MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - A newly-released Mountain View County (MVC) mobile application (app) should help improve communication between residents and the municipalities’ various departments, giving users an avenue to provide input and receive up-to-date information, says Andrew Wild, MVC communication coordinator.
A $20,000 capital budget project saw the development of the app over the past several months, with the application now in operation.
The mobile app can be used on both iOs and Android devices. It allows residents to receive notifications from the county and to submit service requests, bylaw complaints and inquiries, and report suspicious activities.
Wild says once submissions are made through the app, they are forwarded to the appropriate department for action.
“It will be spread throughout the departments,” he said. “For example, if you submit a road request it goes to our operations department. If you submit a weed complaint, it goes to agricultural service department.”
The app can be downloaded by searching Mountain View County in the app store. It is free to download.
The app includes sections for news and updates, fire and fireworks permits, public input opportunities, reporting of road and ditch issues, bylaw and service complaints, report crime watch notices, county event, and government information.
The development of the app was approved by county council in the 2020 capital budget as part of the strategic communications plan it adopted in 2019.
“It came out of council’s wish to have even more tools for people to communicate with us and for use to communicate out to them,” he said. “It is definitely a tool for two-way communication.”
The app allows users to select their respective division to tailor messaging. There is also the option to opt in and out of certain functions, making the app customized to the user’s needs and wants.
“They can receive all alerts and notifications, ones just pertaining to their division or none if they choose. It is also GPS enabled in the reporting functions if the user opts to utilize that function when making a service request on a road or submitting a bylaw inquiry,” he said.
The county will continue to use other information sharing venues, such as mail-outs and the weekly pages in The Albertan.
“With multiple venues for information sharing the county is hoping that information can get to residents in their preferred format,” he said.
