News
Henderson Receives Crown Communities Award
January 4, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE
PLEASE CONTACT CINDY HERMAN, (702) 267-2051
Henderson, Nev. – At the City Council meeting Tuesday evening, Mayor James B. Gibson and the Henderson City Council were presented the national “Award for America’s Crown Communities” from the American City and County magazine. As one of six municipalities recognized this year, the city of Henderson earned the award for a service enhancement program in the Development Services Center (DSC) that yielded user-financed construction permits and a 99 percent on-time rate for plan reviews.
"It’s a great honor for the City of Henderson to be recognized as one of America’s Crown Communities,” said Henderson Mayor James B. Gibson. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the success we have seen with our Development Services Center and we are excited to be recognized for the hard work and dedication from everyone in the DSC.”
The DSC combines staff from seven city departments to provide integrated planning, permitting and inspection services. Ongoing growth in the community increased the demands on the DSC since the “one-stop shop” was implemented in July 2000, resulting in a backlog of work and project delays.
During 2004, Development Services Manager Ron Patterson and staff developed a unique service enhancement program to address the delays. The DSC sought input from customers through a formal survey and an informal advisory committee that met throughout the process. Members of the development industry served on the advisory committee and provided important feedback, recognizing that improved project turnaround times could be a trade-off for potential DSC fee increases.
The program included a trial period in the first quarter of 2005, and fee increases were approved contingent upon achievement of an on-time rate of review and inspection services of 90 percent. Additional staff positions were added, also dependent upon a successful trial period for their continuation. Integrated submittal checklists, a fee estimator, a pre-application review process and an online project tracking system were implemented to assist customers before submitting projects. Concurrent plan reviews by city departments speeded up the internal process, and new daily reports allowed DSC staff to closely monitor the status of projects.
The results of the trial period exceeded the program’s objective, with a 99 percent on-time rate for the DSC services. The advisory group formed during the program became a formal committee for the city and stays involved with ongoing DSC programs and services.
The award reflects the impressive results of staff and customers working together to achieve the common goal of on-time projects," City Manager Phil Speight said. "The City of Henderson is committed to innovative, efficient approaches such as this to provide quality service."
The Awards for America’s Crown Communities are presented annually by American City & County to recognize unique government projects that are cost-effective, and have both short-and long-term impact on the community. American City & County was established in 1909 to cover the issues and trends of municipal government, and its monthly magazine reaches more than 180,000 government officials and administrators.
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