diff --git a/smartassist/src/backend.py b/smartassist/src/backend.py
index 7f78db0..e29d957 100644
--- a/smartassist/src/backend.py
+++ b/smartassist/src/backend.py
@@ -6,16 +6,13 @@ from flask_cors import CORS, cross_origin # CORS stands for Cross-Origin Resourc
 import requests
 import json
 import logging
-import utils
-from utils import set_local_logger, run_flask
+from utils import set_local_logger
 
-global log_level # Global variable to store the log level that is set in startservices.py
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__) # Separate logger for this module
-set_local_logger(logger) # Set log level for logger based on log_level
+set_local_logger(logger) # Set log level for logger
 
 # Initialize a Flask application
 app = Flask(__name__)
-# CORS(app, resources={r"/api/chat": {"origins": "*", "headers": ["Origin", "Content-Type", "Authorization"]}}) # Allow requests from any origin
 CORS(app, resources={
     r"/api/chat": {
         "origins": "*",
@@ -89,20 +86,20 @@ def get_response(user_query):
     # Return the generated response
     return response
 
-# def run_flask(fport=5005):
-#     """
-#     Starts the Flask server
-#     """
-#     # Flask endpoint for user interaction
-#     logger.debug("Entering run_flask()")
-#     # app.run(port = str(str(fport)), debug=False)
-#     app.run(port = str(str(fport)), debug=True)
-#     # app.run(port=5000, debug=True, use_reloader=False)
-#     logger.debug("Exiting run_flask()")
+def run_flask(fport=5005):
+    """
+    Starts the Flask server
+    """
+    # Flask endpoint for user interaction
+    logger.debug("Entering run_flask()")
+    # app.run(port = str(str(fport)), debug=False)
+    app.run(port = str(str(fport)), debug=True)
+    # app.run(port=5000, debug=True, use_reloader=False)
+    logger.debug("Exiting run_flask()")
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     # Run the Flask application
-    run_flask(app)
+    run_flask()