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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.F.1. Appointment of Website Task Force IcLF. 1. City of Shakopee MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator FROM: Kris Wilson, Assistant City Administrator 0 SUBJECT: Appointment of Website Task Force DATE: September 14, 2012 Introduction The Council is asked to appoint individuals to serve on the Website Task Force. Background In June of this year, staff presented the Council with the need to upgrade and redesign the City's website. At that time, staff was directed to put together a citizen task force to provide input into the process in order to yield a more user - friendly site. The City advertised for interested individuals and received 22 responses. After reviewing the responses from interested individuals, staff recommends that the following individuals be appointed to the task force: 1. Jeremy Casper 2. Julie Cowell 3. Mirna Ban Fitzloff 4. Syed Habibullah 5. Mike Haeg 6. Calah Hansen 7. Bradley Johnson 8. Mary Krugerud 9. Ryan Love 10. Shaun Myrold 11. Michael Niedan -Olsen 12. Lanae Paaverud Staff's recommendations are based on a desire to balance the age, gender and ethnic make -up of the task force as much as possible given the pool of interested individuals. We were also aiming for a balance of website experience, with some members whose only experience is visiting websites and others who have designed, programmed and maintained websites. All are Shakopee residents, at least one is a small business owner and several others work in the web development industry. The task force is expected to meet approximately once a month beginning in October and continuing through to the launch of the new website sometime in the spring of 2013. Budget Impact Appointment of the task force itself does not have a direct budgetary impact; however, there will be a cost for the new website. Similar to the paperless packet project that Council considered at its last meeting, staff has been working under the assumption that the Council wishes to begin work on a new website yet this year. Therefore, money was not budgeted for this project in 2013 and will need to come from the City's remaining budget of unallocated funds or from the fund balance, if this project is to proceed. If the Council is not in agreement on funding this project, staff asks that the Website Task Force not be appointed as these volunteers would be putting forth significant time and effort, only to have the project not move forward. As noted when first presented by staff in June, the total cost for a website upgrade and redesign could be as high as $40,000. The Mayor has expressed a strong desire to use free, open- source software instead; however, even this approach will require the hiring of a design firm to establish the site with this free software. Additionally, staff continues to have serious concerns that a website created with such software will take longer to launch and be more difficult and costly to maintain over time given the staff resources available in the City's IT and Communications divisions. We are continuing to explore the Mayor's suggested alternative, along with the website companies commonly used by other Minnesota cities of our size, which leaves the total project costs undetermined at this time. Relationship to Vision The website project relates to Goal B: Positively manage the challenges and opportunities presented by growth, development and change. Requested Action If the Council concurs, it is asked to appoint Jeremy Casper, Julie Cowell, Mirna Ban Fitzloff, Syed Habibullah, Mike Haeg, Calah Hansen, Bradley Johnson, Mary Krugerud, Ryan Love, Shaun Myrold, Michael Niedan -Olsen and Lanae Paaverud to the City of Shakopee Website Task Force, charged with advising staff and the City Council on the design, layout and overall usability of a new City website, from a user's perspective.