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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—FEBRUARY 27, 2012 4 <br /> impression to those visiting the site. Ms. Mitchell indicated the City's website had over 66,000 <br /> visits in just the first eight weeks of 2012. <br /> Councilmember Holden thanked Ms. Mitchell and the committee for working so diligently on <br /> the website issue and for making a recommendation to the Council. <br /> Mayor Grant agreed stating the ad hoc committee provided the City with a great service by <br /> reviewing website vendors. <br /> Community Development Director Hutmacher reviewed the current website features stating a <br /> lot of information was available, but navigation was difficult. In addition, it was difficult to <br /> update and maintain and did not allow for automated bulk-emails or calendar updates. She stated <br /> newer websites have word-based content management systems which allow for easier updates. <br /> She pulled up the City's current website stating it was somewhat dated. <br /> Community Development Director Hutmacher indicated in October of 2011 the Council <br /> appointed an ad hoc committee for the website redesign project. She named the members <br /> assigned to the ad hoc committee. The ad hoc committee was responsible for requesting vendor <br /> proposals, reviewing the information, and was now presenting a recommendation to the Council <br /> for consideration. The preliminary budget for the website redesign was $35,000 which included <br /> design and project management. <br /> Councilmember Tamble explained the City's needs were evaluated. A major concern was ease <br /> of use for the website to assure that information was readily available and accessible to visitors. <br /> Many municipal websites were reviewed and components of each were discussed. This assisted <br /> the committee in creating a database of likes and dislikes. <br /> Councilmember Tamble stated several cities were contacted regarding the vendors to learn more <br /> about the redesign process. The two final vendors interviewed for the website redesign were <br /> Vision Internet and CivicPlus, both located out of state. Staff created a matrix to compare the <br /> pros and cons of each vendor. It was determined that CivicPlus would provide the greatest benefit <br /> to the City at the least cost. CivicPlus offers flexibility in site design, ease of site updates and <br /> maintenance, capacity for social media and e-notification, user-friendly features, mobile app <br /> included in design and had many positive references. <br /> Councilmember Tamble reviewed several municipal websites created by CivicPlus. The first <br /> one discussed was Manhattan, Kansas which was the hometown of CivicPlus. The numerous <br /> positive features were pointed out. Another site discussed was the City of Burnsville. It was <br /> pointed out navigation of this site was extremely easy. <br /> Community Development Director Hutmacher recommended that the City Council approve the <br /> CiviePlus Advantage Contract for a three-year cost including website design, hosting, and support <br /> for $9,545 annually or a total of$28,635. CiviePlus offered third-parry hosting and training for <br /> the website, which was necessary as the City of Roseville was not interested in providing these IT <br /> services for Arden Hills. If the City were to maintain a four-year contract with CivicPlus,the fifth <br /> year of the contract would offer a free website redesign. This would be a great benefit to the City <br />