Laptops
replace
paper
Howell council begins
new year with computers
on hand with information
JERRY WOLKOWITZ Howell Councilman Fritz Kirchhof (c) checks the Township Council’s meeting agenda on a laptop computer at the municipal complex. A CD-ROM will be provided to council members containing information about the council meeting. CD-ROM technology will replace the need to create a book of information (foreground) for each meeting. Flanking Kirchhof are Township Clerk Bruce Davis (r) and network technician Ron Schnorrbusch.
HOWELL — The Township Council is looking to the future with a sharp eye and cutting-edge technology.
Council members and select personnel on the municipal staff will start off the new year with a high-tech, precedent-setting endeavor — laptop computers replacing the governing body’s traditional 2-inch-thick paper packets that must be gone through at each meeting.
According to the New Jersey League of Municipalities, Howell is the first town in the state where the governing body will use computer laptops in lieu of paperwork.
Councilman Reinhard Kirchhof, who is a service engineer for Panasonic, is the governing body’s acknowledged information technology expert, according to Mayor Timothy J. Konopka.
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Kirchhof and Konopka said the laptops will better use municipal personnel since the traditional individual agenda paper packets are bulky, labor-intensive and expensive — costing about $8,500 annually in paper purchases, a price that does not include the countless staff hours of preparation and copying.
"It’s a win-win situation," Kirchhof said of the introduction of the laptops.
With the move to computers, the township clerk, township engineer and finance officer will also be provided with the computers and discs that would contain the information presently provided in the paper packets and would keep everyone at equal levels of information.
Kirchhof said even though the council will be using laptop computers, members of the public will still be provided with meeting agendas and copies of ordinances. However, he did say that future development plans will provide for the information also to be available online to the public.
Kirchhof said the laptops were acquired through a three-year lease from Compaq at a final cost at the end of the three years of $21,000 for the laptop computers and necessary software and licensing. He said at the end of the lease all of the leased equipment will be able to be purchased for $1.
One laptop computer will also be provided for the use of the township attorney and will be kept at the municipal building.
The laptops are being leased because, "leasing allows for quicker development and the ability to back out if we don’t like it," according to Chief Finance Officer Jeffrey Filiatreault.