A message from Clerk Martin Brook -
I am excited to share details about a project long in the works to bring our records management into the digital age.
Bloomfield Township is nearing 200 years in its long and storied history. That history is largely maintained through records that date back to 1827 and in so many ways they tell the story of this community and provide answers to residents’ questions. One of the responsibilities of my office is to maintain Township records and efficiently provide them upon request. When American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds became available, we recognized an opportunity to transition many historical records into digital form, thereby freeing a lot of physical space and increase the ease of retrieval. Examples of documents are building plans, site plans, engineering surveys, assessment records, and more. In compliance with ARPA funds this work will be completed by December 31, 2026.
Scanning is only the first and least interesting part of this project. After a collaborative process with all Township departments, we selected a document management system called Laserfiche. This is a cloud- based system which not only stores records, but also organizes them for retrieval, prepares workflows, electronic forms, and links records to our webpage for easy public access. In other words, once fully implemented, Laserfiche will make us more efficient in serving the residents of Bloomfield. In the future, we aim to make all of our customer interactions digital and Laserfiche will help us accomplish that goal.
While we are digitizing records, there are many historical records that will be maintained. These are the type that are of historical significance. Such as the original Township minutes books that reach all the way back to the first Township meeting on May 25, 1827. And, interesting historical artifacts such as this letterhead from the 1920’s proudly proclaiming ourselves to be the World’s Greatest Township!
