Staff with the Town of Strathmore are hoping that a new web-based property search map can help out residents.
Seth Whitney, GIS Specialist with the Town of Strathmore presented to Town Council on Wednesday (Jan. 22) about the new initiative.
"This tool will provide our residents, businesses, and other stakeholders with easy access to property information, reducing the need for direct inquiries and empowering a self-service for our community."
Whitney says the app can search properties by using things like address, tax roll number, or zooming into the map.
"They can find important information like lot size, garbage day, and assessment summary."
According to Whitney, the app will reduce the number of calls the town has to field.
He says it also adds information for property details and real estate agents can use it to find information quickly.
Whitney says residents can also see their annual property taxes on the web map.
The presentation also touched on data security.
"No sensitive information like emails and phone numbers is made public," mentioned Whitney.
Whitney told council there are added benefits to the town as there will be less people who need to call or visit in person to find the information they need.
"This map supports better decision-making by providing easy access to important data for town planning and community engagement."
Debbie Mitzner, town councillor, asked Whitney if there was an easy option for seniors to access the app.
Whitney mentioned that the town has traditional PDF maps while being able to explore the newer web-based technology.
Mayor Pat Fule inquired if the resident owner names on the web map are available to town staff.
Whitney told Fule that they could only find out names if it was something the job required.
"There's obviously different permission levels when it comes to that."
Councillor Denise Peterson asked if there's an option to save searches in the web map.
Whitney says it doesn't have that ability at the moment.
He added that there will be basic tutorials for residents and staff to become comfortable with the web map.
The next step is a launch date for March 17 and the town says they will provide updates to residents until then.