Complaints, permit requests can be filed online

By Angie Landsverk

Members of Waupaca’s Community and Economic Development Department will soon be more tablet based in their work.

Last month, the Waupaca Common Council voted to sign a three-year lease with Munilogic for building inspection and code enforcement software.

The decision will allow Building Inspector John Lust and newly hired Code Enforcement Officer Lindsey Kemnitz to have mobile work environments and complete tasks while they are working in the field.

Munilogic, of Warrington, Pennsylvania, handles municipal management software.

The city’s total cost for the three-year lease will be $28,080, or $9,360 annually.

Savings from the city’s 2015 budget will cover this year’s cost of the lease.

Brennan Kane, the city’s development director, told the council he investigated software programs for not only code enforcement purposes but for the department as a whole.

“A priority for 2016 is to have an increased presence within the community and less time in the office for the building inspector and code enforcement officer,” he wrote in a memo to the council.

He said this software bundle will also allow the public to request inspections, file complaints and submit permits online.

Between six and eight different software packages were reviewed before staff recommended Munilogic to the council.

Kane described the city’s current system for those seeking building permits as being “very archaic.”

He also noted there is the opportunity for expansion with this new software.

Additional modules could be included, with Kane saying it may be most beneficial in the future for the city’s Public Works and Finance departments.