Thuringowa City Council has enhanced its updated system of electronic minutes with Councillors now trialing paper free meetings. The move is the latest stage of Council’s electronic minutes system which allows Councillors to log on to the Council network and download documents, such as agendas, reports and minutes, electronically to their laptop computers.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Allan Lee, said the system was unusual in that it was developed inhouse.
“It cost nothing to set up other than time,” he said. “We just made better use of the software Council has a licence for and developed it ourselves.”
The system also allows for agenda items and reports to be displayed on a large screen during Council meetings so that guest speakers and members of the public can view important information and follow what is taking place.
Allan Lee said the latest step to do away with paper would save Council up to $42,000 each year. He said the figure took into account savings on labour, paper and electricity.
“Previously, Councillors would receive photocopies of all correspondence and agenda material which sometimes could be up to 1,000 sheets of paper each month,” he said. “The decision to revert to electronic documents over hard copy formats will significantly reduce time and resources spent on photocopying, not to mention the savings to the environment.
“There has been a little bit of an adjustment period while everyone familiarised themselves with their computers, but overall, it will be much more efficient.”
