A new Internet application could make it easier for McComb residents to report potholes and other nuisances.
SeeClickFix lets users skip a phone call and tell the city about problems they observe.
The reports would be visible on the website for anyone to see.
Selectman Donovan Hill encountered the system at a conference and shared it with the city board at its March 15 work session. When the mayor and selectmen saw the potential for streamlining the way people engage with city government, their initial response was enthusiastic.
According to the developer’s website, SeeClickFix will “manage communication with citizens and staff from submission to resolution.”
When a problem is reported, a dot representing its location appears on a city map. If the same issue is reported multiple times, the dot on the map indicates the number of reports.
An email is automatically generated to someone, or multiple people, in city government, who then prioritize and assign work as resources are available. The public works director, for example, might receive an email every time a citizen reports a pothole online or via the app.
Those same people would also be notified each time a comment was added to the site.
Progress reports and estimated completion times are uploaded to the SeeClickFix site by a city employee. Finally, when a job is finished or a problem resolved, that information is also updated, and the resident who made the initial report receives a follow-up email.
It remains to be seen who on the city staff would manage the new communication stream.
The software would be added to the city’s existing website, with a separate app available for iPhone and Android. In addition to potholes, people could use it to report stray animals, road hazards or building code violations.
When Hill demonstrated the program a month ago, its estimated cost was around $5,000 per year. This week, however, he mentioned a considerably higher annual fee.
The service contract under consideration shows a rate of $8,595 for the first year, which covers five city users. If more people than that would need back-end access to the system, the cost would increase.
At Tuesday’s board work session, Mayor Whitney Rawlings cautioned that the likely onslaught of incoming reports “could overwhelm” the public works department, and unless that entity is expanded, the new program could “become unmanageable.”
He added that because public works already operates with limited resources, and response times will likely not reduce under SeeClickFix, “the response our public is probably going to get is not the response that they’re going to like.”
Selectman Michael Cameron interjected that while SeeClickFix is a “grand” concept representing 21st century technology, “on the first day you’d have 1,000 pictures, and we’d have spent $9,000 to infuriate 1,000 people.”
“I just don’t think it’s feasible whatsoever,” he said, given McComb’s strained resources.
The board will decide at its April 12 meeting whether to adopt the SeeClickFix contract.
