Along with swearing in a new council member last week, Warfield officials embarked on a new journey - one that requires only a keyboard and screen, no paper.
“Council has been equipped with iPads which are loaded with all agenda items and correspondence,” says Warfield Mayor Ted Pahl. “And we also added a TV on the wall.”
Going paperless has changed the meeting format somewhat, Pahl explained.
“We can now project the agenda and meeting items onto our TV screen so council and any visitors will be able to view what we see,” he added. “Delegations will now be able to project presentations onto a viewable screen.”
All were on board from the start, said Pahl.
“This is something we as a council have been discussing, we wanted to make a difference in in-paper production and carbon footprint reduction.”
Prior to its first paperless meeting, Warfield council officially swore in Coun. Arlene Parkinson. Parkinson is a former elected village councillor (1990 to 1999) who won the seat in the April 9 byelection.
Other than checking off small ticket items Wednesday night, Mayor Pahl says council continues budget deliberations, including 2016 sewer rates.
“We will probably end up having some additional meetings to decide before the May deadline,” he added.
With a new easy-to-follow website that includes links to agendas and minutes, Warfield joins Trail in the transition to the digital world.
The city began posting council meetings on its website mid-2005, but didn’t actually cut out paper until four years ago.
“It wasn’t until 2012 that we went paperless,” says Corporate Officer Michelle McIsaac. “With council instead having lap tops to access the agendas in advance of, and during the meetings,” she added.
“There were cost and environmental benefits achieved.”