ASHTABULA — The new software will soon integrate the city’s police, prosecutors and the court into a comprehensive system.
The City Council approved City Attorney Cecilia Cooper’s request for two ordinances, allowing the city manager to contract Matrix Point software at a cost of $41,000, plus a monthly fee.
The software will connect the entire justice community with the information it needs to automate workflow and speedy legal processes, while reducing errors and office waste, Cooper said.
“This will allow the Ashtabula Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office to be connected by computer,” he said. “There is no paper. [Police will] just press a button and it comes to us. It will be a huge time saver.”
Cooper expects the software to be up and running this summer.
The City Council also authorized City Manager Jim Timonere to purchase a 2022 Ram 1500 Big Horn pickup from Montrose Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Ashtabula for $48,365 for the city’s Department of Public Works.
The council then authorized the city manager to purchase a Dodge Ram 3500 Crew Cab pickup with a Columbiana Chrysler Jeep Dodge nine-foot reading service body for $70,000. That vehicle will be used for water pollution control.
In other businesses:
• Timonere said two large cranes are working in the city at the same time, building two major projects: the Ashtabula County Medical Center patient tower on Lake Avenue and the Riverbend Hotel on Goodwill Drive in Ashtabula Harbor.
“Hopefully this weather holds up and continues,” he said.
• The Council passed an ordinance authorizing Timonere to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for the collection of back income taxes.
• The Council approved an ordinance authorizing Timonere to enter into a $30,600 contract with GPD Group of Akron for engineering design and construction management for the West 14th Street Sanitary Sewer Improvement Project.
The next City Council meeting will be held at 7 pm on February 6 at the City Building.