The initial design and functionality of the City of Wheeling’s 311 System were launched a few years ago, and as soon as Ward 2 Representative Ben Seidler took office, he promised local residents he would assist with the revamping to add more power for the taxpayers of the Friendly City.
And that is exactly what Seidler accomplished.
“Our new 311 system is a complete overhaul of both technology and our internal processes. It didn’t take long for our citizens to lose confidence in our previous 311 solution because it was not a great user experience, and the back-end functionality just didn’t provide the tools to allow our city to keep up with and manage the tickets in a productive or effective manner.
“All that has now changed. We now have an app called GovAlert for iPhone and Android devices, but also a mobile-friendly 311 website at wheelingwv.gov/311 for people to request assistance for things like potholes, garbage, leaf pickup, reporting dilapidated buildings, abandoned vehicles, and issues like that,” the Council member explained. “With the app, you can take or upload a picture right from your phone, and the phone will allow you to pin the location right on the map on the screen. From the app, you can track the progress of your request or complaint, as well as have visibility of the other requests or complaints that have been submitted. This new system is an incredible improvement for not only our citizens but also for our departments that are responsible for actually doing the work.”
Previously, residents who registered complaints barely could track the efforts being made by city employees to satisfy everyone concerned with a property or variance issue. The reasons for those delays have been erased, and a smartphone app has been added to extend the reach for Wheeling residents.
“This system will help to ensure requests are directed to the appropriate departments and also help automate processes like scheduling a code enforcement officer to perform an initial or repeat inspection. It will track the progress of a ticket from start to finish, to ensure that a request or complaint does not get dropped on the floor,” Seidler explained. “From a productivity perspective, our code enforcement department can now perform and fully document an inspection right from their iPad while on site. The system will automatically generate the ‘notice of violation’ letters and citations, and with the click of a button, they are printed and sitting on the printer, ready to be dropped in the mail within a matter of minutes.
“It goes without saying this new tool brings an immediate wave of productivity and efficiency to our Building and Planning Department by eliminating the mountain (literally) of unsustainable manual effort required to manage these complaints (AKA: schedule, inspect, download pictures to computer, document, print, send, wait, schedule, follow-up inspection, repeat, repeat, repeat). This was on the top of my priority from the very start and is the game-changer that I have been promising,” he continued. “I want to acknowledge and thank our City Manager Bob Herron, Assistant City Manager Bill Lanham, and the other members of Wheeling City Council for their complete support in this initiative, as well as our entire Building and Planning, Public Works, our City Clerk, and numerous other city staff for their wisdom and engagement on this project. I want to specifically recognize Tom Connolly, who manages our Building and Planning department, who truly defines what it means to be a public servant, by always demonstrating the highest levels of character and integrity. His leadership and project management skills on this project have been exceptional and should be recognized.”
Easy and Available
Ever hear “there’s an app for that”?
Well, now there’s an app for that because it is the software-hardware combination the majority of local residents easily recognize and operate.
“A citizen can go to WheelingWV.gov/311 from their computer or smartphone to enter a request or complaint, “Seidler pointed out. “There are links at that address to download the GovAlert app from their mobile device, or you can simply search for GovAlert from the Apple or GooglePlay app stores.
“The top complaints have been related to Blight on Property and Building Code Violations,” Ward 2 representative added. “And I’d said those have been followed by abandoned motor vehicles, potholes, and garbage.”
The new system was quietly soft-launched in March to small groups of people, and the strategy worked well.
“We needed a solution that was user-friendly for both our citizens and employees that included a backend workflow to ensure that these tickets were not only routed to the correct departments,” Seidler said. “But also we needed the automated processes around scheduling our code enforcement officers and tracked fines.
“We kicked off with a quiet launch in early March to work out the bugs,” he confirmed. “We are using the same wheelingwv.gov/311 that we previously used, so it has already received a decent amount of traffic since our soft launch.”
