Low Turnout, But Strong Opinions at Website Workshop

Village officials were no doubt disappointed by the turnout at Tuesday night’s design workshop for the new village website. But those who did show up to came with opinions galore on every aspect of the new site, from content to color schemes.

Montgomery’s new website will be created by Kansas-based company CivicPlus, and will replace the old one, built in 2003. Village trustees have agreed to pay $14,357 for the new site, and Tuesday’s workshop was one of the ways village leaders were hoping to gauge public opinion on its design.

Only four residents participated, however, most of them with ties to the village: Debbie Buchanan, executive assistant to the village manager; Trustee Stan Bond; Tom Yakaitis, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and the Beautification Committee; and Greg Nelson, who built Montgomery’s first website in the late ‘90s.

For about an hour, Assistant Village Manager Jamie Belongia asked the quartet for their thoughts on colors, themes, design features and content for the new site. Attendees were asked to vote for their favorite color scheme—“Muted” came out the winner, with “Classic/Hometown/American” in second place.

As far as a theme for the new site, attendees chose “Community/Hometown,” with “Environment/Nature” in second place.

When asked what specific elements of the village could be represented on the website, the group came up with a host of them, including Gray’s Mill, the Fox River, Settler’s Cottage, the new , the new , Dickson-Murst Farm, and the new Montgomery branch of the .

The group debated whether to include the village’s logo and slogan (“Bridging the past to the future”) on the new site.

“A slogan isn’t the point,” Bond said. “What we need is a call to action. We need to tell people to do something.”

A call for volunteers was one of the features the group requested on the homepage of the new site, along with a calendar of upcoming events, emergency alerts, and a well-ordered menu of departments and other pages. Nelson pushed for most of the content—including the electronic bill pay service, a much-touted feature of the new site—to be moved off the front page, leaving a cleaner design.

Nelson also suggested a section of the site entitled “What’s Montgomery Really Like,” which would include demographics and information about schools, fire districts and other community organizations.

The foursome was also asked to rate 13 municipal websites from around the country, some of them stuffed full of content, some with a sleeker design.

Belongia said Tuesday’s workshop was helpful, but despite the low turnout, she doesn’t plan to hold a second one.

Tuesday’s data will be collected and given to CivicPlus to guide them in their design efforts. Trustees are expected to discuss the design at their Aug. 16 meeting, and give it their final stamp of approval at the Sept. 9 meeting. A Dec. 9 go-live date has been scheduled for the new website.

Village leaders are still hoping to collect comments from residents. You can view Tuesday’s presentation online and submit feedback here. And you can take a survey about the new website here.

Additionally, the village has been running a contest for photographs of Montgomery that may be included in the new site design. The deadline is Friday, so if you want to participate, download an entry form here. Winners will be announced on July 25.