceptually approve
proceeding with Phase 1. A Budget Change and amendment to the Capital Improvement
Program encompassing the total scope desired by the City Council will be brought back to the
meeting of July 20, 2010 for City Council approval.
~' ~ P~~~
~~ z~
~ Submitted By
City Clerk
~
Reviewed By
Administrative Services Dir.
Revi we By
Assistant ~ Manager
Page 1 of 4 ITEM NO. ~' ~
DESCRIPTION:
One of the City Council's High Priority Objectives for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 is to "Investigate
opportunities and implement solutions for paperless Council Meetings." Staff has been
evaluating options for this objective ranging from short term (3-4 months) options to longer term
options (6 months to one year).
In researching the subject, Staff evaluated the amount of paper used in production of agenda
packets based on the average size of agenda packets created for City Council meetings in
2009. The following Table provides an estimate of the cost and amount of paper involved:
TABLE 1: Annual Paper Consumed and Costs For City Council Agenda Packets
Based on Avera e A enda In 2009
# City Council Average # # of Complete # Pages Cost of Paper /
Meetings Pages Per Packets (Council Copier Charge
A enda / Staff / Public
31 436 21 283,836 $4,730
Other costs involved in producing a City Council agenda packet include Staff time to compose,
review, revise, and approve Staff Reports, and reproduction and delivery of a paper agenda
packet.
Staff also surveyed area agencies and concluded that only one of the six agencies surveyed,
Dublin Unified School District, had a totally paperless agenda process in place. Attachment 1 to
the Staff Report details agencies surveyed and associated findings.
Staff has proposed two (2) potential options, or phases, for the City Council to consider
regarding a paperless agenda process.
Phase 1
City Council agenda packets could be delivered to the City Council on CDs or other electronic
format. Staff has successfully tested the placement of entire agenda packets on CDs and
thumb drives and the effectiveness of maneuvering within Staff Reports on those medium.
One-on-one training would be provided to each Councilmember by the City Clerk and
Information Technology Staff to ensure familiarity with the new process. Costs associated with
this option include the purchasing of eight laptop computers (one for each of the five City
Council positions as well as the three staff positions - City Manager; City Attorney; and
Assistant City Manager). The laptops would be portable and assigned to each user, so that
they could also be used to review the agendas before the meeting and for other city business.
In order to have power outlets at the dais for the additional computers, the Public Works
Department estimates a cost of $3,000 for modifications. There would be a minimal cost
associated with the purchase of CDs or thumb drives. Costs associated with this Phase
include:
Annual Estimated costs of CDs or thumb drives $ 300
Laptops for five City Councilmembers and three Staff
($2,150 each including Office Software and
miscellaneous su ort connections $17,200
Electrical Work in Ci Council Chambers $ 3,000
Phase 1 Total $20,500
Page 2 of 4
There are now 21 paper agenda meeting packets produced for the City Council (5), Staff (12),
media (2) and public (2). With Phase No. 1 in place, one paper packet would be produced for
the public and City Councilmembers would have the option of continuing to receive a paper
packet if they so choose. The remaining Staff and media would receive the agenda reports on
a CD and/or be encouraged to access the agenda and associated Staff Reports via the City's
website.
Phase 1 could be implemented within three to four months.
The City Council could direct Staff to put in place Phase No. 1 only OR put it in place and
continue with Phase 2.
Phase 2
Phase 2 would be an examination of comprehensive solutions that can build off of what is
implemented in Phase 1. The City could purchase, install and maintain agenda manager
software to streamline and implement a paperless agenda packet process to allow electronic
composition, review, revision, and approval routing of Staff Reports and electronic production of
the City Council agenda packet. The amount of paper used for approval routing can vary widely
depending on Staff Report size and number of revisions necessary. Electronic routing would
reduce paper usage even more than just implementing Phase 1.
Another element that can be studied as part of this phase is the expansion of access to the
system by the remaining members of the City Executive Team. The study could look at
hardware alternatives for accessing and presenting information as well as how changes may be
integrated with the regular replacement of personal computers.
Staff would also consider the viability of other City Commissions' and Committees' possible use
of the agenda management software, and to what degree. There are agenda packets produced
for the Planning Commission (17 meetings held in 2009), Parks & Community Services
Commission (11 meetings held in 2009), Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission (11 meetings
in 2009), Senior Advisory Commission (12 meetings held in 2009), and the Youth Advisory
Committee (11 meetings in 2009). Due to the fact that there are also more than 5 members of
some of the Commissions, and to avoid duplicative hardware purchase and support costs, it
may result in considering fixed computers at the dais as part of a future phase that would more
broadly address agenda preparation throughout the City.
Total estimated costs associated with this Phase would include:
Agenda Management Software including set-up, $ 30,000 -$ 46,000
licenses, trainin and one ear s stem maintenance
Project Management Services to develop an accurate $ 15,000 -$ 20,000
business process map of proposed electronic agenda
process and oversee selection of agenda manager
software and im lementation
E ui ment / Hardware $ 18,000 -$ 39,500
Phase 2 Total $ 63,000 - $105,500
Phase 1+ Phase 2 Total $ 83,500 -$126,000
Page 3 of 4
In addition to the above costs, there would be indirect costs associated with Staff time for
implementation and on-going training of both the City Council and Staff.
Again, as with Phase 1, one paper packet would be produced for the public and City
Councilmembers would have the option of continuing to receive a paper packet if they so
choose. The remaining Staff and media would receive a CD or be encouraged to access the
agenda and associated Staff Reports via the City's website, or depending on the solution
selected alternatives may exist that would also eliminate the need to create a CD. The Agenda
system would have its own access point for City Councilmembers and Staff.
The City was informed in May 2010 that it had been preliminarily approved for $3,000 in funding
from the StopWaste Partnership mini-grant program for this paperless agenda software project.
To be eligible, the proposed project must be in the area of waste prevention, reuse, recycling or
market development and have an impact in Alameda County.
During implementation of any of the above Phases, Staff can examine whether providing CDs
to the City Council, Staff and media should be continued and also examine if accessing the
agenda on the City Network would be a preferred solution. For this to occur, additional access
to the City nefinrork would need to be established in the City Council Chambers. This cost has
been budgeted as part of the 2010/2011 Nefinrork Capital Improvement project.
NEXT STEPS
The next steps are dependent on what Phase(s) the City Council chooses to direct Staff to
complete. At a minimum, Staff would recommend proceeding with Phase 1 as outlined in this
report. Based on the direction, Staff will prepare a Capital Improvement Project for
consideration at the July 20, 2010 City Council meeting which would include a Budget Change
and additional appropriation.
If the City Council directs Staff to proceed with both Phase 1 and 2, Staff will proceed as stated
above, and with the Project Manager, begin developing a formal Request For Proposal (RFP)
and soliciting responses from vendors. A multi-departmental Staff Review Team would be
assembled to evaluate RFPs of agenda management software, including features, as well as
costs.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Survey Results of Area Agencies and Associated
Findings regarding Agenda Process
Page 4 of 4
AGENDA PROCESS
AGENCY SURVEY
AGENCY AGENDA PROCESS AGENDA DELIVERY
City of Livermore No specialized agenda Paper agenda packet delivery (4
software City Councilmembers, 1
electronic) and paper agenda
acket at meetin .
City of Pleasanton No specialized agenda Paper agenda packet delivery
software and paper agenda packet at
meetin .
City of San Ramon No specialized agenda Paper agenda packet delivery
software and paper agenda packet at
meetin .
Dublin Unified School Agenda software provided Accessed via website prior to
District through California School meeting; accessed via laptop at
Board Board meetin .
ACTIA No specialized agenda Paper agenda packet delivery
software and paper agenda packet at
meeting; electronic link to
a enda acket also rovided.
Stopwaste.org No specialized agenda 50-50 percentage of paper
software agenda packet delivery vs.
electronic access to packet. If
agenda packet accessed
electronically, member provides
their own laptop for use at Board
meetin .
ATTACHMENT 1