By Craig Anderson

DOVER — Through modern technology, commercial and residential building permit applications can now be submitted to Kent County government online through the MyGovernmentOnline system.

Instead of creating a paper trail throughout the permitting process conducted by the Inspection and Enforcement and Public Works departments, web-based submissions to Levy Court will allow for filing and tracking online. The service went live Jan. 11.

County Commissioners Jody Sweeney and Eric Buckson were recognized at Tuesday night’s Levy Court business meeting for their efforts to push the project forward, along with county staff across multiple departments.

Plans for MGO began in fall 2019 but were brought to a standstill when COVID-19 arrived in March last year.

Commissioner Sweeney described the project as “epic” and “born from Mr. Buckson and myself wanting to bring Kent County into the 21st century.”

“Imagine the amount of time that will be saved on a permit, as it is submitted to the county without all the paperwork we have to go through, and being able to communicate with those applicants through an online mechanism, it’s going to reduce time for permits to get approved, which is something that is a great benefit out of this project.”

Requests for sewer permits can also be made through MGO.

While Commissioner Buckson said “I know it’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for the community as well as community employees,” he was also “excited about the fact that I believe when we get through the other side and when the community is used to accessing MGO and our employees are used to implementing it, I think it’s going to be a significant improvement and a great benefit to the county as a whole.”

With a streamlined permitting process, Commissioner Sweeney said, “This could be a benefit for anyone looking ... to expand their operations.”

Permit applications can still be presented in person, after which they will be scanned into the MGO system for further review.

According to Kent County Levy Court Information Technology Director Kim Crouch, the cost to lease the needed software is $42,000 annually. There were no upfront costs or setup fees, and MGO provides free software upgrades and offers technical support for Kent County and its customers, Ms. Crouch said.

MGO’s help desk is available to assist builders in navigating the system, too.
At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners paid tribute to a cross section of employees from multiple departments who collaborated to complete the project.

Honored staff included:

• Information Technology — Dorothy Cheatham (the project leader), Joe Simmons, Greg Mansfield, Warren Collins, Kevin Scott, Donna Barnes, Mark Kennedy and Mark Kinnaman.
• Planning Services — Robert Frankel, Timothy Hudson, Paul Modesto, Brian Reed, Robert Silvagni, Steven Hastings, Bruce Slody, William Shannon Morris, Scott Tanner, Michael Festi, Vince Parsons Jr. and Amy Minner.
• Public Works — Barbara Miller and Mike Harrington.
• Finance — KrisAnne Miley, Donna Zerhusen and Sue Willson.

Commissioner Sweeney thanked all employees for their “hard work” and “commitment to getting this done and dedication and flexibility for working together to get it done.”

Also, Commissioner Allan Angel lauded staff “for bringing us into the new century because the old century is not the world we live in anymore.”