When fencing went up around a section of James J. Braddock North Hudson Park, local resident Danilo Martinez wondered what was up. So he sat down at his computer and asked the town.
“Within a day, the township provided me with a thorough explanation of the project and the expected time of completion. The township was very helpful,” he said. “Having this feature available in the NB Township web page has been the best thing ever.”
The feature he’s talking about is the NB Help Desk. Available on the town’s home page at northbergen.org, it was launched in January of 2012 as a way for residents to ask questions and get quick responses from the appropriate departments in town.
Township Administrator Chris Pianese has overseen the help desk since inception. “The concept is that somebody asks a question and we get back to them within 48 business hours,” he said. “The questions are received by community service, which is Mayor Sacco’s department, public affairs. Community service farms it off to whatever department has to answer it, then community service gets it back and responds to the individual.”
The program began slowly, with a handful of questions per week, but with a promotional push from the town and good word of mouth, it quickly grew. Since inception, the help desk has responded to well over 2,200 questions.
The township has responded to well over 2,200 resident requests since the program was implemented in January 2012.
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Other common subjects are graffiti, street lights out, questions about pool hours and registration, or notifying the town of troublesome potholes.
“A pothole had been repaired in front of my house but it deteriorated in a few weeks. When I called the pothole hotline they explained that they had already repaired on my street and were now working on other streets,” said resident Ellen Presley. “This pothole got really big and once I notified the help desk it was repaired in two days.”
“That’s great,” said Pianese. “We get the actual location so we get the areas we need to address quicker. So this really helps.”
“I’ve used the Help Desk several times and it has been excellent,” said Presley. “They responded promptly, answered my inquiry and, on two occasions, actually had people who were directly working in the designated municipal department call me. It is truly a terrific assistance.”
Helping residents help the town
In addition to directing the town to services that need municipal attention, residents have been able to request personal assistance in various ways. One woman wrote to ask if the town provided help with installing and using infant car seats. Answer: yes, the police department has a trained expert in car seat installations who offers this service by appointment, and the resident was put in touch with him.
Another resident was moving residences and wanted to know if the town would designate a temporary no parking zone so he could load a truck. Again: yes, and the resident was directed to the police traffic division to get the space reserved.
While many residents have secured the services of the town to assist them with their needs, the town benefits as well when problems are brought to their attention. “A woman wrote that a couple of years ago about three to five parking spaces were lost to make room for buses to turn when road work was being done on Boulevard East,” said Pianese. “The project came and went, and the woman pointed out we need to return these spaces. Unless she brought that to our attention they might have just stayed that way. So the parking spots were returned.”
As a result of resident comments the town posted street sweeping schedules online. Other notes from residents pointed out areas in need of snow removal. The town reached out as necessary to direct home and business owners to clear areas for safety.
“I contacted the NB Help Desk last winter regarding snow removal on Tonnelle Avenue,” said Carmen Silva. “I have lived in this sector of town for 12 years now and this stretch had never before been cleared of snow. Once I reached out to the NB Help Desk, I received constant follow up from them and they also did a fabulous job removing the snow and making it safer for pedestrians, especially for the young school children that walk to Franklin School.”
How to submit a request
Anyone can write to the NB Help Desk with questions for the town or to submit a request. Clicking on the logo takes you to a form with an open field to enter your comments. A name, address, and email are required to submit the form.
“We require that information because they’re asking a question,” said Pianese, and the town needs a way to respond. “Oftentimes it’s not just a quick answer. There’s a lot of give and take. They reply with another question and we keep going back and forth until we close it out.”
“When we created the help desk program our goal was to help residents get the answers they need from our local government faster and more efficiently than ever before and really enhance the level of customer service that we offered,” said Mayor Nicholas Sacco. “The help desk program is a wonderful success and it has developed into an essential tool that many residents are using. I would encourage anyone who ever has a question or issue with North Bergen to use the system and I believe that it will continue growing even more.”
The NB Help Desk is available from the township’s home page at northbergen.org. Click on the icon in the banner at the top of the page.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.