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Adrian commissioners approve website redesign plan and agree to one‑year AI search trial
Summary
City marketing staff proposed a free site redesign, a one‑time $5,000 migration cost and an AI search add‑on that would increase annual costs by $3,400; commissioners supported a five‑year contract with a one‑year opt‑out and agreed to try the AI for a year.
Adrian — The City of Adrian on Dec. 1 reviewed a proposed website redesign and a vendor‑offered AI search feature that the city’s marketing lead said could improve navigation and make services easier to find.
Michelle, the city’s marketing lead, outlined the proposal: a free site redesign under the current contract, a one‑time migration cost of about $5,000, and an AI search feature that would add $3,400 to the city’s annual website bill. "The AI feature would be $3,400, so our total annual cost would go up by $3,400," Michelle said. She told commissioners the vendor can retrain the model monthly and staff would be able to review analytics and edit answers on the back end.
Michelle recommended a five‑year contract with a one‑year opt‑out so the city could evaluate the AI before committing long term. After questions about calendar planning and which events to show on a public calendar, Mayor Pro Tem and commissioners generally agreed with Michelle’s recommendation: "Let's try it out for a year," the Mayor Pro Tem said, signaling support to pilot the AI feature for 12 months and return with a formal agreement for commission review.
Under the proposal, the vendor would also update the calendar module, reorganize quick links and migrate department content to online forms. Staff said the vendor has been the city’s provider since about 2020 and has been responsive. The marketing lead said she would bring a draft agreement back to the commission at the next meeting for formal consideration.
