WORTHINGTON — After nearly 15 years, efforts to update Worthington’s city webpage are underway as the Worthington City Council approved a professional services agreement with a site developer during its Monday evening meeting.
City staff reviewed a number of city websites and selected Granicus, which specializes in digital experience for government, as the preferred provider to assist in the development of the new website, which is anticipated to take between nine to 12 months to complete.
“The goal of the new website is to be intuitive, easy to navigate, functional, compliant, visually appealing and meet the needs of our users who are the residents, visitors, business partners and other government agencies,” said City Administrator Steve Robinson. Additionally, he noted, the site will feature the ability to be adjusted and managed by city staff.
The cost of developing the Granicus Web Enhanced Package is a one-time fee of $18,000, plus an annual Open Cities license. The Open Cities license is $10,000 for year one with a 5% increase each additional year with a five-year initial commitment. Funding for the website development will come from ARPA funds.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the cost,” said Councilwoman Amy Ernst, who met with representatives from Granicus during the selection process.
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The current proposal is for a basic website, but Robinson said there are opportunities to add modules and customize the website to the city’s needs.
Also during Monday's meeting, the council accepted a bid from Beltline Concrete for the Worthington Municipal Liquor Store parking lot reconstruction project. The city received three bids for the project, with the lowest from Beltline Concrete at $223,463, which was 7.1% below the engineer’s estimate.
The project, which encompasses a new parking lot with improved traffic flow, will be completed in two parts and will also fix some of the drainage issues in the current parking lot.
In other news, the Council:
- Came to agreement with the Worthington Area YMCA on and proposed a fee schedule for the city's new aquatic center. The proposed fee schedule includes seasonal passes for "Y" members and non-members, along with daily pass fees. The anticipated opening of the aquatic center is June 1.
- Heard from Minnesota West Community & Technical College President Terry Gaalswyck on the status of the college, which has seen a 6.3% increase in enrollment since last year. Included in the presentation was an update on the college’s legislative efforts to expand student support, workforce development and campus stabilization, as well as the renewed efforts to secure bonding for renovation and construction projects on the Worthington and Granite Falls campuses.
- Authorized bid letting for the Sunset Park parking lot project, which will include a fully paved parking lot with 18 boat parking stalls, six car parking stalls, a fish cleaning station, and boat cleaning station. Bids are scheduled to open on March 22.
- Approved the allowance of nine private docks on public property, at an annual fee of $200.
- Accepted a donation from the Anderson family for a new park bench in memory of Lee and Fern Anderson. The bench will be placed in Sunset Park.
Offered special thanks to snow clean-up crews who removed 601 loads of snow from downtown Worthington and Oxford Street after last week’s storm.
Prior to the City Council meeting, the Worthington Economic Development Authority met and approved a facade improvement grant request submitted on behalf of Bedford Industries for its building at 121 Oxford Street. The project will include replacing windows in the building. The project is eligible for a 1:2 match. With a bid secured from Worthington Glass for the amount of $32,226, the council elected to award the full $5,000 in grant funds.
Also during the EDA meeting, a discussion was held on the necessity of the two-bid requirement for the facade improvement grant program, which stipulates that applicants must secure a minimum of two bids to be eligible, as well as a request to clarify the circumstances under which only one bid is acceptable.
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