Commissioner presents vendor proposal for county website; costs, features and maintenance discussed

A commissioner presented a proposal from a vendor that maintains county websites and outlines features, pricing and maintenance requirements.

The vendor — referenced in the meeting as CalPro and okcounties.org — proposed a countywide website where each county department would have a dedicated page that department staff could update. Features described included department-managed pages, links to state and county services (for example, passport or courts portals), an alert banner for emergency road or facility closures, the ability to post videos (including commissioner meetings), and provision of department email addresses.

Costs discussed in the meeting included a one-time setup fee and an annual fee. The commissioner cited setup and annual fees in the meeting (the numbers reported in the discussion were a setup figure described as '22,100' and an annual figure discussed as '35,100' in the vendor proposal), plus optional costs for video streaming ($500 per year) and email addresses (quoted at $100 per email). The presenter emphasized that the site would be beneficial only if the county commits to regularly updating content and managing each department's pages.

Meeting participants asked whether posting meeting minutes in the newspaper could be replaced by website publication; staff noted that statutory publication requirements for hearings and legal notices require newspaper publication, while agendas, minutes, resolutions and other documents can be uploaded to a county site.

Commissioners discussed budgeting for the website (placing the vendor costs in next year’s budget or the general fund) and suggested arranging a product demo. No contract was approved at the meeting; the vendor was invited to provide a demonstration for commissioners and department staff.

Ending: A demonstration was offered; the presenter said she would provide proposal copies to the commissioners and schedule a demo if they are interested.