Digital records in works
MONONGAHELA – A city resident and business owner wants to digitalize city forms, ordinances and other public records to help others who may need them.
“We need to make this process easier and more accessible for residents,” said Steve Seman, owner of Hacker Shack Computers, 218 W. Main St., told Monongahela Council on Wednesday.
He said each time he rents a property he downloads the occupancy form from the city website but has to fill it in manually. He was able to create a form that will allow the applicant to fill it out on the computer and print it. He also had to pay $25 to obtain a CD of city ordinances that also is difficult to access.
Seman said he was approached by Donora Council President Dennis Gutierrez to help digitalize that borough’s information. Seman added he has acquired a domain name, moncity.us, for the city of Monongahela.
“This would be done and maintained at no cost to the city,” he said.
In addition to the forms and ordinances being available for printing and reference, Seman said there will be a keyword search feature to allow users to find the pertinent information.
Councilman Ken Kulak agreed the city is way behind in putting the information on the city website, but he raised a question of liability if information was altered or incorrect.
Solicitor Seth Tongchinsub said the liability would be on the domain owner, not the city.
In addition to Monongahela, Seman said the site will provide information about the Monongahela Library and Ringgold School District.
In other news, Monongahela Area Historical Society President Susan Bowers asked council for permission to erect a historical marker for Jackie Ormes, the first African-American woman cartoonist.
Ormes graduated from Monongahela High School in 1930 and was a well-known cartoonist and artist.
“I think this would be wonderful for our town and another claim to fame,” Bowers said.
The installation of the marker will be at no cost to the city. It will be paid for by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Councilman Alan Velliky said that the once a week, the city is investigating abandoned cars and houses in disrepair as part of the continuing effort to clean up the city.
He said nine cars have been removed so far.
Council approved the use of FiberMat, a high-end tar and chipping application for city streets.
Kulak said the city is operating under a tight budget and hopes to stretch liquid fuels money further with the application of FiberMat to repair more streets.
Mayor Bob Kepics said the borough of Newell has used th e application with good results.