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The Woodside Town Council has approved a key piece of a plan to make the town’s building review process more user-friendly.
New permit-tracking software will allow builders to track their projects’ permit status online, among other things. Replacing the town’s access database with a more sophisticated and easier to use software system was one of 17 recommendations for improving Woodside’s development services made by consultants Management Partners.
The new system, Trakit, from CRW Associates, was the top choice of town staff, and at an estimated $200,000, is cheaper than two other software systems under consideration, said Town Manager Susan George at the Sept. 26 council meeting.
Nine other Bay Area cities use the Trakit software, including Redwood City, Belmont and Burlingame. Hillsborough is in the process of implementing it, Ms. George said.
An in-house task force has been working since June to research software options, as well as going to demonstrations and getting feedback from other cities, she said.
The council voted 6-0, with Mayor Deborah Gordon absent, to begin negotiations to buy the software and skip the competitive bid process.
In November, the Town Council made improving the much-maligned building process the town’s No. 1 priority. Complaining about how difficult it is to get permission to build anything is a time-honored pursuit in Woodside, but council members are staking their hopes on directives from the Management Partner study to make the process quicker and less painful.
A key recommendation is the addition of a new full-time engineer to oversee development services. Eunejune “EJ” Kim was hired in May to fill the new position.
Other key components to the improvement plan include creating a detailed application checklist, setting timelines for plan reviews and standards for customer service, and measuring employee performance against them.
