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 The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passes through downtown Wapakoneta Wednesday, September 1. Staff photo/William Laney By CARLA MEYER
Staff Writer
For 45 minutes, the roar of motorcycles could be heard passing under an American flag hanging from two ladder trucks. For 45 minutes, area residents gathered in the shadow of the Auglaize County Courthouse and Wapakoneta Fire Station waved and clapped as motorcyclists rode by.
The smiles and waves turned into clapping and cheers as the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passed down Willipie Street on its way to Custenborder Field in Sidney where it was greeted by a field of American flags.
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New county Web site is launched |
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Wednesday, 01 April 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
Auglaize County has a new face and Internet presence with the launching of a new Web site on Tuesday.
The site was designed by an outside firm to be more appealing and easier to navigate.
“Before, the site was bland, it didn’t intrigue anybody to come back,” Commissioner Doug Spencer said. “I’ve looked at as many county Web sites in the state as I could and this is one of the best. It’s easy on the eyes, easy to navigate and gives a great first impression.”
County Engineer Doug Reinhart said virtually all the services and information the county provides are accessible anytime to residents through the site.
“It was a massive undertaking,” Reinhart said. “We are not a single subject.”
Reinhart said the process took time because more than 150 years of history was included and many documents are in layers. They also had to check for accuracy and currency.
“We started in the summer, mapping, creating layers,” Spencer said. “It took a tremendous amount of time to do that so it was visually pleasing and the information was easy and convenient to find.
“We’re not trying to prevent them from coming in to obtain any of the information we need,” he said, “we’re just trying to make it available anytime.”
Midnet Media, of Minster, completed the site for $15,000 from the county’s GIS (geographical information system) fund.
Located at auglaizecounty.org, the site has frequently used links in the top right followed by a section which lists the most popular viewed items on the site. A list of services and departments is scrolled across the top of the page.
With just a click, anyone may have access to GIS mapping, contacts, sheriffs sales, sexual offenders, court records, property records, resolutions and minutes from commissioners meetings, calendars and more. There are sections for searches, frequently asked questions and a “How Do I?” box which allows browsers to see the answers to the top inquires in the county.
General overviews become more specific and the site includes information on different entities as well, such as townships, where information from contacts and meeting times to zoning codes is listed. Different offices and departments plan to include monthly or weekly highlights.
An organizational chart leads residents in the right direction if they are unsure where to look for the information they need.
There are multiple ways to navigate the site, the county’s computer operator Brian Fisher said.
“As we get a clearer picture of what people are looking for, we can add more details to help expedite their searches,” Spencer said.
Each office and department staff is responsible for updating its own information to keep it as current as possible. Other features make the pages more printer friendly than before and can increase the size of the text when necessary.
The county site has an average of 300 visitors a day. The county GIS site has up to 130 a day.
Image galleries include photos from throughout the county now but could be used to highlight certain events in the future.
Spencer is asking residents for feedback on the site.
“We want them to rate its usefulness and let us know if there’s something they can’t find,” Spencer said. “We’re just scratching the surface of what we can do with this Web site at this time.
“There are all kinds of possibilities for what we could incorporate in the future,” he said. “We’re going to continue to update it, improve and enhance its effectiveness. We want to keep it fresh.”
The commissioner said the catalyst for improving the site was not only to better serve the public, but to keep up with the county’s state-of-the art Web site maintained by Joe Collin.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 03 April 2009 )
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