Keokuk, IA – The Keokuk City Council holds two business meetings each month.
City staff prepares 20+ page informational packets for each of those meetings.
The documents include alcohol and tobacco permits, ordinances, resolutions, and bills.
The packets are distributed to nine city council members, Mayor Tom Marion, City Clerk Barb Barnes, three media representatives and 3-4 department heads.
That means the city prints out well over 500 pages each month for a pair of two hour meetings.
6th Ward Alderwoman Karole Smith says giving each council member a laptop computer would save time and money spent producing those packets.
She says it would also improve efficiency as it would allow council members to quickly locate notes from previous discussions or potential resolutions.
Smith says an overhead projector could be set up during meetings to help the crowd keep up with what is going on.
She says the issue should be further explored during budget negotiations in January.
The council wants cost estimates before making a decision on going paperless.