Agenda Packets - 2012/06/25 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 08A Meeting Date: June 25, 2012 Type of Business: CA Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Desaree Crane, Assistant City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Resolution 7964, Approving the Purchase of a Business Licensing/Rental License and Dog License Modules for PermitWorks Background: During the June 11, 2012, City Council Meeting, Staff reported a need to purchase the Business License/Rental License and Dog License modules for a database program called PermitWorks. It was the consensus of the City Council to move forward with approval of the additional modules. Discussion: The City currently tracks business licensing and dog licensing through a database called Microsoft Access. The dog licensing database that the City currently uses was developed by a past Public Service Officer (PSO) who had expert knowledge in database development through Microsoft Access. The current dog licensing database is failing and current City Staff do not have the expertise to be able to fix the database issues. Staff has contacted Roseville IT, and they were not able to correct the issues either. The dog licensing database is no longer able to generate reports accurately or efficiently. The City currently uses a database program called PermitWorks. The City uses this database to track building permits, sewer/water permits, planning applications, and contractor licensing, to name a few. This program is capable of tracking all property information in Mounds View. The City can add more database modules to the program to include business licensing, rental licensing and dog licensing. The expansion would allow City Staff to share and track information more efficiently. For example, currently if the PSO needs to verify whether a residence has the required dog licensing, the PSO must either contact or stop by City Hall first to get a dog license report, and then go back to the residence to issue an Administrative Offense or warning, if necessary. By adding the dog licensing module to PermitWorks, the PSO would be able to get this information from a mobile laptop located in the police vehicle. This will eliminate the need to call or go back to the City Hall to verify information. PermitWorks also has another expanded database module to track business and rental licensing. In order for City Staff to currently verify whether a business received a satisfactory fire inspection, Staff would need to wait for a paper copy of the fire inspection from the Fire Marshal. By having this expanded module, Staff can pull up the business license database and verify whether a fire inspection was completed and print out the report. The expanded license database modules can also draft forms letter, generate reports, and most importantly Staff can share information between departments by a click of a button either in the office or by using a laptop outside the office. For the past three (3) years, the City has budgeted for this module expansion, but the City has not moved forward with the implementation. Attached is information about the module and the price quoted to the City. The total price for this update (tax not included) is $3,615.00 plus prorated maintenance fees. It was the consensus of the City Council at the June 11th City Council Meeting to move forward with approval of these modules and place this item under the Consent Agenda.