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In 2013, the City of Springfield launched the first end-to-end
electronic plan (e-plan) services initiative in the state of Missouri,
selecting Avolve Software’s ProjectDox for implementation.
E-plans benefit the City’s business development by offering
several cost and time saving efficiencies, including:
• Improved communication with developers, contractors, design professionals
and project stakeholders,
• Reduced administrative processing,
• Reduced printing and travel time,
• Streamlined plan review and permit approval.
The City, in concert with City Utilities (CU), integrates its e-plans technology with existing
permitting and document archival systems. This reduces redundant data entry and enables
network and wireless data distribution to multiple City and CU departments.
Based upon the experience that City staff, design professionals and other stakeholders
have gained by use of the new e-plan software, we feel that it is time to review successes
and problems and build upon this experience to improve this process. Over the past year,
we have collected input from our staff and stakeholders regarding their experience,
not only with ProjectDox but also with the overall development plan review process.
Based upon that input, we recently conducted three workshops, one focusing on process
improvement, one on the ProjectDox software and the third on internal communication
among city staff.
In the coming months, we plan to make some specific changes in development review
processes and procedures based upon the work of these groups. Users can expect to see
improvements in our website, ease of use of the ProjectDox software, and improved
communication on projects.
All this builds upon the Collaborative Community Development (CCD) philosophy
spearheaded by Fred Marty while he was Deputy City Manager. The goal of this philosophy
is to achieve high-quality and timely construction projects through cooperation and
collaboration between the City and the development community.
As we work toward these improvements, we will continue to focus on communication and
accountability throughout the entire course of projects, from design to plan review and
approval, permit issuance, and construction. Our goal is “no surprises”.
The City values feedback from the private sector on the quality of this process. Please don’t
hesitate to contact me at 417-864-1004 if you have ideas on how we can improve.
Tim Smith
Deputy City Manager
City of Springfield
BO
OK OF FACTS-22 · SBJ.NET DEC. 19, 2016
GOVERNMENT