GARFIELD -- Susan Holt presented Garfield City Council with a proposal for the city's website. Holt, who runs Azure, outlined what she determined from a review of the city's website. She offered her services to develop a new website that is easier to manage and provides functionality the current site does not have.
Holt lives in Lost Bridge Village, moving there in 2010 after moving from Northeast Arkansas. She was born and raised in Northwest Arkansas, went to John Brown University, and did graduate work at the University of Arkansas. She holds a doctorate.
She told the council that she found a number of good things on the current website, including a bit of history about the town and school, but most of the links and buttons didn't work or went to incorrect areas. The calendar is outdated and the various pages have inconsistent formatting and design. A glaring omission, she said, is that the businesses in town are not listed, even though they pay a city licensing fee. She also noted that of the more than 200 pages she checked, more than 60 had foreign language content that clearly pose a risk for website security.
The startup cost would be $500, with a $50 monthly maintenance and hosting fee.
After questions from aldermen and Mayor Gary Blackburn, the mayor told Holt the budget for 2017 is underway, so the council will address using her services at a later date.
After reviewing and approving minutes from a number of previous meetings, alderman Katherine Shook asked to discuss a policy of not adding anything to the agenda after the Friday before the meeting. She noted that she didn't get an agenda for that night's meeting until she walked into City Hall. Alderman Dale Watkins said he didn't get the agenda until just before the meeting, too.
Blackburn outlined his procedure, and noted aldermen have 10 days to review documents, then show up with an item to add.
"It is difficult for me to say I'm prepared if you do that," Blackburn said.
Shook said she appreciated the problem, then noted that it's difficult for her to prepare if she doesn't get the agenda until she shows up for the meeting. She noted that while city policy may prohibit adding anything after Friday, state law is clear that the agenda can be changed at any time.
General News on 11/30/2016