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Boro to improve meeting minute procedure
(by Corey Klein - November 27, 2007)
The borough will spend $9,361 to replace, upgrade and modernize the way it records public meeting minutes. The council voted unanimously to approve a resolution to buy it at the Nov. 8 meeting. According to borough Administrator and Clerk Terence Wall, the system will nearly pay for itself in approximately one year by eliminating the need to contract out for services to transcribe minutes.
The current program involves verbatim transcriptions conducted by a private company that costs approximately $800 per meeting, said Wall. The program would make it easier for taxpayers to find out what happens at public meetings when they are not in attendance.
Wall said resolutions and minutes will be held in digital form and would likely be posted on the borough Web site. Records would still be made available for inspection at borough hall, as per law.
In addition to cutting costs for employees and making government more open, the system will also help prevent future litigation from groups such as the New Jersey Libertarian Party. In August, John Paff, an attorney and chair-man of the group’s Open Government Advocacy Project, threatened to sue Lyndhurst for violating the Open Public Meetings Act.
Wall said Paff’s efforts to make government open were not a catalyst in the passage of the resolution. “All mu-nicipalities should make sure they have the best technology available to help their people and, in a nutshell, it’s less expensive,” said Wall.
However, borough attorney Mike Witt and Councilman Steve Tanelli pointed out the added benefit of protection from possible litigation and referenced the situation in Lyndhurst. “The organization demanded that they get min-utes in a much more timely manner,” said Witt.
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