Terrebonne to Pilot iWORKS portal for resident work orders, council told

Terrebonne Parish IT staff outlined plans to adopt a commercial work-order and asset-tracking system called iWORKS that would let residents file complaints and let council members view work in their districts.

The system would allow residents to report issues without creating an account, automatically geotag reports, link to the parish GIS and provide district-level portals for council members, Rob­bie Lee, identified in the meeting as an IT staff member for Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, told the Public Service Committee on the evening the item was discussed.

"You don't have to have an account to do it," Robbie Lee said, describing the resident-facing portal. He said about 20 Louisiana parishes already use iWORKS and that Terrebonne staff have begun configuration calls.

Why it matters

Supporters said the software could speed responses to potholes, nuisance and abatement complaints, and better document response times and equipment use — records officials said are important for liability and FEMA reimbursement after storms.

What officials described

Lee said the parish began pursuing a consolidated work-order solution after an earlier vendor (MGO) could not meet the county's needs. He said iWORKS can track permits, nuisance and abatement claims, FEMA time and equipment usage after hurricanes, and create maps showing work-orders across the parish.

Council members would receive district-specific logins showing all active items in that district, Lee said, allowing members to pull up a resident's work-order number, address and the scheduled service date.

The system also would geotag citizen reports and feed those locations into the parish GIS so staff would not need to send crews merely to identify a location before scheduling work. Lee said staff hope to configure features that record who changed or viewed a nuisance/abatement record but that feature remains under development.

Council reaction and follow-up

Councilman Shampaugh urged an education campaign so residents know how to use the portal; "I think you need to do a good campaign on educating the public on the system," he said.

Councilman Trosclair asked whether iWORKS is an off-the-shelf product or a custom build; Lee said the software is prebuilt and in use elsewhere but will be tailored to Terrebonne's processes during configuration.

A representative discussing risk-management implications said the geotagging and time-stamped records are important when damage or injury claims arise: officials must document when the parish was first notified and when repairs were completed to support defense or FEMA reimbursement.

Next steps

Lee said the parish expects to finish configuration and be "up and rolling" in roughly three to six months, after which staff would return to the council with a contract for approval. No contract vote or expenditure was taken at this meeting.

Details not specified

Cost, vendor contract terms, funding sources and a final implementation schedule were not specified during the discussion. Lee said staff were still working through configuration details and the parish would bring a formal contract to the council for approval when ready.

Ending

Committee members voiced general support and asked staff to plan outreach and training for residents and council offices ahead of launch; staff will return with a formal contract and implementation timeline for council approval.