The City of Lenexa Paperless Packet Project Report

Electronic Packet Process
By far, the largest volume of information that must be given to the Governing Body is the weekly packet material for the various Committee and Council meetings. Each week, this was an exhaustive task that involved all City department(s) that were responsible for topic(s) on each agenda. The pertinent City department was required to prepare supporting material for each agenda item. All this information was sent to the City Clerk division where it would be sorted by agenda order, dozens of copies made of all the material, and bound as one document called the "council packet."

Needless to say, "packet day" was a busy day in the City Clerk division and required at least one staff member be devoted one or more days to compile the packet material. Our large copy machine was virtually tied up all day running copies. It required staff members to be away from their workstations either at the copy machine or in the workroom assembling the dozens of packets for distribution.

Since Governing Body members had access to the City's network from their remote locations and, obviously, most City employees were "on line" - the notion of transmitting all the packet material electronically was given serious consideration.

The City Clerk division is responsible for providing the Governing Body with agenda and meeting packet material. They collect the agenda items and packet item material from the various departments for insertion and compilation of the electronic packet. In order to achieve this organization-wide process, uniform standards needed to be put into place for compiling packet item material, and deadlines needed to be set.

The City had to come up with a solution of creating an electronic packet document that would function just like a paper document. With the use of the latest software, here is the method we arrived at:

• Those persons responsible for setting agendas for the Council and Committee meetings will send an electronic e-mail notification to the City Clerk's office as soon as an item is determined.

• When the agenda is finalized, the City Clerk's office will send an e-mail to the appropriate distribution group and fax the agenda to other requestors. The agendas are also posted on the City's home page on the internet.

• Those persons within the departments responsible for preparing agenda item packet material will send their documents electronically via e-mail according to the deadline set by the City Clerk's office. Any documents that need to be scanned are done in the department and then sent electronically along with their other documentation. These items are then stored in a directory for future use.

• The City Clerk's office will then begin the process of preparing the electronic packet document.

• A new Word document is created.

• The files containing the various packet item materials are inserted into the Word packet document, in the order in which they are listed on the agenda, with the agenda appearing first. (Some attachments to packet items, such as standard agreements, contracts, etc., which are considered to be a standard document and can be rather large, are kept on file at the City Clerk office for viewing rather than being included within the electronic packet.)

• Hyperlinked bookmarks are created in the agenda linking each agenda item to a bookmark inserted on the first page of the packet material for that item, which comes later within the document. Other hyperlinked supporting documents are accessible from within the packet by clicking on the appropriate link.

• Sections breaks are inserted in the document, separating each packet item material, for ease in printing by section item.

• The electronic packet document is then saved to a directory accessible by all persons having access to the City's network. The documents are also converted to html format and transferred to Lenexa's website for those who desire to read the upcoming meeting packet.

• An e-mail and voicemail message is sent out to applicable staff and Governing Body members, notifying them that the electronic packet is ready to be reviewed and/or downloaded.

• The Governing Body then has the option of downloading the electronic packet onto their laptops by accessing the City's network from their remote location and clicking on an icon that will automatically perform the download function for them; or reviewing the electronic packet while connected to the network; or viewing the packet on the City's website. (Performing the download eliminates tying up their phone line and gives them the ability to call the document up in their word processor for annotating and highlighting specific subject matter.)

• City staff in any City building can access the electronic packet document by going directly to the directory containing the document, opening it, and saving it to their own directory for future editing.

This process is also workable with the media. They no longer have to make a special trip to City Hall just to obtain their paper packet before the Council meeting. We have the ability to send their packet document electronically as an attachment to an e-mail sent to them via the internet. They receive it faster, and can review it and be aware of what's going on in the City of Lenexa.

The City keeps electronic agendas and packet material on the file server for the legal maximum time frame of two years. Subsequently, these files are purged in the ordinary course of business. Minutes of the various City meetings are retained indefinitely and are migrated to storage on an optical disk system.

Minutes and agendas of the various City meetings are also made available for viewing on the Lenexa Home Page on the Internet.