PLUMSTED: Township Committee looks to improve municipal website

By David Kilby, Special Writer
PLUMSTED — Many municipal websites in the area, and around the country, are being replaced with sleeker, user-friendly templates, and the Plumsted Township Committee is signaling its interest in doing the same.
Township Committeeman Mike Wysong has often said it’s time Plumsted revamped its website, www.plumsted.org. At the Oct. 3 Township Committee meeting, he told his colleagues he has found a Barnegat web design company, City Connections LLC, that specializes in municipal websites in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. He recommended City Connections be considered for the job.
City Connections would charge $995 to develop the website and $3,869 annually to maintain it, he said. VVL Associates of New Egypt, the township’s current website vendor, charges $4,800 per year.
Mr. Wysong said City Connections would provide a new alert system, and whatever updates the township sends to the City Connections server would be posted on the township website within 24 hours. Emergency updates would be posted in minutes, he said.
“There’s so much more flexibility working with a top-notch company that’s used to working with a municipality,” he said. “The company knows when to take certain things down without us even telling them.”
City Connections also hosts the municipal websites for Pennington and Bordentown, Mr. Wysong said.
But other members of the committee said they thought they should do some more research, since there may be efficient website designers right in town.
“I’d like to look at other website companies out there,” Committeeman Jack Trotta said. “I’d hate to hurt a local business.”
William Lewis, chairman of the Township Environmental Commission, told the governing body he agreed the township’s website “needs some updating.”
Mr. Lewis agreed with some committee members’ assessment that important news is often buried in the website, and there is too much outdated information.
“As a resident and staffer, I’m not happy with the website either,” he said.
The search for a website designer is still in its beginning stages, Mr. Wysong said. An ordinance would not need to be passed once the decision is made since the cost is under $5,000.
“We want to redo the website,” Mayor David Leutwyler said. “We’ll look at (Mr. Wysong’s) recommendation. We try to keep the business here if we can. If we can get a better service, unfortunately, we do have to go out of town. But we’d rather spend our money here in town if we can. That’s why I agree with Jack that we have to look at everything.” 