Edinburg residents have a new resource for getting in touch with the city with the launch of 311 services.

Residents will now be able to report non-emergency complaints directly to the city through the the 311 app, by dialing 311, or through the city website.

The city’s new 311 call center and the four agents stationed there will be available to address the issues and answer questions about events, water bills, trash pickup and city initiatives, according to a city news release.

“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to change the culture here so that people understand they can simply dial 311,” said Mayor Richard Molina during a news conference Thursday.

“I think the number one call that we get is probably brush pick-up and trash pick-up,” Molina said.

The four call center agents will be on-hand from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to City Manager Ron Garza who added that they will guide residents to the department they need as the city has a connection system between 311 and all the departments.

The process of launching the initiative began last year with the establishment of a help line during the pandemic, Garza said.

“We realized, right there, we need to make this a sustainable model,” he said.

The city worked to upgrade the center where calls from the help line were being directed and turning it into the 311 call center as well as budgeting the necessary funds to hire the call center operators.

While those operators will provide non-emergency information, if and when the need arises, the call center will shift into “emergency mode,” open 24/7, to take calls related to the emergency situation the city is experiencing at that time, according to the release.

“Our city now is geo-fenced so whatever carrier you have or landline … if you call 311 from the city limits it’ll come right here to these operators,” Garza said.

The rollout of Edinburg’s 311 services follows the launch of a 311 service in Mission in June. The cities of McAllen and Pharr also have similar services in place for their residents.

Garza said they hope to expand from the four current operators and eventually bring a manager on board.

But as the services gets underway, Molina asked residents to bear with them as they work out any problems with the service itself.

“Of course, it’s going to have its growing pains,” Molina said. “It’s not going to be perfect at the very beginning so I ask the public to be patient as we roll it out.”


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