Do you need to report a tree that has fallen into a township road? Is there an issue with a fire hydrant on your street?
Belleville township has introduced a brand new cloud-based platform that creates a simpler way to get answers to dozens of other questions quicker.
The software GovPilot allows area residents to go to the Belleville website and choose from a list of possible issues and concerns that may occur.
From the removal of snow to the removal of a hornets’ nest, all residents need to do is click on the “Report a Concern” tab and follow the directions that follow.
To add any additional comments and upload photos, there are spaces available. However, the photos must be warranted.
The information is then transferred to the Town Hall as soon as after pressing the submit button.
According to Township Manager Anthony Iacono, the platform allows the workers of Belleville to quickly respond to numerous problems. “I am very confident this is going to increase productivity and accountability inside Town Hall and help us best serve the residents of Belleville,” Iacono said.
Iacono also says that the new platform will surely become very popular with residents because it alleviates some of the guesswork that comes with reporting problems.
“We have created a tab for residents to report an animal carcass in the road,” Iacono said. “That’s an unfortunate issue that crops up from time to time. Previously, residents might not have known who to call about that issue. Does that fall to the department of public works? The police department? A different department?
“With GovPilot, all correspondence is quickly filtered to the appropriate department. No more will residents have to call Town Hall and be transferred to the appropriate department.”
Dozens of towns have begun to use this platform since the Hoboken-based Gov-Pilot rolled out this software as a public service in 2014. It was developed to help assist townships such as Belleville, which can be at any moment in time be flooded with Open Records Act requests.
GovPilot allows towns similar to Belleville to provide essential services such as public record requests, inspections, licensing, tax assessment, public works, and more in a secure, digital environment.
“We are always searching for new and better ways to serve our residents,” Councilman Vinny Cozzarelli said. “We think GovPilot is going to go a long way in doing that.”