TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file City Clerk Department's "Going Green" project report relative to City Council agenda packet distributions, effective October 1, 2007.
DISCUSSION
In order to save budget resources for the 2008 Fiscal Year, the City Clerk Department is recommending to implement a "Going Green" project in order to reduce the number of City Council agenda packets ("agenda packets") distributed per Council meeting.
To implement this new project, the City Clerk proposes the following changes:
1: Reduce the number of complete agenda packets from 58 to 30
Currently, the City Clerk distributes 58 complete agenda packets, which include all supporting documents for approximately 40 meetings per year. The average size of any given agenda packet comprises of roughly 210-250 sheets of paper (double-sided print), an average cost of $37,529 annually. By reducing the number of agenda packets from 58 to 30 per meeting, the City will reduce the cost of production by at least $18,117 annually. This savings is based on the current market price for white and colored paper, including tabs and image production.
Additionally, by "Going Green", this project will save approximately 35,000 pounds of paper per year, which equates to saving 436 trees! This is a win-win situation in terms of environmental awareness and budgetary savings for the City.
This new policy will not affect the Mayor, City Council, City Manager or City Attorney, as they will continue to receive complete agenda packets. Beginning October 1, 2007, those parties whose agenda packets have been discontinued will only receive an agenda.
2: Discontinue delivery of complete agenda packets to the City's Main and branch libraries
The City Clerk will continue to provide the Main and branch libraries with copies of the agenda only, a hard copy of the staff reports will no longer accompany the agendas. Should any member of the public wish to view a complete agenda packet, they can access Legistar InSite through the library computers. Agendas are generally available on the web on Thursday evenings.
3: Provide a tutorial session to library staff on Legistar
To implement the "Going Green" project, the City Clerk Department will provide a short tutorial session to library staff on how Legistar InSite works. This short tutorial session will equip library staff members with a better understanding of Legistar access via the internet.
4: Supply the City's Main and branch libraries with instruction sheets for public use to utilize Legistar on library computers
The City Clerk's Department will also provide libraries with laminated instruction sheets, which library staff may hand-out to the public should they request to see a complete agenda packet, via the internet. This one page instruction sheet will provide the user with easy step-by-step instructions to access Legistar InSite.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
By "Going Green" on October 1,2007, the City will begin to realize measurable environmental and budgetary savings. With the adoption of this policy, former packet recipients will be encouraged to utilize the City's website for retrieval of agenda staff reports. Additionally, interested parties are encouraged to subscribe to e-Notify. With e-Notify subscription, interested parties will immediately receive email notification of an agenda and staff report publication on the internet each Thursday evening.
With the adoption of the "Going Green" project, the agenda packet distribution to the City staff is summarized below:
Department Agenda Packets
Mayor 3
City Council 18
City Manager 5
City Attorney 1
City Auditor 1
Print Media 2
Total 30
FISCAL IMPACT
All four proposals will result in a cost savings to the City estimated at $18,117 annually for the upcoming 2008 fiscal year.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
LARRY HERRERA
CITY CLERK