Village Board Approves New Website, Water Rate Hike

By the end of the year, the will have a completely revamped website, one that will be easier and more interactive for residents.

This new site will be designed by Kansas-based company CivicPlus, and will cost $14,357 – more than $3,000 above the initial estimate.

But village officials believe the extra cost will be worth it, and trustees Monday night gave the contract their unanimous approval.

Montgomery’s current website was created in 2003 and paid for with a Kane County Small Cities grant. Village officials initially set aside $2,000 for upgrades to the site in the 2012 budget, but after further consideration, decided to go for a full-blown redesign.

And although initial estimates put the project at $11,000, the four bids all came in at much higher, according to Jamie Belongia, assistant to the village manager. One of the bids, she said, came in around $20,000.

The original estimate, Belongia said, was based on a piecemeal approach, adding new functions to the existing template. That’s not what CivicPlus will do.

According to Bryan Hahlbeck, regional business development representative for CivicPlus, the company will custom-build a new website, taking suggestions from village staff and residents.

CivicPlus also will offer 24-hour-a-day technical support, and will upgrade the site automatically as new features become available.

CivicPlus has roughly 800 clients in the United States and Canada, and more than 50 in Illinois. The company has designed websites for Elgin, Lemont, Elmhurst and Oak Brook.

Montgomery's will be a site anyone in village government can use. Department heads likely will be in charge of their own areas of the site, getting information out as it becomes available. It will also be easy to use, and allow residents to pay bills online, pose questions of staff, and download permit forms and job applications.

“It will be fun and vibrant, and something residents are going to want to come back to,” Hahlbeck said.

CivicPlus’ technical support will not be free—the village will pay $3,000 the first year in website maintenance and hosting fees, with an increase set for future years. Hahlbeck said the cost would be $3,150 for the second year.

As for that additional $3,357 cost to create the site, Belongia said it would come from funds budgeted for governance training for trustees. That training came in at $6,000 under budget, she said, and the extra money would come from that line item.

An idea by Trustee Robert Watermann to sell ads on the village website, thereby offsetting the cost, was considered but not recommended, according to Belongia. She said few municipalities have followed that course, since it could lead to conflicts of interest.

Trustee Bill Keck suggested the new site should be connected to those for the Montgomery Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. He also volunteered to test the site out for ease of use, as someone who has been “dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century.”

Village President Marilyn Michelini expressed her strong support for the plan.

“In today’s world, we need to have this website, and we need to have it designed properly and keep it updated,” she said. “The first thing I hear from people is, ‘I’ll check your website.’ And the second call is, ‘Your website isn’t updated.’”

CivicPlus will begin determining from residents and village staffers what the new website should contain. Belongia said the new site could go live in December.

Trustees also approved a water rate hike Monday night, one that village staffers thought had been approved in 2009. Based on a rate study conducted that year, staff suggested a pair of increases—one for 70 cents per 1,000 gallons that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2010, and one for 50 cents per 1,000 gallons.

The second was intended to begin in January, but according to Finance Manager Jeff Zoephel an ordinance raising the rates was never approved. That oversight was corrected Monday, and the new rate—$4.75 per 1,000 gallons for those who live in the village, and $6.03 per 1,000 gallons for those who do not—was backdated to March 1.

The new rates are expected to bring in up to $300,000 per year, according to Zoephel, and will pay for two new positions in public works, and several projects, including the construction of a new well and repairs to the Knell Road treatment plant.

Trustees also gave a nod to a plan that would change the way fees for ordinance violations are collected. Village residents who don’t pay the fines or challenge them within 30 days will see those fines added to their village water bills.

And if they don’t pay those fees, their water service will be shut off, according to Village Attorney Steve Andersson. That measure was on the meeting's consent agenda, and received unanimous approval.