Alabaster adding searchable database of city laws

Published 4:20 pm Tuesday, October 22, 2013

By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Alabaster residents soon will be able to search through the city’s laws and ordinances more easily, after the City Council approved an agreement with the Municipal Corporation during its Oct. 21 meeting.

Through the agreement, Alabaster will pay the company $15,950 to electronically store and codify the city’s ordinances to allow residents and business owners to search through them online.

Once the city’s laws and ordinances are placed in the database, the city will provide a link to the documents through the Alabaster city website at Cityofalabaster.com.

Through the online database, users will be able to search up-to-date ordinances by keyword – something the city does not currently offer, said Alabaster City Manager George Henry.

“The city currently does not have the ability to display all ordinances and resolutions available online,” read the agreement passed by the council.

During its Oct. 21 meeting, the council also agreed to enter into a trial period with the NovusSolutions company to test out the company’s NovusAgenda software.

Henry said the city is looking into possibly using the NovusAgenda software to help cut down on paper copies required during city board meetings, the Alabaster Board of Education and the city’s Water Board. The software will create a “digital work flow process” for the city, and will help city leaders track items from the time they are passed by a board to the time they are completed, Henry said.