Hill County working on new, upgraded website

The Hill County Commission provided details about their recent efforts to build a new, much improved website at their weekly business meeting Thursday, with a possible launch window of July of this year.

Hill County Commission Chair Mark Peterson said he and his fellow commissioners Jake Strissel and Sheri Williams have been working on looking for a new website provider, but he left most of the details to them, as he is not as technically minded.

Strissel said the county’s website is very antiquated and lacks interactivity, so the three of them made getting a new website a priority.

He said they looked at the websites of other Montana counties to get an idea of what they have and what works for Hill County and they settled on using Revize, a company out of Troy, Michigan, that specializes in government website design.

He said they had a Zoom meeting with the company and they were impressed by the knowledge and ability of their team and thought the offer they made was a good one.

Strissel said the new website would be able to easily post job openings and meeting minutes as well as provide up-to-date information about the county and its various departments and officials.

He said it also comes with an app so people can access the website easily on a phone, which is becoming a more and more important feature to a modern website.

Williams said they are also hoping to integrate GIS into the website, which will be useful for the Clerk and Recorder’s office as well as the County Road Department, Weed and Mosquito Districts and more.

She said if everything goes well they have a tentative launch window of July of this year which they hope they can make.

Peterson said he’s not great with technology like this, but based on what he’s seen the process of updating the website with new up-to-date information is very easy.

“I think I could even get on Revize and change something, and that is saying quite a bit,” he said.

The commissioners said the offer they were made means they can update the website any time with no fees, unlike their current provider which charges them every time they make a change, so this will also save the county money long-term.

Peterson said the initial cost of the new website is higher than he would like, but Williams said it’s an extremely reasonable price for what they’re getting.

Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown asked what the costs were to which Williams and Strissel said $8,000 for set up and $1,800 a month for maintenance, which Brown said was a very reasonable price and easily coverable.

During the meeting the commissioners also discussed progress on their efforts to get work cell phones for elected officials, the lack of which has become an increasing concern for the county from a practical and legal perspective.

Strissel said at this point they are looking at plans and phone models and determining what is the most financially efficient move for the county.

“We’re really doing our due diligence on this,” he said.

At this point, he said, they are looking at 64-gig iPhone SEs which can do all the basics county officials would need, talk, text, email and take photos, and they might be able to get the phones free with a plan.

Strissel thanked Brown for her help on the issue.

During the meeting Peterson said they were also going to try to approve a subdivision survey, but Williams and Hill County Clerk and Recorder Lexis Dixon pointed out that it wasn’t on the agenda.

Peterson said the subject of survey approval was on the agenda, but Dixon said that is just a header they have in every agenda, and the specific survey or subdivision must be reflected in the agenda if the commission is to take any action on it.

Peterson apologized for the mistake and the commission decided to set up a meeting early next week to take action on the matter.