North Hempstead, NY – North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth and Town Clerk Wayne Wink have announced that the Town has received a $74,910 grant from New York State to begin digitizing the permanent records of the Building Department. The grant, which came from the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF), allows the Town to digitize records such as certificates of occupancy and permits.

“This effort will allow us to begin to make our building department records permanent. Digitizing these records helps to avoid the dangers that paper documents present, such as flammability or the ability to decay over time,” Supervisor Bosworth said. “Having these files scanned digitally also allows us to work toward the goal of providing residents with the ability to retrieve old records online.”

The grant also provides for records to be backed up on Laserfiche, the Town’s content management software program, and allows for quicker retrieval of documents for residents.

“One of the most critical roles of the Town Clerk’s office is to protect the records of the Town of North Hempstead,” Town Clerk Wink said. “By acquiring this funding we are able to expand the process of digitizing building department records in order to ensure our residents records’ are preserved for the long term.”

Imaging & Microfilm Access, Inc. (IMA) will perform the scanning off-site, which is scheduled to begin later this month. The Town plans to apply for the LGRMIF grant again for the 2015-2016 term as they continue to look to acquire additional funding for this effort.