Committee votes to halt further paid investment in village app absent free extension or measurable uptake

Golf Manor Village’s Finance Committee voted to cease further paid investment in the village mobile app unless the vendor provides an extension without charge and the village can show a viable plan to increase usage.

Committee members said the app had very low uptake. One committee member summarized the usage figures discussed at the meeting as about 56 total downloads since the app’s launch. The committee questioned a new recurring technical-maintenance fee quoted by the vendor — staff said the vendor had renegotiated an ongoing fee that the village did not previously pay after the initial purchase period.

“We basically almost pay $200 per person to download our app,” a committee member said during discussion, arguing that the fee was not justified for current usage. Staff explained the app pulls content from the village website but also keeps a cache on the vendor’s servers, which means the vendor must continue to host and update the app to keep it active in the Apple and Android stores.

The committee motioned, seconded and voted to stop paying the vendor-proposed fee while giving staff a chance to secure a cost-free extension to test broader internal use. Members suggested reallocating the $5,000 toward community engagement (for example, postcards) if the vendor will not provide a free extension or tools to help the village increase adoption.

Less-critical details: staff noted the village spent about $20,000 (ARPA-funded) developing the app; if the app is deactivated for nonpayment it will be removed from app stores after a short inactive period and cached content will no longer update.