The City of Gluckstadt is one step closer to having a city website after approving a bid from Municode to create the website in March’s board meeting.
The city received three quotes from ION Business Concepts & Payment System, LLC, Municode and Crema Design Studio. However City Clerk Lindsay Kellum said Municode was the best fit for the city’s needs and wouldn’t “break the budget.”
“Municode’s portfolio includes online services that are tailored for local governmental entities, and they have been in the business over 65 years,” Kellum said. “Their websites offer customizable graphic design, high-functionality, and security of our data at a reasonable cost. Of utmost importance to the city is a user-friendly atmosphere wherein the end user will be able to find information housed on our website quickly, able to navigate the site efficiently and utilize the robust search features as needed.”
The main goal for the city website is convenience for the citizens, providing up-to-date information and making public documents readily available, according to Kellum.
“I believe Municode has the government experience necessary to help achieve our overall goals, while also providing an attractive design concept,” Kellum said.
Municode also has the capability to work with Tyler Technologies, which the city has already purchased for cashiering software, by integrating online payment options into the new website.
In the next board meeting, the board will need to approve the contract with Municode.
“If the city chooses the standard design there is no initial fee for development; if we choose a more-detailed customizable option, the one-time fee will be $3,500,” Kellum said. “Annual maintenance fees are estimated at $3,000 for data hosting, security, routine maintenance and upgrades, training, and customer service.”
Once the contract is signed, Kellum said they’ll immediately begin working on implementation. Implementation and training will take approximately four months to complete.
The city’s website has been on Kellum’s priority list since she was first hired. She said the public website is important because it is the first glimpse of Gluckstadt an individual will see when wanting to know more about the community, history, business, ongoing development, and information about city officials and legislative process.
“It will be instrumental in providing a wealth of information and transparency to our citizens,” Kellum said. “We intend to post items such as public notices and agendas for meetings, ordinances, resolutions, policies and procedures, building codes, applications for permitting and privilege licenses, fee schedules and other important documentation – saving a trip to city hall.”
Kellum said the website will also play a significant role in bringing new interest to the city, whether residential or commercial.
In the coming months, the city will request citizens to send photos of Gluckstadt for the new website.
“If you have some beautiful photos of our community, whether it be of property at sunset, community fellowship at a business-hosted event, kids at play in our neighborhoods, we welcome your submissions to be included for posting on the new website,” Kellum said.
The photos can be sent to Kellum at lindsay.kellum@gluckstadt.net. She asks citizens to include their name, location of the photo taken and telephone number with their submission.
