Posts tagged Boulder
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–
Free firewood? What a deal!
Jul 25th
Firewood Program:
Wood generated by the City of Boulder’s forest management operations is made available to the public, at the OSMP South Boulder Creek West Trailhead. The wood is available on a first-come, first-served basis and is usually on-site between the months of May and November.
Beginning July 15, 2013, due to recently enacted restrictions, wood pick-up will require users to sign a contract, pay an annual $15 administration fee, and get a gate key to access the wood.
Contracts and keys are available at the OSMP Administrative Offices at 66 S. Cherryvale Road between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, M-F. The contract and key will allow users to access the firewood during the following hours:
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10 am to 5 pm
- The 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10 am to 2 pm
For additional information please call OSMP at 303-441-3440.
The following Terms and Conditions apply to all woodlot users:
- Only those who have a current, signed contract with OSMP may get firewood.
- The signed contract must be in your possession when picking up wood. You must present it to OSMP staff, if requested to do so;
- You may access and remove firewood only during the hours of operation noted below;
- You may take no more than one-half cord (4’x4’x4’) of wood per day;
- You must return the woodlot key within 30 days upon termination of this contract, or sooner, if OSMP staff so directs;
- You must comply with all OSMP rules and regulations, including not entering areas that are temporarily or permanently restricted or closed;
- You must respect the rights and privileges of others, including those picking up firewood under similar contracts;
- Dogs accompanying anyone picking up wood must be leashed and under your control;
- Please remove all trash or litter; and
- You are responsible for any damage to your vehicle or to City property resulting from your participation in firewood cutting or removal.
No one may:
- Use a woodlot key without a current, signed contract;
- Duplicate or permit another person to use their assigned key to the woodlot;
- Conduct sales or solicitation for sales on OSMP property;
- Block traffic or parking or create an unsafe or hazardous situation;
- Use a chainsaw without a spark arrestor; or
- Use heavy equipment such as tractors or bulldozers to aid in picking up wood.
REMINDER:
- All motor vehicles not registered in Boulder County must display either a daily or an annual parking permit to park at the South Boulder Creek West trailhead parking lot. A parking permit is NOT required inside the woodlot area while picking up firewood.
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Boulder police: Teen girl with special needs missing
Jul 23rd
Police searching for missing 19-year-old special needs female
Boulder police are asking the public for help in locating a 19-year-old Hispanic female who was last seen in the 1500 block of Yarmouth St. around 2:15 p.m. today, July 23, 2013.
The missing woman is Erin Huss, who functions at about the level of a 7-year-old child. She may not seem developmentally disabled upon first contact. Huss gets lost easily.
Erin Huss, 19, is missing.
A witness at the location where Huss was last seen says she got into an older red pick-up truck. The truck was small with an open bed (no camper shell). There are garden tools in the back of the truck. The driver is described as a male in his forties, with glasses and a mustache, who was wearing a black shirt and white pants.
Huss is 5’6” tall and weighs 125 pounds. She has distinctive hair coloring, which is black with streaks of blonde. Her eyes are brown and she was wearing a blue and white sailor-style shirt with dark blue jeans and flip flops. She may also be wearing black and silver over-the-ear type headphones.
Police are actively looking for Huss because she has been known to take rides from strangers. She’s disappeared in the past, and police don’t have any information about what may have occurred during those occasions.
Huss is from Alamosa, but lives in Golden.
Anyone who knows where Huss is or where she might be located is asked to contact Boulder police at 303.441.3333.
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