Acworth development director outlines permit volume, GIS upgrades and staffing plans

Acworth’s development director presented a progress report and 2026 initiatives to the Board of Aldermen on Feb. 2, detailing permit volumes, compliance work and planned staffing and technology changes to support city projects.

The director said the department issued 838 permits in 2025 (including 63 new residential permits and five new commercial permits) and completed roughly 2,311 inspections; staff reported revenue figures for the department during 2025 and said short-term-rental enforcement brought 26 Airbnb properties into compliance with business-license requirements. The director described process improvements, including a move to SafeBuilt for commercial plan review and a plan to convert PDF permit forms to Laserfiche for online permitting.

Planned initiatives for 2026 include pursuing building-official services through SafeBuilt (as-needed consultant support), launching an ARGIS enterprise server to consolidate GIS assets and supporting the power department’s smart-meter implementation by providing GIS data and a proposed new GIS analyst position to be housed at Power & Public Works. The director asked the board to consider reclassifying the permit technician to permit coordinator and the senior building inspector to building services manager, and proposed promoting the current GIS analyst to GIS administrator.

Aldermen asked how 2025 permit totals and revenue compared with 2024; the director said she would supply the comparative numbers by email. Questions also covered how the proposed GIS staffing split would operate and whether Ally (Alli) would still oversee police GIS work; the director said Ally would continue to oversee police GIS while a new analyst would support Power & Public Works.

Speakers quoted or referenced: Kathy (development director), Ally (GIS analyst), David (senior building inspector).