EATONTOWN — The borough Planning Board has transitioned to a paperless operation, opting for electronic documents to cut down on costs and paperwork.

After experimenting with the new system and discussing the results during the Jan. 17 meeting, members of the Planning Board unanimously agreed with the move to a paperless operation, following the lead of the Borough Council, which made the transition last year.

“We are trying to streamline this [process]. There are a lot of outdated things that need to be done,” Planning Board Secretary Noel Kayser said.

“The whole purpose of doing this is to save on the mailing costs. That would mean that you would no longer get any copies,” Kayser explained.

The switch to paperless is expected to result in significant cost savings due to eliminating duplication of documents and mailing costs.

For every application, a packet is put together with site plans and other relevant documents.

The applicant is required to send about 10 copies of the site plan to the Planning Board secretary, who forwards copies to the borough engineer, zoning officer, police department, fire department, shade tree commission, and the environmental commission for review, Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said in a Jan. 31 interview.

The entire packet of documents is mailed to each Planning Board member prior to the meeting, he explained.

“Those are all costs which we are eliminating,” Tarantolo said.

“If you think about it, each package being mailed can be $5 to $10. Times that by nine people and twice a month — that can be quite a cost.”

In addition, an application that goes before the board can see many revisions and updates, which incurs further costs, he explained.

“So we are saving costs on updates,” he said.

Planning Board members discussed details of the transition at the meeting.

Board member Jennifer Piazza asked that a hard copy of the site plan be provided for quick reference and Chairman Carl Sohl agreed.

“Have a full copy in the back so if someone has a real concern or interest, they can take a look at it ahead of time,” Sohl said.

Tarantolo said that handling many individual documents during the meeting can be frustrating.

“I think having all the copies up here is very cumbersome,” Tarantolo said.

Board member Cathy Silva agreed.

“If the exhibit is on the [projection] screen and we have the smaller version here [on the computer] and there is something to question, you can always zoom into it and look. I don’t see the need for the paper at all.”

Vice Chairman Mark Woloshin suggested that the electronic documents be titled rather than numbered.

“Right now the documents are named by number. It would be easier if they were named by title,” Woloshin said. “Let’s say I open all these comment letters and I want to go back and forth between them, I don’t know which letter is which because they aren’t named. Other than that I am fine with this.”

Tarantolo agreed and suggested speaking to John Carbin, the information technology coordinator.

“That is a good point. It would be a good indicator of what is opened,” he said.

According to Tarantolo, the decision for the Planning Board to go paperless was prompted by the Borough Council’s transfer to an electronic operation a year ago.

Borough Clerk Karen Siano, Deputy Clerk Valerie Sapienza and Carbin were instrumental in initiating the move to electronic documents, he said.

“The results have been amazing,” Tarantolo said. “I am proud of the staff. They are looking at cost containment, and this will have significant cost containment because we are cutting costs.”

He explained that for every council meeting, more than a ream of paper was consumed because copies were made of all agendas, resolutions and ordinances for each council member.

The packets were put into envelopes and the police department delivered them to each council member.

“Having it all electronic, we save money on the paper, and the administration saves time by not copying everything and [the borough saves] police time,” Tarantolo said.

With all documents in electronic format, the applicant will send all plans and documents via a PDF file or on a CD. If comments need to be made, they are done via email, he said.

During meetings, both the council and the Planning Board use a netbook (small laptop) to view documents.

“It cost approximately $3,000 for the netbooks, but we expect to make up that cost within a year,” Tarantolo said.

According to the mayor, the borough plans to keep moving to paperless operations. The next step will be the zoning board.

“This will ultimately affect the residents,” Tarantolo said. “We are cutting costs and saving money for the borough.”

Contact Nicole Antonucci at nantonucci@gmnews.com.