The city’s website will be redesigned and updated by the company that first designed the site in 2009.
Aldermen voted last week to accept the proposal from Amsterdam-based Engines of Creation. The city will make a down payment of $1,500 and pay $299 per month for 48 months. The company also will redesign the city’s logo at an additional cost of $1,500. Maintenance and technical support would be billed at $95 per hour after the new site is up and running, according to the proposal.
“The redesign is going to try to incorporate everything and utilize recreation along with the golf course as well,” Mayor Michael Villa said during the discussion before the meeting.
Villa said one of the important reasons the site needs to be redesigned is so that it can be optimized to work on mobile devices. He said that the site will also include information on the new Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook pedestrian bridge, and a schedule of events to be held at Riverlink Park.
In its proposal, Engines of Creation identified several problems with the current site and offered solutions:
- The current site is more than five years old, and technology has advanced during that time. The new site developed by the company will be “mobile-friendly, easy to navigate and streamlined so residents can access information quickly and easily
- An increasing need for internal management and too many city website properties. The new site will include a content management system that will make the new site a “one-stop source” for city government, recreation, codes etc.
- Public information is spread out over multiple web properties, blogs and calendars. Engines of Creation will install one universal calendar that can be sorted by the type of event, and one blog will be used for articles, news and notices, all of which can be updated in-house
- City department forms are hard for residents to locate. The company will restructure the site navigation to include one central location that has all downloadable forms available;
- City residents want to communicate [concerning] major repairs and neighborhood problems. The company will use several “web-to-email” forms to direct emails to the department head or manager who is responsible for fixing the problem.
