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Community development director details scanning project progress, cloud permitting rollout and grant opportunity for Bow Mills study
Summary
Community Development Director Carrie Mackinan briefed Selectmen on records‑scanning progress, the town’s cloud permitting transition for building permits, planning‑and‑zoning digitization efforts and an invitation to apply for a Northern Borders Regional Commission planning grant for Bow Mills feasibility work.
Community Development Director Carrie Mackinan told the board April 8 that the department is continuing a multi‑year effort to digitize town planning, building and historic records and is advancing cloud‑based permitting for building and planning applications.
Records scanning and cloud permit rollout: Mackinan said the contracted scanning vendor completed a test batch and is moving to a larger batch after staff resolved data‑mapping issues with the document‑management vendor (DocStar). She reported every building permit has been processed through Cloudpermit since the April 1, 2024 go‑live; completed permits are stored digitally in the document system to avoid paper in the permitting workflow. Planning and zoning applications are being migrated more slowly; staff circulation requests and interdepartmental comments are now handled digitally.
Grants and Bow Mills study: Mackinan said the town’s pre‑application to the Northern Borders Regional Commission was selected and the town was invited to submit a full application. The proposed project would be a feasibility/planning study for Bow Mills that would assess what types of development municipal water expansion could support and outline a development vision to accompany the water extension work. She asked Selectmen to identify town‑priority projects (sidewalks, hazard mitigation items) in the board’s goal‑setting so staff can prepare shovel‑ready concepts for competitive grant rounds.
Other items: Mackinan said the department is fully staffed, digitization funding for cloud storage is in next year’s budget, and DOT will schedule an Exit 1 open house in coming months. She asked the board to consider sidewalk priorities and hazard‑mitigation items so staff can match projects to future grant opportunities.
