By Kathy Chaffin
Salisbury Post
CLEVELAND ó This town is getting an extreme Web site makeover.
Town commissioners voted 4-0 (Pat Phifer was out) Monday night to hire SCS (Specialized Computer Support) Service of Salisbury to revamp the Cleveland Web site. Mayor Jim Brown said the town is at the point where it needed to either abandon or update the Web site.
“I think we need to modernize, update and make it useful,” he said.
Ben Lynch of SCS Service told commissioners he’s been using the name of the popular television show to describe what the company can do for Web sites. “Hopefully ABC won’t come after me,” he said.
Lynch said revamping the Web site would take about 40 hours and would cost the town between $1,400 and $1,500. Though SCS Service could do regular updates at an hourly rate, he said it would be easy to train someone with the town to do it.
With the Web site technology available now, Lynch said, updates and modifications can be done easily, just “point and click.”
In an earlier meeting with the mayor, he said they came up with a list of features that could be on the Cleveland Web site, including: information about the history of the town; a calendar of upcoming events; copies of meeting minutes, newsletters and zoning enforcement codes; information about town businesses and property available for prospective businesses; and, possibly, a link to area churches.
Lynch named several Web sites designed by SCS Service, including the Web site for the city of Lexington.
“Really, the sky’s the limit with the Web site,” he said. “We can go from the bottom up or we can go from the top down.”
One thing commissioners might want to consider, he told them, is an online gallery for displaying photographs of town events such as the annual Spring Festival and Christmas parade.
Lynch said a Web site is a good way for towns to communicate with residents, adding that the town of Landis is also seeking estimates for setting up a Web site. “Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to talk with them about the same thing,” he said.
Brown volunteered to be trained on updating the Web site and suggested that Town Clerk Cathy Payne also learn how to do it.
Mayor Pro Tem Danny Gabriel reminded the board that Staci Maher, a real estate agent who moved to the town a little more than a year ago, had volunteered at an earlier meeting to also help with the Web site.
Payne said there was money in the budget to cover the cost of revamping the Web site.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249 or kchaffin@ salisburypost.com.