AGENDA ITEM NO. 17
CITY OF HAWTHORNE
City Council
AGENDA BILL
For the meeting of June 11, 2024
Originating Department: Planning
City Manager: __________
Vontray Norris
Dir. of Planning: ___________
Gregg McClain
SUBJECT:
Agreement/Contract Between the City of Hawthorne and ViaTRON Systems, Inc. for the digitization of planning records.
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Staff Recommends that the City Council approve the contract with ViaTRON Systems, Inc.
DISCUSSION:
ViaTRON is proposing to digitize historic Planning Department records that currently reside on microfiche and in paper files. Currently these files are not searchable and rely on an index of cases which is incomplete. Case records from years prior to 1991 are nearly all analog or on microfiche. Between 1991 and 2021 the digital records are incomplete as paper files were also made and need to be merged with the digital files. Paper case files were not eliminated completely until about 2021.
Access to historic property records is important for making the correct assessment of current development plans, especially for single-family homes. From 1926 though the 1960s, the City granted dozens of variances per year. Each variance provides relief from setbacks, height limitations, or other standards, and each is still valid. Access to the case files ensures property rights that were granted by the City are honored. Variances are just one type of application we routinely attempt to search. Our current index often alerts us to a case without providing sufficient detail to aid in the evaluation of plans. Many hours may be spent searching the right file in the right box or file cabinet, or finding the correct microfiche cards that were often misfiled.
Having a searchable database will eliminate this problem and save over 100 staff hours per year.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal 3: Improve development processing and customer service operations
FISCAL IMPACT:
The funds required for this project are available in the current fiscal year's adopted budget.
NOTICING PROCEDURES:
A notice was not required to be posted or published.
ATTACHMENT(S):
1. Professional Services Agreement with ViaTRON System, Inc. with ViaTRON's proposal as an attachment