AG 2007 05 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Memo To: Board of Commissioners From: Jonathan Marshall, Commerce Director CC: John Day, Mike Downs, Debbie Brannan Date: May 7, 2007 Re: Comprehensive Permitting, Licensing and Inspections software The Commerce and Information Technology Departments recommend that the County contract with Accela, Inc. to provide a Comprehensive Permitting, Licensing and Inspection Package (CPLIP) for the software management of our land development functions. This recommendation follows a long and eMensive solicitation and review process undertaken by the two departments with the assistance of the School of Govemment. The following information is intended to provide background on the need for the CPLIP as well as the process used to solicit and evaluate proposals to provide the package. The Commerce Department currently uses software that has been developed and adapted internally by the Information Technology Department. That software has been very useful in meeting departmental needs over the years, but as the volume of activity has increased and technology has changed there is need for upgrade and improvement. Two main examples of this are the need for on-line permitting and better integration with the geographic information system. A Request for Information (RFI) was released as the first step in the solicitation of information from companies capable of supplying software to meet our needs. The RFI was developed in corespondence with the Director of the Center for Public Technology, Dr. Shannon Schelin, at the UNC School of Govemment. The responses to the RFI were reviewed by staff and Dr. Schelin and a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued to the most qualified respondents. There were four responses to the RFP each with varying degrees of ability to meet the outlined needs. The County's IT Director, Debbie Brannan, created a matrix to compare each of the proposals and their responsive to the criteria set forth in the RFP. Based on that matrix, demonstration sessions were set up with two firms for all staff that would be the users of the software. The final points of analysis were reference checks with the two firms deemed most capable of providing the CPLIP. Based on all of this analysis Accela, Inc. is recommended. The recommendation of Accela is based on a number of factors. One of the most important was their experience with communities the same size or larger than Cabarrus County. The software meets the requirements set forth by our IT department and has modules already written to address our most common applications. It is very important that we have an option for on-line permitting, on-line inspection requests and mobile management of permits and complaints. This software best addresses all of those needs. The cost of this software along with maintenance and training will be met over a five year period. The initial cost is included in the curent (2006-2007) budget. We are recommending that the on-going costs for the neM 4 years be paid for through a technology fee charged as a percentage of all permitting fees. This will allow the direct beneficiaries of the software improvements to help fund those upgrades. I will be available at the work session and regular meeting to address any questions about this project. Representatives of Accela can also be available for the regular meeting if that is the desire of the Board. -~