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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-03 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, JANUARY 3, 2019 PAGE 267 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present: Chairman Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Commissioner Patricia Kusek; Commissioner Woody White; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Vice-Chairwoman Julia Olson-Boseman was absent. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chairman Barfield called the Agenda Review meeting to order and announced that the purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the agenda items for the January 7, 2019 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Consent Item 3. Appointments of Commissioners to Various Boards and Committees. Chairman Barfield stated there are still three committees with vacancies. Commissioner Zapple said he would serve on Smart Start of New Hanover County. He also requested to stay on the Board of Health and to be placed on the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization – Transportation Advisory Committee. Chairman Barfield said he would serve on the Legion Stadium Commission and the Parks Conservancy Board of Directors. Chairman Barfield asked that the Commissioners contact him with any changes to the list before the Board Meeting on Monday. Regular Item 4. Public Hearing Special Use Permit Request (S18-05) - Request by Rhonda S. Williams on Behalf of the Property Owner, Delores Ann Flowers, for a Special Use Permit to Operate a Child Care Center Within an Existing Single-Family Dwelling Located at 4734 Gordon Road. In response to Board questions regarding parking being located on the grass, Current Planner Brad Schuler stated that the only requirement is to delineate parking that will be outside of the driveway. There is no surface requirement. The petitioner has the option to add some rocks and increase the size of the driveway if they desire. Staff Update: EnerGov and COAST Update. Chief Information Officer Leslie Chaney provided the following update regarding EnerGov and COAST:  EnerGov is the system that powers the new on-line portal for all things development related, called COAST (Customer Online Access Services Tool).  The process started in 2016 and work with departments began in 2017. Other EnerGov customers have taken five to seven plus years to get to this stage of the process. Departments have worked hard together to get this far so quickly.  The team’s primary goal for the project was to create a seamless, transparent, and predictable process for everything related to land development in New Hanover County. Keeping the customer’s needs first and foremost has been central to everything that has been configured in the new system. The County has even partnered with the City of Wilmington to share the system giving the building community one place to go for all projects regardless of jurisdiction.  Phase 1, which is going live on February 4, covers all of the processes that are related to construction activities (from plan submittal all the way through to certificate of occupancy/compliance). This has been a true team effort and all agencies that have a part in these processes will be conducting their work in EnerGov so that the customer has one portal for all information (COAST).  Due to delays in the schedule introduced by Hurricane Florence, there will also be a launch of additional th processes from Planning and Land Use and Engineering on February 4 to include things like rezoning requests, subdivision plan submittals, etc.  COAST Features:  Online applications for all building permits, along with on-line payments.  User specific dashboard to show all permits and plans in the system by status (submitted, under review, in progress, complete, etc.) and the ability to see all review comments for those plans and permits.  Ability for contractors to pay for multiple plan reviews, permits, etc. with one transaction (shopping cart).  Online scheduling of inspections along with a calendar view of all inspections scheduled for each day for that customer/contractor or for projects they are managing.  For the public, the ability to query development activity details based on geographic location, address, date of application, etc.  th Training begins on Monday, January 7, and staff will be conducting a week of parallel processing the th week of January 28 in anticipation of go-live.  Phase 2 will pick back up in March with processes from Fire Services and Environmental Health along with the automation of code compliance activities.  By the end of calendar year 2019, COAST will be the one-stop location for all activities related to land development and code compliance. In response to Board questions regarding integration with the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA), Ms. Chaney stated CFPUA can only provide their reviews and markups on projects, but fees must be paid directly NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 34 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, JANUARY 3, 2019 PAGE 268 with CFPUA. Due to policy differences in payments, CFPUA was not able to work with the system to collect fees. There is nothing that would preclude this from being changed in the future. The County does not charge its customers for using a credit card and it is built into the fees. Ms. Chaney stated that CFPUA feels that it is raising fees for people who would never use a credit card if there is not a convenience fee charged to those who do. Another policy difference is that CFPUA requires certain signatures before authorizing turning on the utilities. It is not completely off the table for discussion, however, it is not ready for Phase I. Commissioner White stated the complaints that he has heard, and he said this when he previously served on that board, is that CFPUA is the last one standing and everyone is waiting for them. While it is not a popular thing to say, it is a fact and if there is some way to talk them into doing that, it would make more sense for the user. Regarding the statement “keeping the customer’s needs first and foremost has been central to everything we have configured in the new system,” Chairman Barfield stated that other government agencies need to have that as a mindset and how to make things flow better, rather than frustrate the system with more internal policies. Regarding the need for signatures, Ms. Chaney stated there are options to possibly work around the signature piece required by CFPUA In response to Board questions regarding city and county zoning building permits, Ms. Chaney said the permit paperwork will be in one place in the system if the City needs to send information to the County. The County met with the City recently to review Phase I to help the City staff become familiar with it. Regarding outreach to various companies and firms about the new system, Ms. Chaney said a number of companies were invited to be part of the RFP process and then for testing to provide feedback. The Communications and Outreach Department is helping to send an email and letter informing every one of the new system, especially those the County has done business with. Reminders will be sent over the coming weeks and County departments have been notifying their th contacts. There will be two training sessions offered the week of January 28 and user accounts can be created during those times. Ms. Chaney stated people can still come to the County for building permits if they do not want to use the system. Customers have the option to create an account at any time and will be able to see their information online. Regarding staffing if issues arise with the EnerGov system, Ms. Chaney stated that IT staff will be assisting in monitoring a new customer service email address where issues and concerns can be sent. A team will also be located in Development Services to help work through any issues that arise. They will be available during business hours and there is a help page on the website with step-by-step videos. Regarding assistance during off hours, particularly during the summertime, Ms. Chaney said some options can be reviewed on extending staffing hours. County Manager Coudriet expressed his appreciation and support of the departments coming together to work on this project with the main focus of the end user. It is a large undertaking but it sets up a model of how to launch projects whether enterprise wide or big pieces of new functionality in departments. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman Barfield adjourned the meeting at 4:29 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kymberleigh G. Crowell Clerk to the Board Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting.