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Bondurant Goes Paperless
By: Mayor Keith Ryan
Date Published: Thursday, September 16, 2010
Going Green in Bondurant
Recently, the City of Bondurant was the recipient of a competitive grant from the Metro Waste Authority for the purpose of reducing the amount of waste going to the landfill. We applied in July 2010 for the grant to cover most of the cost for a program that would reduce the amount of paper used by replacing the printed City Council packets with a digital copy. After discussing the available options, we decided to look at the purchase of Apple iPads to read the new digital City Council Packets.
Initially, the focus of the project was just to stop printing the large City Council packets for the Mayor, City Council and City Administrator. When we realized how much more we could do with the iPads we extended the project to include the printing of maps, code books, bid proposals, diagrams, etc. Now, what was once printed is scanned into a computer and then saved as a PDF document. The file is then placed in a location for everyone to download to their iPads. The option to have a digital Council Packet was extended to the other city departments that received a printed copy of the packet. After talking to them we realized that they would rather receive a digital copy than a printed version. So, we were able to further reduce the amount of printed packets from over eight down to two. We are no longer printing a copy of the City Council packets for the library, fire department and City Attorney. The success of this project will be measured by the direct reduction of materials printed at City Hall and therefore the reduction of paper being disposed of in the landfill.
The city has already purchased the iPads and they were used for the first time at the September 7th Council meeting. So far, the council members are finding them easy to use and more flexible than just a paper packet of information. Since the iPad has the ability to run applications like Google maps, we can now access satellite images of specific areas in the community when discussing details about streets and homes during council meetings. The City Council also has a digital copy of the City Code book, which will allow for easier research during a council meeting or while visiting with residents at their homes; further reducing the need for printed materials. We also have community maps downloaded to the devices which include: street maps, water, storm and sanitary sewer maps as well as other informational items that we may need to answer resident’s questions.
E-mail has been configured on the iPad devices and all City Council members now have a "@cityofbondurant.com" e-mail address. Having the device has allowed us to take a massive amount of data, that would have been printed on thousands of pieces of paper, and provide it to the City Council and community in a way that‘s easy to handle and cleaner for the environment.
The life expectancy of these devices is around 4 years, but there is very little the city needs to do to maintain them. The city’s copier is being used to scan the documents as they are received from various sources, so adding them to the council packets is easy. They rest of the information is either scanned or typed in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel.
The total cost of 7 iPads was $3,766.00, but after the generous grant from the Metro Waste Authority, the total cost to the City will only be $1,366.00. Since the printing costs of the packets, maps, diagrams, etc., each year is around $1,300.00, the City will see a return on the investment in the first year. We will continue to look for new and inventive ways to reduce the amount of waste throughout the City of Bondurant.
