Residents can ask directly for service with new software

by Melissa Martin

April 18 city council meeting

Brecksville employees are completing the final stages of training on the city’s new enterprise resource planning software system, much of which is expected to go live in the finance and service departments in July.

Service Director Ron Weidig provided city council with an update at the work session, explaining that the ERP system, which council agreed to purchase last July from Tyler Technologies for $1.4 million over five years, will enable both city departments to streamline tasks, work orders and more.

For the finance department, the software will aid in tracking the city’s capital assets, building purchase orders, sending invoices, tracking time and attendance, completing payroll and more. In the service department, the software will track vehicle maintenance and tie into the city’s new fuel system to alert employees when preventive maintenance is needed on vehicles. The software will also document all materials used by the service, engineering and building departments.

Weidig said the software will log work requests from the staff and residents and generate work orders. It also will log when and how the city responds to requests. It also includes GPS features that generate all addresses in the city and pinpoint where in the community work needs to be done.

One application of the system, Weidig said, is the integration with Tyler Technologies’ new app, MyCivic, which the city plans to launch this summer. The app was designed to allow residents to access city services and resources and other community information.

“If you’re coming through town and you see a pothole here and a streetlight out there, you can click on the service request [feature] of the app and it sends in a work order,” Weidig said, noting that Independence recently rolled out the same software minus the finance department component. “The service request on the app then sends in a work order and we will assign a person to take care of that work order.”

Weidig said the city can also utilize the MyCivic app to advertise special events, such as leaf pickup, water main breaks, road projects, detours and more.

“Going forward, this is going to be a real advantage to the city by bringing in the cell phone capabilities and allowing for people coming through town to turn in a request that way,” he said.

City council also passed a resolution supporting West Creek Conservancy’s Clean Ohio Greenspace grant application for the Watershed Divide Conservation Initiative in fiscal year 2024.

As part of the initiative, West Creek Conservancy plans to purchase approximately 47 acres of greenspace along the Ohio Turnpike in Brecksville and Broadview Heights and turn the property into a land conservancy.

“This means this land will no longer be a concern [regarding potential development] for residents living in Four Seasons or neighbors in Broadview Heights,” said Brecksville Mayor Jerry Hruby.

City council presented several proclamations to the Brecksville-Broadview Heights gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, basketball, robotics and speech and debate and teams for their achievements. ∞