Call 311 Before Putting Out Storm Debris to Avoid Code Ticket

The Sanitation department and the Code Compliance department have declared an official storm damage collection for brush and bulk garbage. Through July 9, you can avoid a code citation if you call 311 ahead of time and let them know you plan to put out storm-related brush/debris earlier than your normal collection week. If you call ahead of time, you won’t be issued a citation. Be sure to get a “Service Request Number” from the 311 operator for confirmation.

From the Sanitation and Code Departments:

Residents may call to request permission to place their storm related brush/debris out earlier than their normal collection week. In order for them to NOT receive a citation from Code Compliance, they must call 311 and operators must use the Storm Brush Debris SR to refer these requests to the appropriate Sanitation collection district for action. Code Compliance officers should also be able to query on this SR type before they issue citations to anyone who may have set out items early. IF there is a Storm Brush Debris SR for the address, the compliance officers will NOT issue a citation.

THESE INSTRUCTIONS REMAINS VALID THROUGH JULY 9.

Dallas Needs This: iPhone App for 311

I’ve been wanting something like this for awhile now, and glad some city finally did it (I just wish it were Dallas): an iPhone app that lets residents snap photos of nuisances and code violations and send them off to city hall (geo-tagged, no less).

Pittsburgh beat us to the punch, but there’s no need for Dallas to be left out of the tech party. With our city’s budget cuts, anything we can do to make city services run more efficiently is welcome, especially when the City Manager has proposed cutting 311 from 24 hours/day to 7am-7pm daily.

Anyone who sees a code violation can snap a pic, upload, and be done with it, without having to (a) sit on hold with a 311 operator forever or (b) remember all the relevant location/violation info for later input into the 311 website (assuming you don’t forget).

And no more confusion about incorrect addresses (look at picture; compare to reality; done). Plus, the city’s got tangible evidence of an alleged violation and can evaluate the problem before going out to investigate.

I like this on lots of levels and will be asking our City Manager to investigate. But I want a Blackberry version, too.