City moving out of crisis mode with EnerGov permitting
In April, residents and contractors were wondering if the city of Cape Coral would ever be able to issue permits, with the way the city’s new permitting system, EnerGov, was, or wasn’t, working.
It seems that the city has slowly, but surely been weathering that storm, as well as the real storm created by Hurricane Ian that produced a rash of emergency permits.
On Wednesday, at the regular City Council meeting at City Hall, Matt Grambow, special projects manager, briefed council on just how far the city has come in making EnerGov easier to use to the city and for those seeking permits.
Grambow said that by Monday, all disaster-related permit toggles will be live, meaning that customers would be able to apply for any of the emergency permits and not pay permit fees.
Also going live would be push-button permits for residential air conditioning, emergency electric, residential fencing, garage doors and roofing.
The city has continued its work flow restructuring and finally hired an administrator for the system after a lengthy search.
Also changing in the new year will be at the permitting counter. Starting Tuesday, Jan. 3, the counter will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
The purpose is to address an unbalanced allocation of staff resources, 83 percent of permits are being applied for through EnerGov, and half the permit technician hours are dedicated to the remaining permits applied for at the counter.
In 2022, through Nov. 30, more than 48,000 permits were issued, with the busiest times being early May, when the city was getting through the backlog of permits caused by the launch of EnerGov, and November with all the emergency permits being sought.
Seven of the 10 busiest days this year happened after Nov. 14, Grambow said.
City Manager Rob Hernandez praised city staff for being able to get through the significant challenges the city faced this year with EnerGov, from the system itself to the customers.
“Our employees worked really hard and their numbers matched and surpassed those of the county even though they had more resources,” Hernandez said. “These people have taken a lot of abuse from the industry. I’m troubled by what they have to take every day at the front counter.”
Mayor John Gunter said the difference between February and now are like night and day.
“The industry standard is how long it takes to get a permit. That’s all they’re talking about. At the end, we’ll be better off than we’ve ever been in the 15 years I’ve been involved in that department. I’m very optimistic and I see light at the end of the tunnel,” Gunter said.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com