By Barry Porterfield

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A few simple posts to report just about any issue or concern is the idea behind a new app expected to be available on mobile phones throughout Pauls Valley soon.

My Civic, an app platform designed to better connect Pauls Valley residents with their town’s city government, has been given the green light.

Equally important, the app, coming in a few weeks, will give people an easy way to report a variety of things while also allowing the city of PV to keep people updated on developing issues and community events in real time.

City employees Jesika Winn and Abigail Clemens were tasked with finding a better way for the city and local residents to communicate with each other. They started by contacting Tyler Technologies, a company currently working with the city for billing and employee timesheets.

It seems like a perfect match, as the company actually has an app called My Civic.

“We wanted to find a way to engage more citizens, report issues and learn more about what was happening in the city,” Winn said, adding that the duo’s work began with a request from the PV City Council.

“With this app, people will be able to report water leaks, find out when the water outage happened and how long it affected them, find out if the roads are closed. Hopefully this will help us find a lot of leaks.”

“They will have the city in their hands, they will know everything the city has to offer.”

For now, the app is being prepared for the city, and the city will soon be able to customize it with “bells and whistles” best suited to Pauls Valley.

Some examples Winn gave include information about water leaks and outages and various city programs and facilities, such as the Reynolds Recreation Center and the local animal shelter.

“We’re going to try to spread the word and let people know it’s available,” Winn said.

“I hope people will be able to pay their water bills and even their tickets with this app.”

The cost to the city for the application, now approved by the city council, is $3,750 for the initial and first year and $1,725 ​​for each of the following years.