Owensboro previews redesigned city website with mobile alerts, mid-November launch

Shaylee Velez, the city's communications and marketing manager, presented a demo of a redesigned Owensboro city website during the Oct. 15 City Commission meeting, saying the new site will be mobile-first and make information reachable in two or three clicks.

Velez said the vendor Revise built the design with updated department pages for police, fire, parks and public works, and that the site will include fillable PDFs so residents can complete forms online. The site will also host public-safety PSAs and videos for residents who do not use social media.

A notable feature is a subscription alert system called eNotify that allows residents to sign up for topic-specific text and email alerts — for example, leaf collection or parks programming. Velez said Revise reported about 85% of users access the current site by phone, which informed the mobile-first approach. The city is in a content “migration” phase and plans a coordinated launch in mid-November after departments finalize pages and staff training.

Velez said the police and fire department pages will have top-bar navigation of their own and that parks already are testing the new system. She also said the city will add pages that explain how to sign up for programs such as Smart911.

The presentation did not require a vote; commissioners praised the communications team and said the upgrade addressed long-standing needs for easier resident access to city services and alerts.