PARKERSBURG -City officials will meet tonight to discuss the creation of a phone line to address citizen complaints and concerns.
City council's public works committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the issue.
Councilman Brad Kimes discovered the idea and brought it to city officials. Kimes said a dedicated phone line will allow council members to track complaints and concerns and get them sent on to appropriate department heads.
"The idea is a centralized location for concerns to come into the city," he said.
Kimes said he found the idea after reviewing other cities' Web sites.
"Different cities have different problems, but several big cities were doing that and thought we could try it."
Kimes' plan calls for a dedicated phone line to be set up at the city building to field calls. Kimes said the city is working with members of the Volunteer Action Center to get a senior volunteer to staff the line about four hours a day, five days a week. The remainder of the time an answering machine would field the calls.
The volunteer, in addition to taking calls, would transcribe the recorded calls and forward them on to the appropriate department heads and council members.
"I'm not sure what kind of calls we will get, but I assume it will cover everything from street lights being out to code issues," he said.
Mayor Bob Newell said his assistant, Tracey Hively, already handles a lot of those duties.
"She makes sure the appropriate people get the message," he said. "It would be nice to have someone else field those calls."
In addition to the phone line, Kimes said the city will also adjust its Web site so e-mails can also be sent.
The cost should be minimal and Kimes hopes to have things running by next month.
The committee will hold a discussion on the matter tonight. Kimes said it was more informational than anything else. The committee can then forward the idea onto full council for consideration.
