SIDNEY — An expansion of a software program which manages work performed by the city on its “assets” was explained to Sidney City Council during its Monday evening hybrid-style meeting.

Gary Clough, assistant city manager/public works director, gave a presentation, at his last regular City Council meeting before retiring on Aug. 6, on the software platform called Cityworks. Cityworks is currently being used throughout the city’s public works department, except for at the water treatment plant, the wastewater treatment plant and some other buildings. Those are all using an application called, Facility Dude.

With Cityworks, city staff can easily search for active work orders and view them dynamically on the geographic information (GIS) map. Overdue work orders can also be tracked, monitored and preventative work orders can be scheduled into the future.

Cityworks is designed and created, Clough said, to be the leading GIS-centric system for public asset management, that fully leverages the power of Esri GIS to help communities work smarter, become more sustainable, resilient, and safe. Cityworks user community includes over 650 organizations in cities, counties, utilities and airports. It helps public agencies manage infrastructure, development and regulations.

The program can be used by field crews to react to citizen requests and emergencies and prevent cyclical maintenance and inspections, as well as for management to decide assets analytics, capital planning and manage costs and risk.

The program can be accessed on any device, anywhere, Clough said, yet customers who are not tech-savy can still call in to report issues. Citizens can also engage through the customer information system (CIS), the 311 system, citizen engagement web sites or apps, such as SeeClickFix or Citysourced. The program gives more accurate dispatch and location information, he noted. Within the city office, work orders can be reviewed, assigned, scheduled with instructions added for those in the field on mobile devices.

Clough gave an overview on SeeClickFix, which has 380 signed client agencies and is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars in both iOS and Android app stores. His presentation showed the app has one million users; of the seven million issues, 88% were fixed; has an open 311 standard. The app also won the Code for America Technology Pioneer Award which recognizes outstanding products.

He said the cost of the intial software is about $20,000 with about an additional $4,000 to $5,000 per year for maintenance upgrades.

City Manager Mark Cundiff praised Clough for his work on the project he has been developing over the last couple of years, and thanked him for his diligent determination to leave the city with its completion prior to retirement.

During council member comments, Jenny VanMatre informed council members about complaints she has heard about the dilapidated state of the Northwood Apartments. She learned some apartments do not have heat or air conditioning, and most units throughout the complex have black mold in them. Windows and doors in many apartments are not secure and wind easily flows through them, she was told. VanMatre said the playground area is overgrown with weeds and trash or furniture piled up out back. She also said the bushes are so overgrown that if there was a fire, residents couldn’t get out. She also said the windows would need to be broken to get out, if there was a fire, but then the bushes would also prevent them from getting out. VanMatre said she understands the Health Department responds only to individual phone calls, not to inspect the entire property.

Fire Chief Brad Jones was asked if the fire department has inspected the property. Jones said they inspect the common areas of the apartment building, not individual apartments, and there were minor issues that were corrected the last time they conducted an inspection. He said he would follow up on the issue of the bushes blocking windows to see who follows up to correct it.

City Council held a special meeting before Monday’s regular meeting to enter into an executive session to discuss employment of a public employee. After council’s regular meeting, members again went into an executive session to discuss the employment of a public employee. No action was taken after members emerged from either meeting.