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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda CC 10.11.2011 WorkshopNotice of Meeting of the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas OCTOBER 11, 2011 The Georgetown City Council will meet on OCTOBER 11, 2011 at 5:00 P.M. at the Council Chambers at 101 E. 7th Street If you need accommodations for a disability, please notify the city in advance. A Discussion and possible direction to staff on a proposed land management tracking system -- Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director Executive Session In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, the items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session. B Sec. 551.071: Consultation with Attorney - Advice from attorney about pending litigation that has been filed against the City or contemplated litigation and other matters on which the attorney has a duty to advise the City Council, including but not limited to this week's agenda item - ABG Update t lamff M.- i L t 1, Jessica Brettle, City Secretary for the City of Georgetown, Texas, do hereby certify that this Notice of Meeting was posted at City Hall, 113 E. 8th Street, a place readily accessible to the general public at all times, on the day of , 2011, at , and remained so posted for at least 72 continuous hours preceding the scheduled time of said meeting. Jessica Brettle, City Secretary City of Georgetown, Texas October 11, 2011 SUBJECT: Discussion and possible direction to staff on a proposed land management tracking system -- Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director ITEM SUMMARY: Community Development is proposing to implement a project tracking system for Planning and Development, Permitting and Inspections, and Code Enforcement. Currently, Permitting and Inspections and Code Enforcement utilize Incode, which is the City's current financial data tracking system and was not designed for land management applications. Planning does not have an automated development tracking software, and currently utilizes an Excel spreadsheet and a basic project information tracking database system developed in-house by our GIS staff. As proposed, the City would implement the following components of a system available through the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG): MyPermitNow, MyAddressNow, MyCodeEnforcementNow, MyCommunityServicesNow, and Inspections Anywhere. CAPCOG was approached by the state of Louisiana's South Central Planning and Development Commission (a similar planning agency operating in the area near New Orleans) which offers a project management tracking software system that their IT Department developed to better manage the permit review process under their jurisdiction. South Central is tasked with building plan review and inspections for five cities and five parishes in southeastern Louisiana, and their workload and responsibilities drastically increased after Hurricane Katrina and changes in state mandated building plan reviews and inspections. This additional workload and responsibility lead to the creation of a project tracking software, which South Central initially made available within Louisiana and is now making available to central Texas municipalities through CAPCOG. As designed, MyPermitNow serves as the customer's portal to all information concerning their plan review and inspection status. They can do a real time status check, as well as download completed plan review information. Inspections can be scheduled online, and customers can receive real time inspection status updates as well as view their inspections reports. The system sends alerts via phone or e-mail when aspects of the permitting process are complete or need the customer's attention. Today, all of the above information and communications require direct communication between our City staff and our customers and only happen during business hours. As part of the larger City-wide automation review, the City has been looking at software solutions for Planning and Development as well as Inspections and Permitting and Code Enforcement. Prior to becoming aware of the MyPermitNow and associated software, no solution had become apparent that would address our needs and be of a reasonable cost. Staff made a site visit to the Commission's facility and met with two of their clients, St. Tammany Parish and City of Alexandria. During our visit to the Commission we met with plans reviewers and an inspector, as well as IT staff and their CEO and were favorably impressed with how the system operates. On our visits with their clients we heard from both how responsive and easy it was to work with the Commission. On the regularly scheduled meeting, the Council has two companion agenda items for consideration. First is the consideration and possible action to direct staff to move forward with procurement of a contract with CAPCOG for the development and land management project tracking system. The second item is the first reading of an ordinance to create a Community Development Technology Fee, which will be used to fund the proposed tracking system including the CAPCOG contract, hardware, and associated system expenses including training. GGAF RECOMMENDATION: Cover Memo On October 4, 2011, the General Government and Finance Advisory Subcommittee unanimously recommended approval of the proposes development and land management tracking system. Item # A Staff believes that the costs involved and benefits received makes the MyPermitNow software an excellent solution to our project tracking needs. See the attached CAPCOG MyPermitNow information including the Rate Sheet. We anticipate that Georgetown would have a permit volume in excess of 4,000, so the annual software fee would be $22,000 for MyPermitNow based CAPCOG's established rates. MyAddressNow is based on a flat rate of $200 per month or $2,400 annually. MyCodeEnforcementNow is billed at a $0.70 per actionable case rate and based on past case volume; we estimate the annual fee to be $1,400, which based on 2,000 cases per year. We are still waiting for information on the costs of MyCommunityServicesNow, but the indications are that it will be minimal. The estimated total annual software cost is $25,800. To effectively use all the software features including digital review, staff proposes hardware expenditures including providing staff with higher quality and larger monitors and Tablets for field inspections. The Tablets will replace the Toughbooks currently being used. The hardware costs associated with the start of the project are at a minimum $30,000. A new Technology Fee is being proposed that would fund the software and hardware costs for this project tracking program, in the long term. Technology fees are proposed based on the type of review, number of reviews and reviewers, whether on -site inspections are required and how many, and the complexity of the application process. The MyCommunityServicesNow component can be used by other departments to track their grant applications and required time lines or other grant information, if programmed into the software. SUBMITTED BY: Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director ATTACHMENTS: CAPCOG Rate Sheet & Information Cover Memo Item # A City of Georgetown, Texas October 11, 2011 SUBJECT: Sec. 551.071: Consultation with Attorney - Advise from attorney about pending litigation that has been filed against the City or contemplated litigation and other matters on which the attorney has a duty to advise the City Council, including but not limited to this week's agenda item - ABG Update ITEM SUMMARY: FINANCIAL IMPACT: Cover Memo Item # B Notice of Meeting of the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas OCTOBER 11, 2011 The Georgetown City Council will meet on OCTOBER 11, 2011 at 5:00 P.M. at the Council Chambers at 101 E. 7th Street If you need accommodations for a disability, please notify the city in advance. Policy Development/Review Workshop - A Discussion and possible direction to staff on a proposed land management tracking system -- Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director Executive Session In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, the items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session. B Sec. 551.071: Consultation with Attorney - Advice from attorney about pending litigation that has been filed against the City or contemplated litigation and other matters on which the attorney has a duty to advise the City Council, including but not limited to this week's agenda item - ABG Update Adjournment Certificate of Posting 1, Jessica Brettle, City Secretary for the City of Georgetown, Texas, do hereby certify that this Notice of Meeting was po ted at City Hall, 113 E. 8th Street, a place readily accessible to the general public at all times, on the 9 day of (406f/y— , 2011, at :S , and remained so posted for at least 70tinuous hours preceding the scheduled time of said meeting. Jes � c Brettle, City Secretary