 National Association of Counties * Washington, DC / Vol. 30, No. 8 * April 27, 1998
Chesterfield County, Va., has added a component to its Web site that allows developers to access information about pending construction plans. Dubbed "Site Plan Review Comments," the idea was hatched out of frustration--county employees dealing with anxious developers during a lengthy review process. Developers frequently attempt to find out the status of their project by calling various county departments. Fire prevention, utilities, environmental engineering and transportation are just some of the departments that must review all site plans. Under the new plan, county department comments on the plan are posted on the county's Internet Web site immediately. Developers and builders are able to access the most up-to-date comments at any time of day or night. "This allows them greater access when it's convenient for them," said Kirkland Turner, development manager for the county. "Also, it ties up less of our employees' time in making telephone calls. It gives them more opportunity to spend reviewing site plans." Since the mock-up plan was developed by an outside firm and technology was already in place, the cost of implementation was minimal. Access requires a case number that is issued when the site plan is submitted to the county. You won't actually be able to access a site plan without a case number, but you can see the "doorway" to the area by going to the county Web site address, http://www.co.chesterfield.va.us; then click on "Explore Chesterfield County Virginia!" and then on "What's New." For more information, contact Turner at 804/748-1049. Speaking of construction... Engineers and project managers can now log on to Insituform Technologies, Inc.'s Web site at www.insituform.com for help in designing a sewer rehabilitation project. The company provides proprietary trenchless technologies for the rehabilitation of sewer, water, gas and industrial pipes. Help for disaster preparation For free software and reproducible copies of publications from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, American Red Cross and the National Weather Service, visit the Humanitarian Resource Institute. They're at www.powernet.net/~sma/hri. The institute, in cooperation with FEMA's Community & Family Preparedness Program, is offering assistance to county offices of emergency management, helping with printing and mailing of public information from the FEMA Disaster, Preparedness & Mitigation Library. For more information, contact the institute by e-mail at sma@powernet.net or imssma2@aol.com or call 702/884-4680. Ocean County, N.J. offers Internet safety tips for families Last September, an Ocean County, N.J. teenager was arrested for allegedly killing a young boy who had stopped by, selling candy door-to-door. Later, some said the teenager may have committed the act because he had been molested by an adult he met on an online chat room on the Internet. In response to the tragedy, county freeholders recently unveiled a new program on their Internet site, www.oceancountygov.com/safety, to warn children and parents about the dangers of pornography and child predators on the Internet. The safety pages include a parent-child contract, where each promises to adhere to basic rules, such as a child never giving out a phone number or address over the Internet. World Wide Web 101 Looking for handy reference guides to the Internet? Look no further than http://www.webreference.com/tutorials.html.
Have some news for Web Watch? Send it to mbarton@naco.org. (Web Watch is compiled by Mary
Ann Barton, senior staff writer.) |
Chesterfield
County, Va. launches construction review information