HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9565 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9565
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council June 4, 2013
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SUBJECT: TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
rF DEPARTMENT ON JUNE 13T" AND 14T" TO COMPLETE INSTALLATION OF
THE NEW PERMITTING SYSTEM, CONDUCT SYSTEM TRAINING AND
TESTING AND DELIVER INTERNAL CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING
The Planning and Development Department will be temporarily closed to outside customers on Thursday
June 13th, and Friday June 14th to complete the installation of the new permitting system, conduct system
training and testing and to deliver internal customer service training. The departmental closure is
necessary to deactivate the old permitting system and migrate millions of records into the new system.
Although most of the department's direct public services will not be operational, prescheduled and
emergency inspections will be performed. Staff will be at assigned work stations testing the new system,
completing training on system operations and conducting other customer service training related to the
new system and on-going customer service operations. Staff will be working through the weekend of June
15 and 16 to insure that we can open and meet all of our customer service requests when the system is
scheduled to go-live on June 17th 2013.
The Automation software completely replaces the City's current permitting system and upgrades it to a
web-based interface. The enhancements will provide workflow management and eventually allow
complete online electronic permitting, resulting in greater customer convenience and more timely,
transparent and accurate information. Due to age of our existing system (12 years) and the need for an
aggressive implementation schedule the project is divided into phases that will successively improve the
permitting system's functionality.
This project began in April 2012 with the acquisition of the software and the following table outlines the
remaining phases of the project:
Project Timetable
Phase Expected Completion Milestone
I June 17, 2013 Migrate existing functionality to new web-based platform
11 Fall 2013 Expanded online permitting types
III Winter 2014 Electronic document acceptance -full online functionality
To increase awareness and minimize public inconvenience resulting from the brief closure, staff is working
with the Office of Communication and Community Engagement to implement a communications plan that
includes: posting the closure on the City web page; development of news stories for media outlets; posting
of the notice of closure at all departmental points of public contact and at various construction supply
houses and retail centers; and distribution via the department's E-News blast to stakeholder groups such
as the Development Advisory Committee, the Greater Fort Worth Builders Association, the Fort Worth
Real Estate Council, TEXO- the construction association, and many other community stakeholder groups.
Should you have any questions regarding this information, please contact Randle Harwood, Director,
Planning and Development Department, at (817) 392-6101, or David Hall, Assistant Director, Planning and
Development Department at (817) 392-7844.
Tom Higgins
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS