Mike Dunn, the city’s public information officer, held up a sign with a QR code on it and showed it to the City Council.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen these before,” he said, as he turned around so the audience could also see the jumbled mess of black squares.

QR (abbreviated from Quick Response) codes are barcodes that smartphones are able to scan. A smartphone owner can download a QR code application (such as the “QR Code Reader for iPhone,” or “QR Droid” or “QR Barcode Scanner” in the Android Marketplace), scan a code, and instantly be connected to a Website, text or any other data that is encoded.

Dunn told the council at their most recent meeting Aug. 16 that the City plans to install signs with these codes on them throughout the community — at the Temple Terrace Rec Center, the Temple Terrace Library, City Hall, and eventually the downtown redevelopment area. The city partnered with the Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce, which is getting the signs for free. When smartphone users scan the codes, they’ll be taken to the city’s Website.

“This is kind of an innovative, cutting-edge technology that not many cities are doing right now,” Dunn told the council. “We hope to be the first in the Tampa Bay area — get a little publicity out of it.”

After Dunn’s presentation, Councilman Ron Govin looked over to Mayor Joe Affronti.

“Do you have that app on your phone?” Govin joked.

“Oh yeah, sure,” Affronti quipped back, causing the Council Chamber to erupt with laughter. “You just lost me, Mike.”

The QR code signs were ordered Aug. 18 and are expected to be ready soon, Dunn said.

Temple Terrace Patch plans to have more information and pictures of the signs once the city receives them.