Brisbane schedules Feb. 24 launch for redesigned city website

The Brisbane City Council on Jan. 15 heard a demonstration of the city’s redesigned website and was told staff plan to switch it live Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 9 a.m.

Caroline Chung, assistant to the city manager, walked the council through findings from a resident communications survey of more than 100 people and showed how a new CivicPlus‑based site will consolidate agendas, minutes, public notices and a calendar in a mobile‑first layout. “We learned from over 100 residents … the site needed one place to easily access all of these information types,” Chung said, and staff have trained on the new site.

Chung said the website will include improved dropdown navigation, a research/lookup action center for common tasks (pay a water bill, request a permit, report a code violation), and a chatbot intended to answer basic resident questions 24/7. Early testing at a December “bug bash” produced more than 70 chatbot queries; Chung said staff will use those queries and thumbs‑up/thumbs‑down feedback to train the bot and refine site navigation.

Council members praised the emphasis on mobile access and analytics. Council member Kern said the project was “very data driven,” noting staff used both in‑person testing and usage data to guide design choices. Council member Lance asked how far back agendas and minutes will be available; staff said the new agenda/meeting management center will host five years of records on the main site and an existing Laserfiche archive will provide access to documents back to 2005.

The council did not take an action vote on the website presentation; staff said they will proceed with final checks and return with any necessary follow‑up as the Feb. 24 date approaches.