CAREFREE TRUTH
Carefree Truth #339
Carefree Truth
Issue #339, August 11, 2014
With Mayor David Schwan attending telephonically, Vice Mayor Les Peterson ran the August Council meeting.
Gary Neiss said that technology has changed dramatically in the past 10 years, with many now accessing information using mobile devices. The current website does not support this feature. 2 companies create, develop, and implement municipal websites. Both were approached for bids, and they were close in price, but CivTechPlus supplied the most comprehensive short and long term package to reorganize the website and make it more user friendly. The initial cost would be $20,027, with an annual fee after the first year of $3,800 which includes all licensing and maintenance fees, subject to a 5% increase after 3 years.
Councilman John Crane requested a timetable. Mr. Neiss said work would start at the time a contract was signed, and would be completed within 6 months. Mr. Crane noticed in the Council packet that the website could be redone in 4 years. Mr. Neiss acknowledged that was correct, preventing a stagnant website.
Councilman Marty Saltzman asked if the Town would keep a full copy on the Carefree server, as opposed to having it only on the CivTechPlus server. When told no, he warned of the perils. Speaking from experience, he said a webmaster died and no one had the passwords to access the website. Mr. Neiss explained that this is a nationwide company, with various offsite servers and redundancy in the system. Mr. Saltzman pointed out that if there is a conflict with the company, the only copy is in their possession. Mr. Neiss said the Town would explore keeping a copy.
Councilman Glenn Miller asked about intellectual property issues. Vice Mayor Peterson asked if the Town or CivTechPlus would own the website. Town Clerk Kandace French answered that the Town would own it; CivTechPlus would be paid to host it in 4 different server locations. Councilman Mike Farrar believed Carefree owns the domain name, which Mrs. French confirmed.
Councilwoman Melissa Price asked if the issuance of building permits and licenses would be included to make the staff more efficient. Mr. Niess replied that software for programs interfacing with permits is expensive, and after the initial purchase the annual licensing fees run between $10,000 and $20,000 depending on the system. For an organization the size of Carefree, the return on investment is not there like it is for big cities issuing thousands of permit a year. He has not received complaints on the Town's permitting process. The staff is very efficient, and often has a faster turn around time than cities with digital systems. It is now cost prohibitive, but staff will continue to monitor the options. Ms. Price wanted to know if that module could be plugged into the system in the future, and Mr. Neiss assured her that it could.
Mr. Farrar asked who would make the daily and weekly changes to the site. Mrs. French said it would be updated by the Town staff. The upgraded system will significantly reduce the time required for this, with uploads taking seconds instead of minutes, and that Jim Keen estimated it would save 5-8 hours per week. CivTechPlus would train 2 staff members, which is included in the price. The Vice Mayor said more and more people are accessing the website, which is outdated.
Mr. Farrar asked if Owens Harkey (OH) would be collaborating with CivTechPlus to ensure consistent branding. Mr. Neiss explained that OH produces the www.visitcarefree.com marketing website. www.carefree.org is a public information website about the functions of the Town government, and it gets a different audience, but he said the sites would cross pollinate.
Mr. Farrar wished to know if website statistics were included in the new software, and how often they could viewed. Mr. Saltzman said typically those stats change constantly, and portals to that information can be checked any time. Mr. Farrar requested that Council be given a quarterly update. Mr. Miller asked if the Town's free WiFi will link to the new website. Mr. Neiss said it links to www.visitcarefree.com which includes a hyperlink to www.carefree.org. That will continue to be the case.
The Council unanimously voted to approve the contract with CivTechPlus.
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
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