Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Permitting Portal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Zoning staff demonstrate OpenGov portal and complaint workflow; council asks for ward-level complaint updates
Summary
City zoning staff demonstrated a new OpenGov permitting and complaint portal, showed how anonymous submissions and attachments work, and explained a 14-day follow-up workflow. Councilors requested a monthly ward breakdown of complaints.
Zoning staff on Monday demonstrated Norton’s new OpenGov permitting and property-maintenance portal and described how the city will receive, track and respond to complaints submitted online.
Lisa (zoning engineering staff) and Bill Bremen (zoning/inspector workflow) showed the portal’s public pages for permits, boards and commissions, and property-maintenance complaints. Staff demonstrated creating a complaint, attaching photos, searching by address or parcel number and how the system assigns a complaint number. The portal includes a workflow that notifies staff, provides a 14‑day follow-up due date for the initial inspection or response and allows staff to send internal and public messages against a complaint record.
Staff explained that the complaint form can be submitted anonymously if the filer enters “NA” in contact fields; an email address is required by the portal for notification, but staff said the zoning office’s internal view does not display private contact details to employees. Once a complaint arrives in the system, staff members receive an email alert and then complete review steps in OpenGov; the staff demonstration showed how a submission appears on the employee workflow and how attachments and complaint history are logged.
Council members asked operational questions. One councilor asked whether ward-specific reports could be provided so council members know when there are complaints in their wards. Staff and the mayor agreed to consider a monthly report that breaks complaints down by ward and complaint type (i.e., tall grass, junk vehicles, noise, property maintenance). Councilors also discussed anonymous versus attributable complaints; staff said anonymous submissions are permitted but that an email is needed for the portal’s notification feature.
Staff noted that attachments are optional but helpful, and that each complaint receives a number for tracking. The portal’s due-date feature produces an alert after 14 days if follow-up is required. City staff said they will continue to refine the portal as more users begin to file permits and complaints online.
