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Town staff propose switching to eScribe meeting software and iPads; board flags cost and data portability
Summary
A staff member presented a proposal to adopt an eScribe meeting-management system and provide iPads to elected officials; the package would replace paper packets and add features such as automatic uploads to the town’s YouTube channel, but first-year costs and tablet procurement were flagged as major budget questions.
A staff member told the Denton board that a vendor demonstration of the eScribe meeting-management system showed the software can produce agendas, packets, recorded minutes and direct publishing to the town’s YouTube channel, but the full package was more expensive than the town expected. The presenter said, “It was very informational,” and added the vendor “automatically do[es] all of that for us.”
The board discussed buying tablets so members could use a single digital packet instead of paper; the staff member said the quoted software price does not include the tablets. Members asked whether the town could retrieve meeting records and documents if it later left the vendor; the presenter said records would need to be downloaded to a drive for long-term archival if the town stopped using the service.
Questions from members focused on price and on which features the town would actually use. The transcript shows a first-year cost estimate discussed in shorthand as “around 35” but the currency and units were not specified in the presentation and need clarification. Members asked staff to seek alternative vendors and pricing comparisons before committing to the subscription model.
The board also reviewed a mass-notification option described by staff (Genesys Protect), already in use by nearby Davidson County, that can send targeted text, phone and voicemail alerts and offers tiered pricing up to a quoted capacity of 8,000 customers. Staff said residents would be automatically enrolled unless they opted out and that the town would provide its customer list to enable targeted alerts for localized incidents.
The board did not take a formal vote. Staff was asked to provide clearer first-year and ongoing cost estimates (including tablet hardware), vendor comparisons and an explanation of data portability and record-retention processes for any recommended system.
