"We still don't know if they want paperless or hard copies," Deputy City Recorder Connie Swain said of council members. "This is our first try and I think it's pretty cool."

Swain no longer has to prepare individual packets for council members and the press. In the past, the prepared packets were hand-carried by a police officer to each council member 24 hours before a meeting.

Fortunately for the public, officials aren't linked while they are sitting at the council table — which means they can't pass e-mail back and forth, cutting the audience out of the full discussion. That may become possible in the future, however, one staffer said.

But how has all this benefited the public?

Not everyone has a computer and Internet access, although most city libraries have computers available for public use, including Internet access. If that still doesn't work, constituents can continue to get the information the old-fashioned way — by asking for it.

"I can look at everything from my home computer," Spanish Fork resident Dave Olson said. "It's been great."

But one man who attended the Spanish Fork City Council meeting on Tuesday said he couldn't see "spending all that time in front of a computer."

"We've used it quite a bit," said developer Mike Dunn, who is planning a subdivision in Spanish Fork. "The information is out there instead of phoning and trying to find somebody (with the data.)"

Librarian Chrissy Henry agreed the Web-based information would be useful, "but I haven't needed to use it."

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com