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VICTORIA MOVES TO THE AGE OF IPADS FOR EFFICIENCY, SAVINGS, AND GREEN SPACE Council voted unanimously on June 11th to purchase eight iPads and establish a city council iPad policy. They agreed that the use of iPads will assist them in the efficient performance of their duties and into paperless city council meetings that will result in cost savings and other efficiencies for the city. "I've been working on this with Councilmember Jim Crowley," said Administrator Don Uram. "We're going toward a paperless city council packet. The City of Carver provides iPads. Things are going fantastically for them. They're saving $2,600 a year. We'd be saving about $4,500. Our payback would be less than two years." In explaining how things would work, he said that city council packets are turned into pdf's and that councilmembers will come to simply download those pdf's onto their iPads. Councilmembers will refer to their iPads rather than voluminous pages of council packets printed in paper. Said Councilmember Crowley, who has been in the iPad mode for some time, "The template for the City of Carver was a big help. It's time for Victoria to catch up with the rest of the world." Asked Councilmember Tom Strigel, "Is a tutorial included [with the cost]?" "It does provide some level of technical support," replied Mr. Uram. "We'd use iAnnotate and we'd look at other apps as the need arises. There's an AppleCare warranty for added protection." Five of the iPads are for the five city councilmembers, with one iPad for the city administrator and 2 additional iPads for city staff. As reported, "The iPad will be a take-home device for the city council. The iPad will be the property of the City of Victoria, and all corresponding information contained or created on the device will be the property of the City. The cost for the eight iPads -- including software, extended warranty, and optional keyboard -- is $5,463.27. It was noted in the Ipad Use Policy, which was also adopted, that each councilmember is responsible for the general care of his or her iPad, that they must remain free of any writing, drawing, stickers, or labels that are not the property of the City, and that only a clean soft cloth should be used to clean the screen." The City iPad, internet, and email access provided by the City are tools for conducting City business. All documents, files, and email messages created, stored in, or sent from, any city iPad are governed by the Minnesota Data Practices Act and other relevant City policies regarding data storage and electronic communications.
ALREADY PLANNING FOR 2013 BUDGET HOPING FOR MORE REVENUE AT REC CENTER City Administrator Don Uram updated councilmembers on work related to the upcoming 2013 budget for the City of Victoria. "We're anticipating $86,000 more in tax revenue than anticipated," he said, if the 2012 tax rate of 39.55% is maintained. He said that if an additional staff person were hired for the Victoria Recreation Center, the additional revenue would be reduced to $34,000. "Ann Mahnke [Park and Rec Director] and I discussed ways to increase revenue at the Recreation Center," he said. "I'm asking Ann to come up with $50,000 more in revenue to offset an increase in expenditures." Regarding the spreadsheets and analysis in the city council packets, Mr. Uram stated, "Kelly Grinnell did all the work and I make the presentation." Kelly Grinnell is the City Accountant who is covering bases since the resignation of Finance Director Jylan Johnson. Mr. Uram, who is a resident of Eden Prairie, reported there are 4,000 members at the Eden Prairie Recreation Center. "They operate like a business," he said. "They ask people in the community what they want to have at the Center. I believe they're at 88% cost recovery, including debt service." Asked Councilmember Tom Strigel, "What is the net impact with the resignation of our Finance Director?" Mr. Uram replied there will be a net savings of about $15,000 because the city is advertising for a replacement at a lower salary. "But there are a lot of major expenditures we have to plan for," he said, mentioning in particular the reconstruction of 78th Street and Aster Trail, as well as a new Public Works Bldg and new City Offices.
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July 2012 |
