Cape County to get new Web site

Cape Girardeau County is getting a new Web site.

On Thursday, commissioners Larry Bock and Jay Purcell agreed to approve a design proposal from Web design company Element 74. The county will pay $9,500 for the initial design and a $79 monthly fee for maintenance and technical support.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones was absent.

Eric McGowen, the county's technology director, said Element 74 was the only company to bid on the project. He told commissioners the county site has been hosted for more than 10 years by a not-for-profit company, Show-Me Net.

"Quite frankly, we've just outgrown it," he said Thursday morning. "It's time for us to step up, modernize, grow."

Larry Loos, president of the Show-Me Net board of directors, was unavailable for comment.

McGowen praised Element 74's proposal in his presentation to the board.

"I think the pricing is good for the amount of content we want to present. We're starting completely over."

Bock expressed concern that monthly fees would rise without notice; McGowen said that was not likely.

Purcell said he expected the new Web site to be popular with taxpayers.

"I think the point should be made that in the scope of county government this is probably, if there ever is such a thing, a relatively inexpensive line item," he said, adding that the new Web site would add "a lot of accountably and credibility" to county government.

McGowen confirmed that the Web site would be set up so the commissioners could webcast meetings at some point in the future. Commissioners have not decided whether to begin broadcasting live commission meetings over the Internet and archive recordings online.

Element 74's bid includes designing graphic templates; project management; an internal Web site; a posting area for individual jobs as well as requests for proposals; online forms; a calendar with links to events, meetings and minutes; a newsletter site; photography to illustrate the pages; training; search engine programming; and the EasyPost software program, which allows individual departments to independently update pages on the county site. The company designed Web sites for the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Cape Girardeau Public Schools, Southeast Missouri Hospital and Mineral Area College, among others.

McGowen did not have a specific start date for the county's redesign, other than "as soon as possible."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

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