Schoharie County to Get Revamped Website Soon

By Chris English

SCHOHARIE COUNTY — Schoharie County Supervisors and others are looking forward to what they feel will be a more dynamic and user-friendly county website coming online in the next few months.

The enthusiasm comes after the county Board of Supervisors voted at its Friday, Sept. 20 meeting to move forward with an agreement with Michigan-based Revize Web services to revamp the website.

"Our website is a window into who we are and gives people direction on who we are," county Administrator Korsah Akumfi said after the meeting. "This (revamped website) will indicate our readiness for the 21st Century."

Under the agreement, the county will pay Revize $44,600 the first year and $6,900 in each of the next three years after that. If the county continues with the Michigan firm, the yearly payments will then increase roughly 3 to 5 percent after the fourth year, Akumfi noted.

During a presentation at the Aug. 16 BOS meeting, Thomas Jean of Revize said that once the supervisors agreed to move forward, one of the next steps would be for the firm to do a mock-up of what the new website would look like, have the BOS review it and make any changes they like. He estimated that once an agreement was reached, it would take about four or five months for the remade website to be up and running. Akumfi put that timeline at about six to eight months.

Jean said that among Revize's services could be updating the website four times a year with new technology, including security. The county would own the website and could host it or have it hosted by a third-party vendor, he added. County employees would have quick and ready access to the website to post meeting agendas and other information, Jean said.

"An updated website would have a very good way of reaching out to people. It will help bring us into the 21st Century," Supervisor Werner Hampel of Cobleskill said at the Aug. 29 Economic Development Committee meeting.

"I was impressed with their presentation, and it seemed like the cost for what they are offering is quite reasonable," added BOS member Donald Airey of Blenheim at that Aug. 29 meeting. "I think the website really does need updating and needs to be a lot more user friendly."

In other news from the Sept. 20 BOS meeting, Gretchen Becker was introduced as the county's new information technology director at a starting annual salary in the position of $89,000. She succeeds Scott Haberle, who retired.

“We were able to fill this position internally," Akumfi said.