Software allows residents to access council agendas on Internet

Advertisement

For those with Internet access, there's no more need to run to City Hall to pick up a meeting agenda. The city clerk's office has placed all those documents on the Internet using Agenda Manager software that allows access to the same information seen by the council.

"The Agenda Manager package is a license for five meeting types such as the city council, the redevelopment agency and the planning commission with the next two being parks and recreation and the airport advisory committee," City Clerk Pamella Malmstrom said. "Eventually, we'll purchase another license for five meeting types and have all the rest of them on the Internet."

The new service to local residents and those outside the community went active with the May 9 council agenda.

Malmstrom said her goal is to have no technical difficulties prior to the weekend before the council meeting because that way she can be assured the agenda packets will be Internet-accessible on the Thursday before the following Tuesday's meeting.

"Everything's just right there," she said. "The only thing that might not make it on there are large final maps and tentative maps. Otherwise, the entire packet is online, even those big reports."

Malmstrom said the next step is to make past resolutions and bills available online.

The clerk's office currently uses Laserfiche for archived materials and has official meeting minutes back to 1983. Eventually, the goal is to have all signed ordinances and resolutions on Laserfiche, as Malmstrom put it, "from the beginning of time."

Laserfiche differs from Agenda Manager in that Laserfiche archives official documents with official dated signatures on microfilm while Agenda Manager may have electronically archived material, but it's only of the document itself.

An example of similarity is having a blank document showing the text and having a "recorded" document for official documentation purposes.

According to Malmstrom, permanent records still need to be microfilmed since the state only officially recognizes documents that have been microfilmed.

The benefit of using Agenda Manager is when people want to know when an issue came before a city body, they can do it without involving the clerk's staff.

"This will allow residents to go in and do their own research," Malmstrom said. "We're considering the implementation of a policy that would establish a fee schedule for accessing records for public use."

Such a fee schedule would put Boulder City in line with all other local jurisdictions. Currently, Clark County and the three incorporated cities within the Las Vegas Valley have established fee policies that charge users for research and copying services. Such fees are legal and collectible under the state's open records statutes.

The fact there was no primary election last year provided the funds for implementation of Agenda Manager this year.

"We didn't use any funds for the primary election so I asked (City Manager) Vicky (Mayes), can I switch the funds and use them for Agenda Manager," Malmstrom said. "I told her it was going to provide all departments the capability of having their agendas on the home page, that it was efficient, and that having it granted the public access, and that's a key thing."

Last fiscal year, 2005-2006, Malmstrom recommended a $12,000 budget request for the Agenda Manager software, but Mayes deleted the item realizing there was no need to spend money when there were savings to be realized with the unneeded election.

Having Agenda Manager is something that makes Malmstrom's life and the lives of her staff -- deputy City Clerk Lorene Krumm and Records Clerk Teena Pickens -- that much easier.

"I'm happy to do it because the budget is tight," she said. "And besides, it's something Vicky has been working on since she was the city clerk."

To use Agenda Manager, go to www.bcnv.org, go down the options on the left side to "City Council," which also includes the Planning Commission, click on "agenda and minutes" and go to the desired date.