County looks at website renovation

In the hopes of being more transparent and user friendly, the Board of Weston County Commissioners says, it is contemplating overhauling the county’s website. Concerns about the website were brought to light during conversation earlier this year regarding which newspaper should be designated as the county’s legal newspaper of record. 
 
Since then, Commissioner Vera Huber has looked into the website and how it might be improved. Part of her process involved analyzing the website, as well as other county websites in the state, she said. Huber also collected information on website providers. She updated the commissioners at their Feb. 21 meeting about her findings.
 
“Ours is very inadequate compared to others. They (other counties) have more information put out; they are more transparent,” Huber said to the board. “We could make ours more user friendly with more information.” 
 
Huber said that the website’s lack of information could negatively impact the county in terms of new businesses and people. 
 
“I have been thinking about it a lot, too, and there is disinformation out there that is false at times,” Commissioner Nathan Todd said. 
 
Todd said that the county could provide information in the commissioners’ own words, suggesting a feature called the chairman’s corner. 
 
“Something where we can tell the public what we are working on, how we are proceeding with things,” Todd said. “It is a chance to put more information out there from the chairman.” 
 
Huber added that the county could also share news articles, such as information from the Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Forest Service, so that the public understands more of what is going on in the area. With a newly designed, more informational website, she said,  the county would have the ability to improve it and add new information as often as it likes. 
 
According to Sheriff Bryan Colvard, county officials currently have to work with the current provider, Wyoming Network, to update information. Both Civicplus and Revize, Huber said, allow for information to be updated locally. Both the board and Colvard were intrigued by the convenience this ability would give county officials. 
 
“There is stuff we need to put up that needs done immediately. That would be awesome. Right now, we have to relay that on,” Colvard said. 
 
Huber said that the various boards in the county would also be able to use the website to provide information. 
 
According to Huber, Civicplus would cost the county $1,000 up front and another $4,500 to $5,000 a year. Revize would cost the county $5,000 up front and another $1,000 a year, with a five-year contract. 
 
Huber later told the News Letter Journal that both of these costs include website design and migration of information from the current county website to the new one. 
 
Currently, the county pays Wyoming Network through Jub Jub approximately $106 a month in fees associated with the website, Huber told the News Letter Journal.
 
Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock reported that the county pays $525 a year for the website alone. 
 
In 2021, the News Letter Journal reported in the story “Clerk clarifies process,” that the county has unlimited updates for the website but that those updates are done through the hosting company jubjub.com. The 2021 story specifically discussed the process of uploading the recordings from county commissioners meetings to the website. 
 
At the time, Hadlock reported that the files were too big to send electronically and were therefore uploaded annually. At this time, the most recent meetings available on the county website are recordings from 2020. 
 
To view this discussion, go to the News Letter Journal’s YouTube channel to watch the Feb. 21 Board of Weston County Commissioners meeting.