App gets residents engaged

SANDPOINT — Since launching the Engage Sandpoint app on Sept. 12, the city has had 167 requests for service, from issues concerning traffic signals and crosswalks, to street lights and parking.

“About half of our reports that are coming in are either coming in off of an iPhone or Android device, said City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton.

As the community engagement platform is in its fourth month, Stapleton provided City Council members with an update from the internal side of the app from the past 90 days during Wednesday’s meeting.

Of 79 requests for service in the last 90 days, 27 were done through the iPhone app and 20 through Android. Engage Sandpoint can be accessed through the city’s website and Facebook page as well.

On the management side, Stapleton said, the requests come in under different categories, and the issues are assigned to the person managing that category. Of the requests coming in, the vast majority are infrastructure and development, all of which go to Public Works Director Amanda Wilson — 95 of the requests so far have been assigned to Wilson.

When a request is made, the first step for the city is to acknowledge it. Currently, Stapleton said, staff is averaging 0.8 days for that acknowledgement to occur, so less than 24 hours. The final step is to close the request, which Stapleton said is only done after the issue has been resolved either to the resident’s satisfaction, or fixed to the extent that the city can fix it. The average time for closing a request is seven days, she said, though that is affected by issues such as the street lights. For the most part, street lights are owned by Avista, so while Stapleton said the city contacts the company about the issue, the request remains open on the platform until city staff is able to get out there and verify that it has been fixed.

“That is affecting our response times,” Stapleton said. “But overall, we are seeing across the board really very good responses from our staff and receiving very positive feedback from the public in terms of response times on issues and very quick acknowledgement. “

City officials are planning to meet with Avista personnel in the next couple weeks to see about resolving some of the questions and issues on the street lights, she said.

In addition to the requests that come in, the city is able to push out notifications, such as snow events or the water main break on Boyer Avenue last month. So far, she said, more than 160 people have signed up for notifications through Engage Sandpoint.

“We are hoping that we will continue to see the uptick on that, because that really is an effective way for us to get communication out quickly to people, and to get it to people wherever they are — they don’t have to be sitting behind a computer,” Stapleton said.

Android users can download the app through Google Play by searching for Engage Sandpoint. For iPhone users, go to the app store and download SeeClickFix, then open the app and search for Sandpoint. Engage Sandpoint can also be accessed through the city’s website at sandpointidaho.gov.

In a related effort, Stapleton said the city went live with its paperless utility billing this month as well, for those who signed up. More than 540 statements went out by email, she said.

“So this is for our citizens looking to get their statements, particularly when we have some citizens who may be traveling and vacationing during the winter months, this is a way to get the bills wherever you, electronically,” Stapleton said. “For us, obviously there is substantial cost savings with this as well.”

The goal, she said, is to convert another 1,700 of the city’s 4,500 utility customers to paperless statements by the end of the year.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.