Cape eyes remedies for its permitting program
Cape Coral City Manager Rob Hernandez said that while the city’s new permitting system has been nothing short of a nightmare thus far, it will make things easier for residents and city employees in the long run.
Hernandez told city council Wednesday that the city has begun to catch up with the backlog of permits caused by a record-breaking demand.
The plan now is to close the customer service counter to walk-in traffic on Fridays beginning Aug. 19. Customers still will be able to process their permit requests online with EnerGov and come in person Monday through Thursday.
“We feel we need a day to catch up to process the volume of activity that comes in. Friday is the best day to do that,” Hernandez said. “We found that while the pause (around Easter) worked for a time, but it caused a lot of inconvenience for the customers and I don’t want to repeat that.”
The city has considered the Friday closure for some time not only for EnerGov, but allow for staff training, Hernandez said.
“We’ve heard complaints that sometimes we lack consistency in the permitting process. For that, we need time to make sure everyone is properly trained,” Hernandez said. “We considered that before EnerGov became an issue.”
Hernandez said the city is continuing its practice of paying city workers overtime to help process the backlog, with some 165 employees volunteering for that, and that some members of staff went to Des Moines, Iowa to see how they handled their problems with the EnerGov system during their transition.
The likely solution is to move to the latest version of EnerGov, Hernandez said. The city is currently on the 2020 system and the 2021 version is said to be more stable. Des Moines opted to upgrade.
“We’ve seen it work. More than 500 communities, some much larger than us, use it. Our employees are just going to have to be patient. We will get it fixed,” Hernandez said. “Trust me. They will get used to EnerGov. People are resistant to change. And every time we get an upgrade we always complain because we were used to the old way. EnerGov is with us and it’ll be here for a long time”
In other business:
• Council continued an ordinance that would have amended the city’s land use map from commercial to residential uses on property located at the intersection of Skyline Boulevard and Veterans Parkway.
There was disagreement over whether all the properties should be changed to single-family instead of having some for multi-family use. The item will be revisited on Aug. 17.
• Council unanimously agreed to amend the Future Land Use Map on land the city annexed in the spring near Veterans Parkway and Pine Island Road.
The ordinances changed the land use at 1213 Academy Boulevard from Commercial/Professional (CP) to Mixed Use (MX) and properties on Southwest Pine Island Road from Rural (a Lee County Designation) to Pine Island Road District (PIRD).
Members of the First Baptist Church of Matlacha, which was part of the Academy Boulevard land that was voluntarily annexed, expressed support for the annexation and being a part of Cape Coral.
Others expressed concern about traffic, which is already busy on the Pine Island/Burnt Store intersection, getting worse, with one person angrily demanding the city to keep out of Pine Island.
• Mayor John Gunter brought up the subject of continuing to allow remote participation in city council meetings, which was allowed during COVID. Many on council opted to attend meetings remotely.
Council agree that COVID is still around, and that the policy change has taught council that meetings can be held with members who participate remotely.
Councilmember Jennifer Nelson said she has done frequently with workshop meetings.
Council members Robert Welsh and Keith Long disagreed with the policy, saying someone who is sick should concentrate on getting better instead of not having full attention on the goings-on at the meetings.
Gunter said Council should define the parameters more carefully at a future workshop.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com