E-GOVERNMENT Project gets delayed after data is gathered

More than 300 documents need to be posted on the Internet.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A project intended to put all Lawrence County municipal applications on the Internet for easy access has hit a snag.
Tom Tulip of the Pennsylvania Economy League, who is coordinating the effort, said all of the information has been gathered, but the county information technology department has been unavailable to post it on the Internet.
More than 300 documents were collected for everything from building to rubbish burning permit applications, he said. But the resignation of Lawrence County's information technology coordinator has left the project in limbo.
The coordinator quit his job last month and left earlier than expected, leaving the project unfinished, Tulip said.
A new coordinator has been hired but is busy with other projects, Tulip said. He said it is unclear how long it will take to get the information posted for use.
Local effort
The e-government project was proposed by Tulip in March and funded by a $10,000 grant from the Heinz Endowment. Economy League officials are hoping to extend the project to other municipalities.
It came out of a desire by Lawrence County Planning Director Jim Gagliano to create a countywide building permit application. Tulip and Gagliano were unable to create a uniform application for all municipalities but decided it would help to put all applications on the Internet.
Gagliano said people will be able to print the forms but still must physically deliver or mail them to the municipalities.
Tulip said 26 of Lawrence County's 27 municipalities participated. He said SNPJ did not participate but likely has no application forms. The community has fewer than 10 residents, according to the last U.S. Census.
Tulip said a similar project was started in Mercer County gathering forms for seven Shenango Valley communities.
cioffi@vindy.com