(8/10) Carroll Valley Borough will soon be moving forward with new office software following council approval.
The borough can no longer update its current office software which has shown severe limitations in capabilities and is not customizable to borough needs, Borough Secretary Gayle Marthers said.
Marthers requested a new all-inclusive office software system in order to dramatically improve efficiency while offering new module benefits to staff and residents, she said. The software to be procured includes modules for accounting, utility billing, payroll, enforcement, as well as various portals for resident self-service use, including permitting applications and on-line bill payments.
The on-line portals will allow the borough to offer 24/7 services to the borough property owners and businesses. Allowing business to be conducted when convenient is expected to significantly reduce the need for in person visits to the borough office.
The new software is expected to seamlessly share information across the borough office and make staff work much easier. Various modules will also fully integrate with existing financial software thereby reducing staff data input needs. Administrative efficiencies provided by the new software module should increase staff productivity and free up time for additional projects. Borough Manager David Hazlett was enthusiastically in favor of the new software as an epitome of efficiency.
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding will be utilized for the initial cost of $92,890, Marthers said. The annual license for the software is $47,390. While the new software’s annual cost of $47,390 is $32,015 more then the current office software license, it represents a significantly expanded service level, Marthers said.
"Yes, it’s an investment of money, but not an investment of man hours," Hazlett said.
Conversion of the new software will require no down time and the target date for the program setup is expected sometime after the New Year.
Also, in ARPA related business, the council approved the purchase of a John Deere Gator including snowplow, grader, and mower attachments for a total cost not to exceed $23,000.
Park tasks are currently completed manually or with heavier, less cost effective and less efficient equipment, Brad Sanders, municipal services supervisor, said in a letter to the council. The specialized equipment would be utilized to fit in smaller areas more safely and efficiently.
Approval was also granted to the sewer department to spend $67,000 for a sewer line camera and ‘jetter’.
The Carroll Valley Sewer System maintains approximately 45,000 feet of collection lines. Industry standards recommended camera inspections and jetting (cleaning with high pressure water) once every five to seven years, which would be 6,430 feet per year, according to department head Jed Fetter in a letter to the council.
For the last six years the sewer department has contracted private companies to inspect and jet an average of 2,504 feet of borough sewer lines and the average cost paid for this work was $4,408 annually, according to Fetter.
It would cost the borough approximately $14,4467 to complete 100 percent of the needed cleaning and visual inspections. Without factoring in inflation, by investing $67,000 in this equipment in 2022 the borough would be saving $295,000 over a 25-year life expectancy of the equipment with the purchase, Fetter said.
Equipment would also be available to the municipal services department to inspect and clear stormwater drainage pipes and could be offered to other municipalities for a fee.
In other business Carroll Valley Police Department officers will soon all be outfitted for new body cameras thanks to a grant, according to Police Chief Richard Hileman. The Federal grant focuses on smaller jurisdictions and will provide the department $10,000 over three years for the upgrade and expansion of its body camera program.
The hardware is provided as a subscription service and includes the equipment as well as the online storage of the data as a five-year program. The program includes five cameras, so each officer will be issued one. The new cameras will be able to integrate into the existing system, he said.
