HomeMy WebLinkAbout12 District Website Agenda Item # '12
TRUCKEE DONNER
WORKSHOP
To: Board of Directors
From: Steven Poncelet
Date: November 02, 2011
Subject: Discussion of the District Website
1. WHY THIS MATTER IS BEFORE THE BOARD
This item is before the Board as the District's website is
communications and outreach efforts. a critical tool in our
2. HISTORY
The District's last major work on our website www.td ud.or
Since that time the { p p) was done in 2007.
content of the website has been periodically updated and new
content has been added in conjunction with the District's work
programs, water meters, tree trimming, and increase On conservation
Although the current website d communications/outreach.
has served the District well, the ability to easil access
information needs to be improved and the technologyY
communication continues to evolve rapidly. behind websites and
In addition to the many new District programs, the District has
also increased our level
of communication and outreach to
our customers and stakeholders. One positive
outcome of this effort has been increased customer interaction wi
our website as customers become awar th District staff and
e of our programs and services and want to
access them. In many cases, the customer will first gather attempt to 9 er information from
the website but, if unable to find what the p Y want, are forced to contact District staff.
This is true for both cust
omer service functions and District programs.
3. NEW INFORMATION
The pace of technological innovation in communications co
ntinues to evolve at a rapid
pace. In the last five years, we have seen the explosion of social media, the evolution
of cell phones into full data devices, and the education
customers who get almost all of their information from of a new generation of
some sort of electronic media.
The District needs to keep up with these trends and
technologies to streamline communi leverage the appropriate
cations with our customers and improve how we
use our resources.
District staff are proposing to start building a new website in FY12. From a technical
point of view, the future of web design appears to be moving towards:
• HTMLS standard (as opposed to Flash, Silverlight, Java, and other like
applications);
• Websites designed to work both on traditional computers as well as mobile
devices (i.e. cell phones);
• The District's new CISCO Network supporting VLAN's and a planned upgrade
of servers in FY12 to Virtual Servers on Blade Chassis would allow the District
to host our website directly; and
• Integration with Face book/Twitter for our customers.
The goal would be to maximize the availability of District information to our customers
in a way that is easy to access and understand. The benefits would be improved
communication, better utilization of our staff resources, and satisfied customers.
The final design and layout of the new website would be developed based on a
collaborative effort within the District and by working with a web designer (based on a
competitive Request for Proposal process). Key attributes would include:
• Customer service functions (including forms, payments, account status)
• Conservation program information/forms
• Board meetings/streaming video, outage notifications and information, links to
other resources, etc.
Again, the website would be designed for optimal view on both computer browsers
and mobile devices. The project would be managed by the Public Information and
Conservation Department, but would draw heavily from the GIS/IT Department for
technical support and would address the needs of each department in the District.
4. FISCAL IMPACT
The proposed FY12 and FY13 budgets include funding for a new website totaling
$50,000. There is no fiscal impact associated with this workshop item.
5. RECOMMENDATION
Receive this report and provide feedback and direction.
Steven Poncelet
Michael D. Holley
Public Information & Conservation Manager General Mana er
g