Planning 2012: City Commission Going Paperless in 2012

The Birmingham City Commission held its , during which commissioners heard reports from various city departments on what happened in 2011 and what's in store for Birmingham in 2012.

Birmingham Patch was there all day, but just in case you missed it, here are some of the highlights about the upcoming year in city government.

Commission going paperless, grave reclamation process continues

City Clerk Laura Broski gave the final presentation of at the city's Jan. 21 long-range planning session, updating city commissioners on the city's plans to go paperless as well as the ongoing grave reclamation process at Birmingham's city cemeteries.

Broski said the city clerk's office is budgeting for a physical inventory of the all graves, investigating each with ground-penetrating radar. The city will then begin researching the lot owners in order to finalize the reclamation process.

Birmingham is also looking to go paperless this year by providing city commissioners with iPads to reduce printing costs of City Commission agendas. City Manager Bob Bruner noted tablet computers are less expensive than laptop computers, which city commissioners currently use.

• For more: For a full report from the long-range planning session, check out . Make sure to tell us what you think city government should focus on in 2012 by taking our poll at the end of the story.