Pflugerville visitors and residents looking for information on the city will soon be able to say, "There's an app for that."

Pflugerville City Council approved at its Feb. 26 meeting the development of an application downloadable on iPhones, iPads and Android devices.

Pflugerville Public Information Officer Terri Waggoner told the council the "pfone" app will be free to download and run without a wireless Internet connection needed.

"This isn't just, 'I'm going to link to the city's website on my phone,' this is, 'I have a separate, unique app experience downloaded on my phone,'" Waggoner said.

Its purpose will be twofold, with one aspect to be developed by CrowdTorch—a Virginia-based application provider specializing in apps for consumer and social events—and serve as an event information hub for Pflugerville festivals. Waggoner said the app will provide interactive maps, schedules and social media tools for event attendees and allow the city to highlight event sponsors.

"I like to know what's happening when, and I like to set my own schedule," she said. "All of these things could coordinate in with our city events."

The second function of the app will be to provide a citizen request tracker and mobile bill payment, with the app to be designed by CitySourced. CitySourced, a developer out of Los Angeles, specializes in digital platforms for civic engagement. Waggoner said residents will be able to take pictures, video or audio recordings of maintenance requests throughout the city and send them in via the app. Cedar Park has a similar app that was launched in December and saw more than 500 iPhone and 106 Android downloads within five weeks of its release, Waggoner said.

"I think the ability to get that information in to city staff quickly and easily is awesome," Councilman Brad Marshall said.

Waggoner said both developers will work together to produce one app with both features. Developing and maintaining the app through a four-year contract will cost approximately $103,600. While the council expressed some concerns over cost, City Manager Brandon Wade said the app was an important feature to disseminating information to visitors and residents.

"I actually love it," Wade told the council. "I fully agree that if we're going to communicate with citizens, this is not only something we should have, it's essential."

The council approved contracts to develop the app, with the city attorney to look over any changes made in the contracts, via a 4-0 vote. Councilmen Omar Pea and Wayne Cooper were absent.