RAYMOND – At the request of Raymond Town Manager Chris Rose, a number of residents have come together to redesign the town web site.
“The original web site was built as part of a grant to the town”, says RCTV Chairperson and web committee member Kevin Woods. Since then, the site has been managed primarily by Recreation office manager Diane Theriault in addition to her other duties.
“Today’s web sites are much more interactive and dynamic”, says Woods. “Residents want to see up to date information as well as have access to important contacts, reports, forms and schedules.” Lisa Chapman, Executive Secretary to the Town Manager and Selectmen, is heading up the committee coordinating meetings and gathering information from various town departments.
Tim Louis, Chair of the Economic Development Council, sees the site as a point of first contact with businesses seeking a place to settle. Many towns use their sites to promote the services they offer and how to begin the planning process. Police Chief David Salois, who has helped the town with many technological challenges is also a member of the committee. Jennifer O’Neil, a web site designer, who owns “Moxdog Hosting and Design” a company located in Raymond, has volunteered her help in the redesign along with Pam Woods, Information Support Technician with Granite State College. Rounding off the committee is Linda Hoelzel, Assistant Library Director, who currently manages the library’s portion of the web site.
As the committee develops its redesign, they will seek input from town departments, boards and commissions, and residents. “There are many basic things to work on says Woods, as well as “nice to have” items.”” The committee has learned that the current web site hosting company provides what is needed to develop a new and dynamic site. According to Woods, “Tim Louis and I have been looking at towns like Derry that use a third party company to produce videos promoting the community as well as North Hampton and New Durham that have a tool allowing residents to subscribe to e-mail notices of meetings, events, and even minutes. There are many features available to residents via a well planned and well structured web site.”
Residents who have ideas or suggestions for the Web committee can e-mail them to Lisa Chapman at lchapman@townofraymondnh.com or Kevin Woods at kevin.woods@comcat.net Raymonds current web site can be found at http://www.raymond-nh.com.
