Website upgrades on county radar

Thursday, November 8, 2018

In a world where a strong online presence garners attention, the same may be true of a bad website.

Although no bids have been requested for upgrades to the Putnam County website (www.co.putnam.in.us), a vendor was on hand Monday to make a pitch to the Putnam County Commissioners. Meanwhile, another has contactedCommissioner Rick Woodall about her company’s services.

On Monday it was Trent Ward and Ken Barlow of eGov Strategies presenting during the commissioners meeting.

“The core of our approach is we will use our expertise to design it,” Barlow said, adding that it is not a cookie-cutter approach.

Instead, eGov Strategies will offer a variety of design options as well as emphasizing the content that county leaders want reflected on the website.

They showed a number of examples from other Indiana counties for which they have worked, including Monroe, Vanderburgh, Kosciusko, Scott and Sullivan, as well as the Association of Indiana Counties

All would represent an upgrade over the current website, which is not regularly updated and often contains links to outdated information and forms.

“What we have currently is a website that was designed several years ago for a few hundred dollars and is now pretty sporadic,” Woodall said. “Honestly, this is our first dive into learning about how this works.”

Pricing has not yet been proposed by eGov, though Ward said such projects are usually packages in the $10,000-$15,000 range. Beyond this, there would be a yearly maintenance fee of around $2,000.

Like with the current setup, individual office holders and department heads would be asked to update their particular parts of the site. However, Barlow and Ward said that the county would be strongly encouraged to have a webmaster, which is not currently the case.

Even if the Putnam County Council could not find money for a webmaster, Barlow recommended having some sort of project leader who could make sure the website is being properly maintained.

“You don’t want to invest a bunch of money and then not update it,” Barlow said. “It’s all about making sure you guys take care of the investment.”

Ward added that Sullivan County was in a similar position before recent upgrades to its website.

No action was taken, though the commissioners indicated they have interest in examining the issue further.

County Attorney Jim Ensley said the cost of the project would not require a solicitation for bids, though the county could still ask for estimates from other vendors.

One possible solution could spring from a discussion item from later in the meeting.

Commissioners have talked about what to do about replacing Microfilm Director Cheryl York, who has resigned. In the increasingly digitized world, the need for microfilm has gone down to the point that the commissioners are unsure if there is still a need for the department.

Though no solution was reached on Monday, Woodall shared some thoughts on it after his election victory on Tuesday.

At that time, he said the county should absolutely look toward upgrading the website. He believes that if the microfilm department is discontinued, its budget might be applied to an IT budget.

In other business:

• The commissioners approved an ordinance amending the regulations surrounding structure demolition permits.

Previously, a demolition permit was good for 12 months. On the advice of County Planner Don Hatfield, the time period has been reduced to 90 days, though one extension may also be available on a case-by-case basis.

• Appraisals have come back for the property on Keightly Road behind the Putnam County Jail. A realtor had contacted the county on behalf of the property owners, who live in Texas.

Offers from the owners had ranged from $150,000-$200,000. However, the county may not pay any more than the average of two appraisals.

In this case, the average came in at $74,000.

Although the offer may be refused, the commissioners moved to make an offer of $74,000 on the land.

“We put money in the appraisals,” Commissioner David Berry said. “We might as well make an offer.”

Woodall made a motion to make the offer, and Berry and Don Walton joined him in a unanimous vote.

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