NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael L. Stampfler,

February 10, 2004 City Manager

269-329-4400

City of Portage Wins State Innovation Award

The City of Portage is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the Innovative Park Resource Award by the Michigan Park and Recreation Association (MRPA) for the Park Ranger Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Program. The MRPA is a professional organization committed to providing professional development, advocacy, programs and services to a membership dedicated to enhancing the quality of life through recreation and park opportunities. The City of Portage was in contention with seven other municipalities for this award.

The PDA Program was initiated by City Manager, Michael L. Stampfler to provide faster maintenance repairs and better track maintenance costs. The pilot program and testing phase was completed in the winter of 2002 and the program was fully operational in March of 2003.

Through the use of PDA technology, maintenance and repair operations have been streamlined. Problems in the field are identified and processed immediately. As a result of the PDA Program, general maintenance and repairs are generally made within 24 hours after being reported.

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“Residents of the City of Portage enjoy over two thousand acres of diverse recreational space to match the varied interests of its citizens. Keeping all that property in excellent condition is no small task. In a park, for example, a broken picnic table, torn tennis net, overflowing trash can, leaky faucet or even something as simple as a broken light can diminish a visit for someone,” said Michael L. Stampfler, City Manager.

“The PDA Program has enabled Parks and Recreation personnel to meet a primary goal of City Administration – to quickly identify and address maintenance and repair issues.”

The PDA Program uses a wireless solution built by Midwest Integrated Systems Resources (MISR) that allows park rangers to pass inspection report data from the field directly to maintenance foreman, and work orders to the maintenance crew.

“The wireless solution was built with a batch-and-sync mode, meaning the solution provides a data-capture function when wireless services are not available,” according to Devin Mackinder, Assistant City Manager for IT.

The system was also designed to record the time, materials and equipment used to complete each job. Reports can be generated based on the information captured to help monitor materials and equipment costs, maintenance and repair trends and average repair times.

"Winning the MRPA Innovative Park Resources Award is a great honor for the City of Portage. To be recognized by our peers as a leader in the use of technology to better serve community needs for efficient park maintenance validates our organizational goal in this effort," said Bill Deming, Parks, Recreation and Property Management Director.

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For more information about the City of Portage PDA Program, contact the Office of the City Manager at 269-329-4400. For more information on parks and recreational opportunities in the City of Portage, please visit our web site at www.portagemi.com.

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