Decades-long collaboration helps community navigate change — and build for the future

With a partnership spanning more than three decades, the Town of Parma, NY holds the distinction of being General Code’s longest running codification customer. This collaborative relationship reflects the Town’s commitment to continually improving how staff and the community access and use code information. It also highlights how ICC Innovation’s integrated solutions provide the Town with powerful digital tools and responsive support through years of growth and change.

A story of collaboration and innovation

Carrie Fracassi, Parma’s current Town Clerk, notes that although she was not present for the implementation of every General Code solution that staff and residents use today, she clearly sees the benefits the decades long partnership has produced in terms of improved communication, streamlined workflows, and added efficiencies. “Obviously, budgets drive the addition of new technologies – and those solutions need to be justified by showing tangible benefits for our community. General Code has always been a great partner in helping us find solutions that are innovative and cost-effective and make life easier for people,” said Fracassi.

From printed codebooks to a single online digital portal

As many communities were still navigating the challenges of managing and sharing information from a traditional printed municipal codebook, the emergence of General Code’s eCode360^® online code portal gave the Town of Parma a new tool to display, search and update its municipal code information in a digital format. Fracassi notes that while the Town still keeps a printed codebook on hand for reference, residents have come to prefer the speed and 24/7 convenience of accessing code information online. “Answers to code questions are no longer limited to a call or visit to Town Hall during business hours. People can go on our eCode any time of the day or night and quickly find the information they are looking for. It’s a fantastic resource,” says Fracassi.

Putting Parma on the map

The Town is particularly proud of its MapLink™ online zoning map. Connected to the Town’s zoning code, MapLink visually displays local property dimensions and regulations in an interactive online map . Fracassi says that MapLink has already been a tremendous resource for the Town’s Planning Board, local realtors, developers, and residents, simplifying how they access and understand important details about a particular piece of property. “[MapLink] is amazing. You can go in, pick out a property and you get all the information you need on that parcel from its dimensions, how it is zoned, and what you can do with that property,” said Fracassi. She notes that she was glad to be part of the process that helped Parma secure MapLink and gives kudos to her General Code representative for making the process easy. “Once we got the go ahead from our supervisor, building department and other stakeholders, [our rep] moved the process forward quickly and hooked us up with the General Code experts that put everything in place. Everyone was extremely helpful and responsive,” said Fracassi.

Shortening the paper trail

Reducing the use and storage of paper documents has been another priority for the Town of Parma. The addition of the Laserfiche™ content management system through ICC Community Development has gone a long way toward making the town paperless. “[With Laserfiche], we’ve been able to eliminate so many paper documents that we just couldn’t store in the building anymore. The ability to scan paper documents then store and search them as digital files is huge. I’d say everyone in this building uses [the system] to its max, every day,” says Fracassi.

The addition of PubDocs™ to its eCode360 portal has also given the Town a new way to post public documents–such as meeting notices–that can be easily found and publicly viewed online. “Instead of always asking our web person to post things on our regular town website, we now do it ourselves in eCode. We like that control,” says Fracassi.

The Town further enhanced its online capabilities by purchasing the latest NY Building Codes from the International Code Council (ICC) and subscribing to ICC’s Digital Codes Premium online portal. This resource enables staff to efficiently search, manage, and share building safety information from the world’s most authoritative database of model codes, standards, and supplements.

Positioned for the future

The power of ICC Innovation, a partnership of the International Code Council, General Code, and ICC Community Development, has the Town poised to bring new, future-focused digital technologies to its municipal toolbox. Fracassi believes that the company’s unique expertise and responsive customer service will position the Town of Parma well for future innovation and growth that will continue to benefit the community. “General Code is probably the easiest company that I have ever worked with. Everyone is very responsive, very friendly, and extremely helpful — which is appreciated for sure,“ says Fracassi.