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Clark County Public Health boosts its online services

Columbian - 10/11/2018

Oct. 11--Don't hop in the car just yet.

Clark County Public Health will now offer some of its most important permit services online, in a move aimed at saving residents and business owners time. Instead of making a trip to the department's office for these services, you can now submit permit applications, renewals and payments online.

People seeking permits for temporary food establishments have been able to do so online since June, and in that time frame more than half of those types of applications have been submitted electronically.

Food establishment and mobile unit operators also can submit information online for their annual plan reviews and permits.

"It's something that a lot of the professionals in the community have been requesting for a long time," said Ariah Geck, an environmental health specialist working in a project position with Public Health.

You can also pay for annual health permit renewals and existing fees on the website. Geck said more website features will be added throughout the year. There are plans to create capabilities that will allow for submitting individual well and small drinking-water system applications, which Geck explained are important applications for Clark County residents.

In the next few months, the review and permit processes for water recreation facility plans will be available online, too, according to a department press release.

Some of the other features that will most likely be added later this year:

--Website users will be able to submit applications for on-site sewage treatment system site evaluation, design, installation and releases.

--There will be a portal for making vital records requests online.

--There will be an update to the website features for submitting complaints and reviewing restaurant inspection scores.

At this point, most of the feedback on the system has been anecdotal, Geck mentioned, but he noted people are using the system. Public Health Public Information Officer Marissa Armstrong said these changes are good for Public Health.

"It's important that we're making our services available and convenient for residents," Armstrong said.

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