WEST MILFORD COUNCIL MAY GO PAPERLESS

DAVID M ZIMMERE-mail: zimmer@northjersey.com
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
05-12-2011
WEST MILFORD COUNCIL MAY GO PAPERLESS
Byline: DAVID M ZIMMERE-mail: zimmer@northjersey.com
Section: LOCAL
Type: News

WEST MILFORD -- The council will look into whether it can go paperless by receiving documents in digital form via portable computers.

Council members now are given information packets including resolutions, contracts, and accompanying documentation the week before a meeting.
Township Administrator Kevin Boyle said the folders are typically stuffed with several hundred sheets that take the clerk's office a few hours to print and package. He said the cost is more than $250 just for the paper needed to make packets for 24 council meetings, not to mention added budget meetings.

Councilmen Michael Ramaglia, Daniel Jurkovic and Joseph Smolinski will meet with Township Clerk Antoinette Battaglia to discuss the possibility of ending that practice.

Taken from e-mails

For a council constantly discussing environmental concerns, Ramaglia and Jurkovic said, the concept is worth looking into.

Ramaglia said much of the information in the packets is taken from e-mails. That, Jurkovic said, results in a lot of paper wasted.

Neighboring Jefferson has already switched to all-digital document transmission

There, paperless procedures were started nearly a decade ago by Lydia Magnotti, former municipal clerk and regional expert on going digital, and the wife of former West Milford Treasurer Arthur Magnotti.

Current Jefferson Township Clerk Lori Harvin said the switch significantly reduced the time it takes to photocopy documents for the council.

It has allowed for almost immediate updates to documents, which can be accessed on the municipal server by officials through a simple Internet connection.

Should save money

Boyle said West Milford could switch to a paperless system relatively simply. He said the only obstacle is cost, which Harvin said doesn't surprise her.

"There may be some hesitation because of the initial outlay," she said. "Still, in the end, it probably does save money."

Server upgrades to allow for more users on the municipality's secure network would cost around $2,000, and computers for council members are an added cost.

Boyle said a compatible computer would cost around $550. All things considered, he said, the system would eventually pay for itself.

However, Ramaglia wants to accelerate savings by requiring council members to buy their own laptops.

Current council members have agreed to that.

2011