City News
This is news from the city of Boulder, about the city or any of its departments
City of Boulder launches new website
Jul 29th
The City of Boulder has launched a new website at bouldercolorado.gov. The site includes a new layout and design as well as several features aimed at making it easier for users to access government services and information. The last time the city launched a new site design was in 2006. View the City of Boulder Website Infographic to see a visual progression of the city’s website since 1999.
Key to the new site is its responsive design, which means the site is resizable for any screen, including any mobile device.
“It’s a new era in website design,” said City of Boulder Director of Information Technology Don Ingle. “We knew going into this effort that not only did our website need to have an updated look, it also needed to accommodate mobile web users. More and more people are accessing Internet content from mobile devices, leaving designs based on desktop screen widths a thing of the past.”
The city’s site also features more photos and videos throughout its pages. Navigational options featured on the new home page were selected based on hit and search data as well as topic timeliness.
Inside Boulder News – New City Website (Select the image below to watch the video)
New website services include:
- A new Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) tool called Inquire Boulder (www.inquireboulder.com) that serves as a customer service portal.
Users can go to Inquire Boulder to ask the city questions, look up FAQs and submit requests for services like pothole repair, graffiti response, park shelter rentals, park and trail maintenance, code enforcement, damaged city trees and much more. An Inquire Boulder app is also available for iPhone and Android mobile devices.
- Online access to public records for City Council and boards and commissions.
The city is launching a public portal to documents that are on file for council, boards and commissions from the last three years, where available. This can be accessed at bouldercolorado.gov/central-records, from the scrolling buttons on the city’s homepage, or from individual council, boards and commissions pages. By providing online access to these materials, users can search key words to find meeting documents, rather than having to know the date the meeting occurred. Additional documents will be added to the public portal in a phased approach.
- Open data resources in a central place.
The city previously provided open data files like GIS data and other land use resources, but they were scattered throughout the website, buried in multiple locations. By combining and featuring the city’s open data sets, Boulder joins the ranks of many other municipal governments providing open data services.
“Perhaps the most unique feature of the new website is something our users can’t see, and that’s our partnership with the City of Arvada,” said Ingle.
As part of the redesign effort, the city chose to switch to a new content management system, the database-driven application that houses webpage content and provides a user interface for the staff that posts the content to the site. Rather than purchasing a new system from an outside vendor, Boulder entered into a unique partnership with the City of Arvada to share and mutually enhance the customized content management system that Arvada had developed. As a result, the city acquired the system at no cost. As part of the partnership, both cities have agreed to share enhancements to the system as they develop new features that meet their needs.
“Partnering with Arvada was definitely an ‘outside of the box’ decision, but it made a lot of sense for several reasons,” said Ingle. “We were able to get a system that was developed specifically with local government needs in mind, from the perspective of the staff that use it to communicate with the public, rather than from a vendor. It also allows us to make specific enhancements to it in the future. The partnership will save both municipalities and taxpayers money while mutually supporting our online communication goals.”
The cities were jointly awarded second place in the 2012 Best of the Web (BOW) City Portal Category from the e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government for this collaborative approach to share and jointly pursue innovation for a specialized website content management system.
The city spent approximately $25,000 on the new site design by Vision Internet, a company that specializes in designing websites for local government entities. The Inquire Boulder CRM system provided by Government Outreach, which specializes in CRM systems for local governments, amounted to $19,000 for implementation and annual costs thereafter for system hosting and support.
During the redesign effort, the city also endeavored to clean up its content from the old site. As a result, the city eliminated approximately 8,000 pages of outdated and inaccurate or duplicate information and now hosts a trimmed up site of approximately 4,000 pages.
–CITY–
A week in the life of OSMP Rangers, dogs, dogs, dogs and other news
Jul 28th
Rangers responded to:
• A report of a potential assault on Gregory Canyon Trail. A woman was kneed in the leg while trying to pass a couple of hikers who thought she was being rude. Suspects have not be found.
• A report of a campfire west of NCAR. Boulder Fire could see three foot flames close to Mallory Cave. Suspect/s was never found.
Looks like fun, huh?
• A report of a dog bite on the Gregory Canyon trail. The dog bit the hiker while they were passing by on the trail.
• A report of a nine year old bit by a dog on the hand at the Bluebell Shelter.
• A visitor in the closure at Boulder Falls who had a warrant for his arrest. Rangers worked with Sheriff’s Officers on this person’s arrest.
• A report of an overdue hiker in the Mt. Sanitas area. Rangers worked with Sheriff’s Officers and RMR to locate the missing party.
• An injured hiker on the East Ridge trail of Mt. Sanitas who had sprained their ankle. Rangers worked with AMR on this call.
• A report of a grass fire on the Reynolds property. The fire was started by a vehicle and was quickly extinguished. The fire was about 30’X30’.
• A report of a party passed out at the Halfway House. The patient was there for a wedding, became overheated and passed out. Rangers helped AMR with this call.
Community Outreach
Reminder: Art Inspired by the Land – Art Show Opening Reception
Fri. July 26, 5 –7 pm
Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department is excited to announce that we will host an art show in late summer at the Boulder Public Library Canyon Gallery (1001 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder). This show will celebrate art created by the community and inspired by OSMP lands. Please join us for appetizers, quartet music from the Boulder Philharmonic, and beautifully inspiring community art celebrating your protected lands and wildlife. This reception is free and open to the public. The art show will run from July 20 – August 28 during normal library hours.
This year to date we have offered 184 educational programs with 8,600 people attending! (Requested hikes plus Natural Selections.)
Mountain Bike Patrol: Trail work last week on Spring Brook was a success. Thanks for everyone who came–Joel, John S, Dan, Jeremy W, Allison, Jeremy, John P, Paul, Steve, and Kyle.
CU police: Two suspects wanted in connection with backpack, laptop theft
Jul 25th
Police are trying to identify two male suspects who investigators believe are responsible for stealing an unattended backpack outside the Target store, located at 2800 Pearl St., on July 12, 2013. The incident occurred at approximately 3:54 p.m.
The male victim told investigators he was waiting outside the store for an acquaintance to arrive. When the acquaintance showed up, the victim walked away from his backpack for a few minutes, forgetting that he had left it behind. Inside the backpack were personal items and a Samsung laptop computer.
When the victim remembered that he’d left his backpack, he went back to retrieve it and found that it was gone. Surveillance video from Target shows two males, one of whom is believed to have stolen the backpack and laptop. A surveillance photo is attached.
The main suspect is described as:
- White male
- Age unknown
- Brown hair
- Wearing a green windbreaker and shorts, and a white bicycle helmet
- Carrying a blue backpack on his back and the stolen backpack in his arms.
The second suspect is described as:
- White male
- Age unknown
- Wearing blue jeans, a light colored shirt and a red hat.
- Carrying a dark colored backpack on his back and walking two bicycles away from the scene.
When the male suspect stole the backpack, he was seen walking south as he left the area.
The case number is 13-9117.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Craig Beckjord at 303-441-3336. Those who have information but wish to remain anonymous may contact the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-444-3776. Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com. Those submitting tips through Crime Stoppers that lead to the arrest and filing of charges on a suspect(s) may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 from Crime Stoppers.
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