HOT SPRINGS – Earlier today, the City of Hot Springs rolled out a brand-new website at no cost to its taxpayers, courtesy of Manhattan, Kansas-based CivicPlus.
In 2013, Hot Springs was one of 12 nationwide winners of CivicPlus’ “Extreme Website Makeover Contest.” Following acceptance of the award by the Hot Springs Board of Directors, work began last May to rebuild the site, which is decentralized and requires no knowledge of HTML for its upkeep.
The $42,725 winning package included a custom-designed premium CivicPlus website; three days’ onsite training; and the waiver of annual fees for the next two years. Beginning in year three, annual maintenance fees will be approximately $6,000.
Hot Springs’ website has several unique features, including citizen-contributed photos on its home page; information organized by service rather than by department; and citizen engagement modules where residents can register opinions and contribute ideas for community advancement. Web Development Team members from each department have been trained to customize their pages with targeted information that best serves their Web visitors.
CivicPlus has designed more than 1,300 local government websites serving 50 million citizens throughout North America with the goal of increasing functionality, efficiency and community engagement. More details can be found at www.civicplus.com.