Public can sign up for various notifications

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Morgan County has a new website that went live last Wednesday. Check it out at http://morganga.org.

Morgan County IT Director Trevor Giddens showed the new website to those present at the Morgan County Commission work session last week.

“This has allowed my department to accommodate the needs of the public that we couldn’t accommodate before,” he said.

Giddens said the website is more interactive now and will integrate social media, which he expects to cause an increase in the number of visitors to the site.

The old site got about 2,000 hits per month.
“I believe that will significantly increase,” he said.

One feature will allow the public to submit requests and track the progression from acknowledged, to in process, to completed.

For example, a person may notify the county about a pothole and then watch as the request is received, then forwarded to the Roads and Bridges Department, and finally completed.

Already the site is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), he said. A person may click to have a caption read to them or even adjust the text size.

To stay informed, members of the public may select “Notify Me” toward the top left of the page and request a variety of notifications, from emergency alerts to job openings.
Giddens said that many more services, such as posting audit reports and possibly offering audio of meetings, will be coming. He noted that these additions will be at no extra charge and that the fee for the website includes a redesign every three to five years.

County Planning Director Chuck Jarrell said that the new site will eliminate a lot of the visits they currently receive in the planning office.

“Now that we have future land use and zoning on qPublic, that will eliminate a lot of our visits,” he said. “We also did a lot of fillable forms for people to request information.”
Giddens added that they plan to add online payments, which he expects will further reduce in-office visits. 

County Manager Michael Lamar pointed out that the site is “a major point of entry” for those interested in the county.

He noted that it was a $15,000 flat fee for the website with an annual renewal rate.

Printed in the February 28, 2013