City of St. Charles? There’s an App for That

In an era when the ubiquitous smartphone has more raw computing power than the first home PCs that came out in the late 1970s, everybody is offering an “app” — short for application — to make your life easier.

There are apps for games, apps for navigation, apps to help you place orders at your favorite stores. Now, there is an app for your favorite city — St. Charles.

St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 is considering developing its own app as well.

St. Charles Connect is the name of the app, which is out already for Apple and Android; Windows and Blackberry versions of the app are rolling out next. The Apple and Android versions can be downloaded quickly from your mobile device’s apps store.

By the way, you can access the St. Charles Connect app’s functionality on your desktop, as well, allowing you to use the same features from your PC or laptop by using your Internet browser to visit the city’s website.

St. Charles Connect is free, and city officials hope it will help improve communications with residents, boost the transparency of city operations and add a bit more efficiency to city government.

That might sound like a lot to expect, but in this digital age — more specifically, this mobile age of smartphones and tablet devices — it’s become the norm.

City Administrator Brian Townsend discussed the pending release of St. Charles Connect in his Patch blog last month.

On Monday night, St. Charles Information Systems Director Peggy Forster explained the app and how it works to the St. Charles City Council, saying it is the next iteration in the city’s evolving efforts to communicate with residents.

Once, cities relied on newspapers to communicate with residents via advertisements or legal notices. Then came newsletters and, eventually, emailed newsletters. But those were one-way methods of communication — information was delivered to the resident who could read about it — or not.

But residents who download St. Charles Connect — or who access it on their PCs or laptops — will have far more options, because the app actually allows an individual to send and receive information from the city at will.

Forster told the council that just a few years ago, developing a new app could be a costly endeavor, but the city saved money on St. Charles Connect by looking at existing, successful apps, which it then customized to meets St. Charles’s needs.

The app puts access to City Hall directly into the residents’ hands to report an issue, for example.

Forster stressed, however, that the app is not intended to replace 911, for example, for reporting emergencies. Likewise, a power outage or another urgent need for city services should continue to be communicated by a phone call.

Still, encountering a large pothole while out walking could call up the app on a smartphone, type in the issue and even take a picture or short video of the pothole to accompany the report. If the smartphone’s GPS is on, the precise location also would be included in the app report. If not, the resident could type in the location himself. The report also asks the resident to select a category.

The category selection allows the app to generate an email directly to the department or person responsible for that particular issue, Forster explained. That begins a process to address the issue — depending on its level of urgency, for example, and such constraints as available manpower and budget.

But, like making a phone call to City Hall, that’s only the first part of the app’s functionality, Forster told the council.

After making a report, residents can use the app to come back later to learn the status of their reports. The app can display a map showing color-coded pins. Clicking on a pin will show residents their report, as well as who received the email the report generated, what step in the process the report is in (“Crews sent to inspect,” for example), and updating the process until the report’s complaint has been resolved and the report is “Closed.”

The app, Forster said, makes it possible for residents to find out whether something is being done without having to make a phone call, where they might have to wait on hold, or leave a message and wait for a call back.

That, she said, points to the city’s efforts to be transparent in what it does to serve residents, and adds a level of accountability as well.

Another aspect of the app is that it allows residents to request information from the city — via alerts or city news, for example — or ask questions.

The benefit to the city, Forster said, is that the app allows more direct two-way communication with residents. Further, she said, it allows the city to leverage the numbers of people using the app to gain more rapid awareness of issues than might otherwise occur.

Specifically, a person out on a walk with a child might see an issue that ought to be reported — be it a pothole or a crumbling sidewalk — but which might be forgotten before the walk is over. But if that person has a smartphone handy, he or she could activate the app and report the issue, complete with a photo or video, immediately.

District 303 to Consider App

Coincidentally, earlier Monday evening saw the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Public Relations Committee agree to forward to the full board a request to develop an app to serve the school district taxpayers.

District spokesman Jim Blaney told the committee the app is essential for communicating with a community that increasingly is plugged in to the digital world via smartphones and tablets.

Such an app would be one more way the school district can communicate with parents. And, unlike the district’s Parent Notification System, the app is interactive — meaning it allows for two-way communication. Residents could choose specifically what kinds of information they want from the district.

Parents could set up the app to give them alerts, for example, if their children’s grades drop suddenly or if there is an attendance issue. The app also could be used to provide parents with school lunch information, athletic schedules and similar information.

Blaney told the committee developing the app initially will bear a one time cost of $3,000 for its design. Beyond that, the district’s cost would be $500 per year for app maintenance and $1.50 per student per year over the life of the renewable three-year contract.

Based on 13,500 students, the cost would be $23,750 (including the design fee) in 2013-14, and $20,750 in 2014-15 and again in 2015-16.

Let Patch save you time. Our free newsletter can be delivered to your inbox. Fast signup here.

Then like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @StCharlsILPatch.