City of Sanford Plans Future Growth with Predictor by Brightly

Interactive sewer model built within strategic asset management framework helps City develop effective capital improvement plan through 2045 planning horizon 

CARY, N.C. (PRWeb) November 18, 2020 -- Brightly, the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of operations management solutions, today announced that City of Sanford, N.C. is using their strategic asset management tool, Predictor, to gain new levels of visibility into the City’s asset information and support better planning decisions around future growth. WithersRavenel, Brightly's strategic alliance services partner, worked with City of Sanford to turn these insights into a proactive asset management plan that addresses aging sewer infrastructure and prepares the City for residential and commercial development.

Designed to help local governments and municipalities improve long-term capital planning, Predictor is helping City of Sanford understand how different levels of funding for asset improvement projects would affect the service to citizens and overall condition of their sewer system over the next 25 years. City of Sanford is home to 30,000 residents and its Public Works department consists of 132 employees across six divisions.

Our department’s mission is to provide essential services to the citizens of Sanford in the most courteous, convenient and cost-effective manner. We needed a tool that enhanced our capital improvement plan to better understand the future impact of planned rehabilitation and replacement projects," said Victor Czar, public works director at City of Sanford.

With Predictor, we have a powerful model of our sewer infrastructure that helps us make decisions with our citizens in mind. 

WithersRavenel, leader in delivering engineering, planning and surveying services for state and local governments, led the implementation of Capital Predictor at City of Sanford. The interactive sewer model is linked to the City’s ArcGIS database and allows users to visualize projects spatially and explore additional “what-if” scenarios. For example, filtering the map to display the highest concentration of end-of-life assets in a particular year will identify a segment of sewer line in urgent need of repair, along with the cost to repair the surrounding sewer simultaneously.

"I have been very impressed with the modeling ability of Predictor,” said Eddie Staley, chief experience and innovation officer at WithersRavenel. “It helps us better understand the optimal funding and preferred rehabilitation methodologies to address aging infrastructure. The model generates meaningful, data-driven conversations with all stakeholders. The ultimate outcome is a more effective asset management plan that maximizes the available funding."

Predictor enables City of Sanford to optimize community service levels and capital expenditure and prioritize projects based on industry-specific algorithms which predict long-term asset behavior as well as citizen needs and proximity to other projects. It also provides the necessary supporting documentation to secure critical grant funding from the state or federal government and proactively communicate financial needs to elected officials.

“City of Sanford is a powerful example of how strategic asset management is helping local governments and municipalities visualize and strategize into the future,” said Jodi McDermott, chief product officer of Brightly. “By combining insights from Predictor with the expertise of our partner, WithersRavenel, the City is well positioned to efficiently deploy resources that address their aging infrastructure, maximize funding sources and make decisions that ultimately promote citizen satisfaction.”

Visit the Brightly website for more information on Predictor or to request a live demo. To learn more about strategic asset management, the state of public infrastructure and potential funding opportunities to close financial gaps in 2021, join us for a webinar with WithersRavenel on Tuesday, December 1 at 1 PM ET.