New MyGreenwood App to improve access to city services

In a matter of a few taps on a phone screen, Greenwood residents are now able to pay sewer bills, request services and find out about city events faster than ever.

The city of Greenwood has launched MyGreenwood, an app that allows residents to access city services, pay utility bills and request services from various departments. It also allows residents to learn about city events, reach out to specific departments and access the city’s website, said Molly Laut, the city’s strategic marketing and community relations specialist.

MyGreenwood is designed to improve the process residents request city services. The city’s website has always had the ability for residents to send requests. However, it was not integrated with Cityworks, the internal system the city uses to schedule crews and manage projects, Laut said.

“The problem is when a request would come in on the website, we had to reenter that data,” she said. “From an administrative standpoint, we were double data entering and it was taking time for us to do that and to respond.”

All of the requests were funneled to a central person: Laut. She had to look at the requests, determine what department could deal with them best and send them to that department. This slowed down the process, she said.

MyGreenwood removes that step.

“The MyGreenwood app will now forward all of that information directly to whatever department needs to have it to help speed it up and make it a more timely response for the citizens,” Mayor Mark Myers said.

The MyGreenwood app, which uses an interface from third-party developer Rock Solid Technologies, is also more convenient for residents. When submitting a request, residents can attach a photo and drop a location pin on where exactly the work is needed, Laut said.

Development of the new app has been ongoing since last summer. The city’s GIS and Cityworks team worked to make the app a reality by reprogramming the city’s systems and creating the app, Laut said.

“It took us six or eight months to get it reprogrammed, get it up and test it,” she said.

The app has technically been live since November, however, city officials did not officially introduce the app to the public as they wanted to make sure it didn’t have any bugs. The first time the app was publicly announced was during a MyGreenwood event on Jan. 10, Laut said.

The Jan. 10 event was intended to inform homeowner associations about the app, give them an update on what’s happening in the community and allow residents to speak to city department heads in person. The hope of the event was that HOAs will pass the information learned on to their residents, Myers said.

For the Jan. 10 event, 44 people attended and 20 HOAs were represented. Residents who attended the event have given the city good feedback on both the event and the new app. For the app in particular, residents have said they like the ease and accessibility it has, he said.

“It’s had very positive feedback from the public so far,” Myers said.

Another MyGreenwood event is scheduled in the near future with more HOAs, he said.

The ultimate goal of the app is to give residents a better way to engage with the city so that the community runs better. The city is really glad to have the app up and running, Laut said.

Despite some social media comments questioning whether the MyGreenwood event was a campaign stunt, Myers, who is running for reelection, says it is not. It is just a coincidence the app is launching now in the midst of the campaign, he said.

“This is something we’ve had planned for a while,” Myers said.

Residents can access MyGreenwood can go to greenwood.in.gov/MyGreenwood. It is available on the app stores for both the Apple and Android devices.

Feedback on the app can be submitted through the app by going to the ‘Contact the City’ tab, Laut said.