The Albany Common Council voted 11 to 1 at an emergency meeting to reactivate the SeeClickFix app, a tool designed to help residents report issues like potholes and road hazards directly to city officials.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan explained the decision, saying,

This is about the difference between notifying us of a challenge or a condition that we need to fix and having legal liability to liability that attaches to that notice, and you know municipalities enjoy just like the state and the federal government enjoy a certain amount of immunity.

The app was previously shut down after an appeals court ruled that complaints filed through it counted as prior written notice, allowing residents to sue the city if issues like potholes were not addressed.

Council members noted that many constituents wanted the app turned back on.

Council President Corey Ellis said,

Our citizen should have the right to electronically send notice and if the problem doesn't get fixed, the city should be any municipality should be alive.

The council voted to secure an amendment clarifying that SeeClickFix is not considered written notice and to define what constitutes legal liability. The Common Council plans to further discuss improving the terms and conditions for the app's use.