April 25, 2024

Supervisors approve online land parcel permitting software

By Mike Mendenhall

Jasper County Information Technology Director Ryan Eaton explains a few more details of a proposal to integrating online permitting into the county’s existing Beacon GIS system during a public hearing Tuesday with the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. The $70,000 contract with Schneider Geospatial was approved by the board 3-0. (Mike Mendenhall)

The Jasper County Board of Supervisors has approved a new online permitting system, aimed at making work requests easier for local property owners and save them a drive to the county courthouse in Newton to file paperwork.

The board unanimously approved the five-year contract with Indiana-based Schneider Geospatial during the supervisors weekly meeting Tuesday following a public hearing. At a total cost of $70,000, the system will add online permitting to the county’s existing Beacon geographic information system (GIS) at $37,000 for the first year, which includes $4,500 for setup, $8,100 for the server to host the information and $25,000 for implementation. According to the contract, the remaining four years will cost the $8,100 per year hosting fee.

Schneider administrators and county officials tout the system as a way to streamline workflow for county employees, making permits and land parcel information accessible between departments and to the public. During the March 19 supervisors meeting, Schneider officials promoted the new software as a way for county residents to notify the engineer’s office of problems with infrastructure around the clock.

“It will take you to a link that can be used for building permits, 911 signage, driveway permits, oversized vehicles. All that stuff can be done online,” Ryan Eaton, county information technology director, said. “Additionally, you can pay for all of this online.”

Beacon will now make a history of every permit pulled, denied or accepted for land parcels available online, 24/7 and be able to inform residents and county employees what types of permits a parcel is eligible for based on planning and zoning records.

All three supervisors see this as good for county employee efficiency, as well as part of a natural progression to make services available to residents online.

“Looking at the way things are now in normal life with computers, we sign up for everything online. The fact that we still are having people drive into the office to get contracts, this is going to help,” board vice chair Doug Cupples said. “It will really give citizen accurate information where concerns are and needs are.”

“It will save (employees) a lot of time, whatever they’re working on,” board chair Denny Carpenter added.

In other action Tuesday, the board:

• Approved 3-0 a request by Jasper County Church World Service CROP Organization Chairman Barry Hurto to hold the agency’s annual Crop Walk on the courthouse lawn Oct. 6. According to the organization’s website, CROP Hunger Walks are community-wide events sponsored by Church World Service and organized by religious groups, businesses, schools and others to raise funds to end hunger in the U.S. and around the world.

Same-day registration for the event will be from 1 to 3 p.m.

• Approved a liquor license for the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge’s annual Concert on the Prairie, set for 5 p.m. June 7 at the refuge in Prairie City. This year’s featured artist for the outdoor concert will be The Host Country, Americana band.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at 641-792-3121 Ext. 6530 or mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com