The City of Revelstoke's redesigned website will go live this Friday, June 10 at http://city.revelstoke.ca.
The city's committee of the whole heard the news at their June 7 meeting.
The new website replaces the city's dated one, introducing a more contemporary look, streamlined functionality, better searchability, as well as a tab that helps users with common enquiries, like finding the garbage schedule or aquatic centre hours.
"We spent a lot of time ensuring the site would be user-friendly," said city engineering clerk Gail Ferguson in a presentation to the committee. She was part of a staff team that worked to develop the site.
After preliminary work, the city tendered the website development contract and received over 30 submissions back. They eventually chose Civic Plus to develop the site. The company was selected because it specializes in municipal websites and had developed over 700 similar websites, Ferguson told the committee. The website cost the city $20,000. The site is budgeted to last for three years, when it will be updated again.
"The process which Civic Plus led us through resulted in a democratic representation of all the thoughts and ideas that came to the committee," Ferguson said. "The toughest part of the process was remembering to separate functionality issues from issues that were personal taste."
The new webpage features images from Revelstoke that can be adjusted seasonally; mountain bikers in the summer and skiers in the winter, for example.
Another new development is the inclusion of social media components. The city will now have a Facebook page and a Twitter account. The site will also be enabled with an RSS feed.
Another new feature will allow you to perform some business with the city online. Residents will be able to do things like apply for street closure permits, or book rooms at the community centre.
A new "notify me" feature will allow users to get notifications sent to them via email or text message. This will include things like job postings, emergency alerts, bid postings and calendar updates.
The website also contains guides to local parks and maps.
Designated city staff members in each department will have the ability to update their department's page. They will be able to do it on short notice, if need be.
The homepage features a "report a concern" tab where residents can point out issues to the city, such as a streetlight that has burned out.
The http://city.revelstoke.ca will focus on city operations. Another separate portal is also being planned for the revelstoke.ca address. The city's economic development department is working on that site. It will direct visitors to tourism links and other resources such as the Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce. There is no word on when that site will debut.