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Finance committee hears ConcourseTech demo and signals recommendation for council review
Summary
ConcourseTech presented a proposal to replace Laserfiche, PermitWorks and License Manager and integrate with Cassell, Esri and FirstView to create a unified AI-enabled permitting, records and website platform; staff recommended forwarding the contract to full council pending further review of HR integration and customer-facing demos.
The Hudson Finance Committee heard a detailed presentation from ConcourseTech on a proposed AI-driven platform to unify permitting, licensing, records and the city website and signaled a recommendation to forward the contract for full council consideration.
Ajay Menon, head of implementation for ConcourseTech, told the committee the vendor would replace three systems (Laserfiche, PermitWorks and License Manager) and integrate with the city’s financial system Cassell, Esri GIS and FirstView for fire/EMS records. Menon said the platform would include automatic OCR for scanned documents, AI-powered search and summaries, a chatbot trained on Hudson ordinances and FAQs, guided permit intake, browser-based plan markup and mobile inspection tools.
Staff member (speaker 5), who led the local RFP process, said 18 firms responded and four finalists were interviewed; ConcourseTech was the finance/IT team's unanimous recommendation to present to the committee. Staff presented preliminary cost comparisons, estimating current annual spend on the replaced systems at about $32,000 and an expected ConcourseTech subscription of about $40,000 per year under a three-year contract, a difference staff described conservatively as roughly $8,000 annually. Committee members flagged inconsistent figures elsewhere in the presentation and asked staff to clarify final totals before a contract vote.
Committee members pressed about whether ConcourseTech would support HR workflows and whether AI upgrades would incur extra fees. Menon said the company can add HR functionality and that AI-model upgrades and improvements would be included in the ongoing subscription at no additional fee. Committee members emphasized the need to preserve human interaction for residents and requested demonstrations of the customer-facing experience and more detail on HR integration before formal council action.
Staff and one committee member said they intended to recommend the contract for placement on the June 15 full council agenda for council consideration, though no final finance vote was taken that night; the chair preferred to defer formal action until the next meeting to allow for follow-up and demonstrations.
