About the Code Enforcement Tracker
The Code Enforcement Tracker supports the operations of the Zoning Code Enforcement Division in the Department of Growth Management. For the first time it integrates on the web, in real time, public complaints, office activities of staff, and field activities of Code Officers. For the first time it also translates this information into interactive maps which are served on the web integrated with other public safety map layers.
Concerned residents, neighborhood coalitions, homeowners, and homebuyers, the Zoning Administrator, the County's Code Enforcement Board, Code Officers, etc., can all monitor the entire process of code complaint and of code compliance from start to finish from their homes or offices. Anyone can submit complaints for violations, can upload pictures of the alleged violation, can track the status of complaints and of action orders, can identify code officers assigned to a case, etc. Anyone can view, download, or create maps which are dynamically linked to the full history of code violations in Alachua County from 1995 to date. Violation Reports from 1995 to date can also be created and downloaded in Excel, PDF, HTML, or Text format.
Innovation
In June of 2009, the tracker received two National Awards. NACo's Best in Category Award (IT) and NACo's Achievement Award. Twenty counties were awarded nationwide a Best in Category Award.
This effort embodies the transformation strategies approved by the County Commission in the year 2000 for guiding our organizational development:
- Empower employees and citizens
- Implement technology that serves the organization
- Improve systems of management and accountability
The Code Enforcement Tracker was an initiative of the GIS Division of the Department of Growth Management. It was developed in house with an Open Technology and with active input from Code Officers and Code Enforcement staff.
In contrast with the traditional procurement standards of most local governments, these modules were created with an Open Technology and a Participatory Approach. A Participatory Approach to design is an approach to the assessment, design, and development of technological and organizational systems that places a premium on the active role of workplace practitioners, who are the users of these systems.
During the entire process, the GIS Division engaged code clerks, code officers, the Zoning Administrator, and the County's liaison to the Code Enforcement Board. Working in close collaboration with them, the GIS Division drew upon their input and support for creating use cases and workflow diagrams on user requirements, on business flows, on daily operations and functionality, and on how they relate to Florida Statutes. Active user involvement continued from conception until the final implementation.
As this product is not owned by a proprietary vendor and it is fully copyrighted by Alachua County, all related costs have been saved. The upfront acquisition costs for similar suites of vendor products approximate at $50,000. Consecutive yearly costs for the lifetime of the product, on license fees, maintenance, support, training, and royalties approximate at $10,000 per year.
Technical Specifications
This suite of applications is hosted using Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft IIS 6 web server. Webpages are written in the PHP 5 scripting language and connected to a MySQL 5 database for data storage used by many of our web applications. GIS and RDBMS data are stored on a separate data server. RDBMS data is stored in Oracle 10g and the geospatial data is stored in ArcSDE 9.2. All data updates are displayed in real-time on the web. GeoWeb Applications use ArcIMS 9.2.
