Borough launches problem reporter app

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough has launched a new app to allow Valley residents to report problems that they see. The app was released on June 14 prior to the Mat-Su Borough Assembly meeting last week.

“That’s something we’d been talking about for a couple of months with regards to an improved tool for the public to report incidents,” said Mat-Su Borough Manager Mike Brown. “There was already an abandoned vehicle on that site as well as trash that they could report. We’ve included road maintenance so road problems, potholes. things of that nature you can put those things now in a link or in an app.”

Brown thanked the work of Mat-Su Borough GIS staff for providing the tool for the public to alert Brough staff of problems that they see. Borough Mayor Vern Halter asked if residents could interact with projects they care about numerous times.

“They can nominate them as many times as they like. It’s not a perfect system but what we are finding is it is driving up engagement and that’s helpful like to see the public involved and kind of being able to look at that so we do have some tools that make that a little more available,” said Brown.

Brown said he hoped staff could resolve any issues with the app during the summer months, and expected that traffic would increase during the winter months with roadway issues around the borough. Mapping provided by the Mat-Su Borough GIS allows residents to provide a precise location of the problem they encounter. Since it’s release on June 14, dozens of abandoned vehicles and road issues have been posted on the app.

“Reports can be made publicly viewable for “likes” and comments and in a real organization reports would be monitored by the correct organizational staff and routed to the correct staff or organization for resolution,” reads the website description.