Now, the city's land use and engineering departments are getting new software to streamline the process.
City Council members heard a presentation on two software vendors that specialize in permits and all that they entail, and voted to have Mayor Elinor Carbone work with one of the vendors, Central Square Technologies, to become part of City Hall operations.
City Planner Martin Connor, Economic Development Director Rista Malanca and Public Works Director Raymond Drew discussed the advantages of upgrading the city's way of handling permits. The presentation also included an asset management system, also provided by Central Square, to track and manage the city's many properties and equipment.
Central Square's software provides a municipality's land use administrators and inspectors with iPads equipped with the programs, giving them the ability to take notes and photos that are directly uploaded to online files, providing applicants with a way to track their application from start to finish, according to Connor and Drew.
"The photos we take, the notes we make, all will be accessible to all of the city's departments, and accessible in the field," Connor said. "It will be very easy to access the system, to make sure the right permits are in place. If they're not (and something is missing) you can stop and help the contractor or the homeowners. The approval process would be more automated."
Speaking on the asset management system, Drew said it was more important than ever for Torrington to track the age of equipment and use city resources properly.
"Our residents are counting on us to manage our infrastructure and assets, and deploy our resources efficiently," Drew said. "Our assets are buildings, trees, parks, bridges, roads, labor, equipment, and all other costs associated with that asset. A good system will help us know what we have, what they're worth, and how much they're costing us. We can track what the return is on our investments in different areas."
Malanca, Connor and Drew compared Central Square's offerings with another company, Citizenserve Community Development, and decided Central Square had a better platform for automation.
"For example, Central Square could track the time and resources per an activity," said Torrington Fire Chief Peter Towey, who also participated in Monday's presentation. "For example, some inspections might take 15 minutes, while others might take hours to complete. This would also make it easier to plan the time for inspections, and schedule assignments based on that."
The software also can be used online or offline, meaning that if a staff member is in the field and has no Internet access, he or she still can photograph a site and enter information, which will be uploaded to a file for the applicant once the program is back in a service area.
Applicants also can keep track of their permits. "It automates the work flow, so not only can the applicant file online, they can track where it is in the process, and the status of their permits," Connor said.
Malanca said changing now to an automated system like Central Square is good timing for the city.
"Now that COVID-19 is part of our lives and we're looking at long-term recovery, it's important to do this now," she said. "We need to make our procedures as business friendly as possible, in a cost effective way. People want virtual access to city services, and we've proven we can provide them in this environment. ... This will help us do it more smoothly."
A big asset of the Central Square programs, she said, is its online features.
"If the pandemic happens again, or if City Hall needs to be closed for some reason, this allows us to continue to do the work," she said. "Permits got very backed up during (the start of the pandemic). If we had this, we wouldn't have gotten that backed up. It also accepts credit card payments."
"Time is money to developers," Malanca said. "Also, sending contractors to City Hall costs them money. This will save them time, and save us time. Right now it can take a better part of a day to get a permit; you have to go to all the departments, then sometimes you have to leave city hall and come back again. The software we have now is really just a database. This will automate things."
Connor said when a permit or application is approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission, for example, other departments are notified. "So it's not manual," he said. "It's all automatic, all streamlined."
Malanca said using a new type of software will help improve productivity in City Hall. "It's our job to make sure we're all working efficiently," she said. "This will help us do that better."
Carbone was authorized Monday to work with Central Square to buy the software. "It takes 12 to 15 months for full implementation, so it's very important to do this now," she said.
Central Square charges an annual fee to use the software, and an additional fee for the permitting and enforcement programs. The asset management software is a separate fee. The total cost is about $342,000. Drew said the city already has created a three-year budget for the costs of the programs.
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