Editor’s Note: Read the Spanish version of this article here.

Access Fort Collins is an online platform that allows Fort Collins residents to submit questions, comments, complaints and service requests to the City. Residents can use Access Fort Collins to submit requests online or through the mobile app.

When contacting the City through Access Fort Collins, residents select the topic that relates to their request, provide their contact information and enter the details of the request. Residents can remain anonymous and pinpoint a location on a map or add pictures. According to Amy Resseguie, senior communications specialist at the City of Fort Collins, the system uses the topics chosen to assign the request to the correct department.

According to Resseguie, the most common topics submitted in 2021 were unshoveled sidewalks, illegal parking, overgrown weeds or grass and trash, among other violations. Resseguie added streetlight repairs, potholes and graffiti are also common topics. Resseguie went on to say the City also receives questions about City services, projects and issues coming before the Fort Collins City Council.

“I think it does work really well for those sorts of equipment or maintenance issues,” Resseguie said.

Christine Macrina, administrative supervisor of Fort Collins’ Streets Department, receives all cases that are submitted under streets topics on Access Fort Collins. According to Macrina, after a case is received, the City researches and determines what needs to be done.

“We try to address everything we receive as soon as possible,” Macrina said. “So optimal is that within 24 hours they have been responded to, but we do have a deadline of five days.”

Access Fort Collins can also lead to conversations about larger issues and is effective in connecting residents to the right people and departments.

“Really anything that folks want to contact the City about, it’s a great first step,” Resseguie said. “And so if it’s perhaps a more involved conversation, it at least will help find the right department and the right staff person — maybe then you do have a phone conversation or something if there is a larger question or conversation at play.”

According to Resseguie, Access Fort Collins benefits the City and the community because it allows them to track requests and make sure they “aren’t falling through the cracks or getting shuffled through several departments.”

“In helping us provide that customer service a little more efficiently and directly, … that is a benefit to the community as well,” Resseguie said.

Access Fort Collins was created in 2011, and according to Resseguie, its use has grown each year. The City also promotes Access Fort Collins on social media and on the City’s website.

“I hope that it has become and continues to be a tool that people in the community know exists or at least can find easily,” Resseguie said. “I hope that we’re making it easier and more approachable for people to get in touch with the City for anything that they may need or want to get in touch with us for.”

Reach Piper Russell at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @PiperRussell10.