A message was sent from the Town Office today which appears to be a rebuttal to an article I posted here on 12/24/08. I was going to place this as a comment to that article, but thought given it’s length and detail it would be best to place it as a main article so it would not be missed.
If the Town or Mr. Endsley have taken offense to my comments I apologize and mean for them to only be constructive. I stand by my comments as accurate, you can read Mr. Endsley explanation below that “Many Features are being re-written” or “will be able to” and “are being developed” the web site is a work-in-process. This is exactly what I pointed out previously…the new calendar, news and events are great provided they are maintained going forward…which has not been the case in the past.
Scenic banners, rotating photos although nice do not improve information exchange. There was no mention of the implementation of documents, forms or meeting minutes which was also a focus of my article.
I was unaware Mr Endsley was volunteering his time and coding the site on his own. I know from experience development takes much time and effort particularly when you are developing for and relying on others. He should be compensated properly for his time and I commended him for the effort he has put forth. I thought the town has had expenses for the Town website and a budgeted accordingly. If the site hosting, maintenance and development are all volunteer and not a paid service then my concerns are a mute point. However, if we residents pay for the site it should be maintained properly and the services should work.
I do take exception to the comment not being at the “last meeting” or reading the “announcement”. It is true I was not in attendance last night due to a personal matter but you can see by the information on this site I attend regularly and put forth my own best efforts to share information. The only public discussion at the meetings before last night on the website update was it was being worked on. You can review the official minutes and videos here.
My agenda is not to be malicious or cause discontent and I am not casting stones at Mr Endsley’s volunteer development efforts. I believed the town was paying for a website and the town was responsible for the website, so i want the town to maintain it and have it work. In Sept I was informed it was being updated, when the update notice went out and I saw the site, I was disappointed.
I believe Mr. Endsley and I are more alike than different. It would appear we both volunteer a lot of time and effort with the desire to improve communication for our Town. I am glad to see the details of what we can expect when the website is completed.
Glen Stadig
gstadig@gmail.com
Steve Endsley’s Letter is Below………………………..
_________________________________________________
Good Day Lebanon!
As you can see by the website, the new face and features are online and working. Some third party site have expressed the new site as a “fresh coat of paint”, and nothing more. I do not know who the author is, but they obviously did not read the announcement about what is happening, or listen up at the last town meeting. I am sure it is not meant as malicious, just misinformed. Which is also dangerous if you are posting on a website and causing discontent, rather than being part of the solution.
I will to take this opportunity to explain some of the new features again:
1. The banner is now a color collage of some of the nicest visual sites in Lebanon.
2. The center column now has a rotating picture screen that can hold a cache of 50 pictures, rotating every 6 seconds. If you have a picture of something of interest happening or happened in town, please feel free to send it to me for posting.
3. The left column now has a reduced set of choices. The town departments are being reprogrammed in to a new button just below the banner called “Town Departments”.
These buttons are currently being rewritten and reprogrammed. They are coming available each evening as time permits.4. To the right of the Departments button are 3 new buttons I had added: “Community”, “Businesses”, and “State”. We are designing the new pages for these as well. On them you will now have access to many of the state government sites with a simple click of the mouse. The Businesses page will allow us to feature local businesses and anything they would like posted, or a forward to their company/personal website. The Community button will house public organizations like clubs, churches, schools, sports leagues, etc.
If you have anything that falls in to any of these categories, please respond to my email address below my signature block and tell me about it, or leave me an evening phone number and I will contact you. We are always looking for anything to post or update on the site. We can not do it unless the information is given to us. If you do not wish to reach me, you can also contact anyone at the town office.
5. Below the rotating pictures are postings of news items that I have received for your information. If you click on the item, it loads the information page relating to that article. This is also a new feature and now in service.
6. The right hand column is for 2 new features as well:
Upcoming Events pulls for the next 7 days on the calendar and posts tem on the
front page for a quick “at a glance” look at happenings in town. These events are anything that our folks should know about, and anyone is welcome to have an event posted to the town calendar to alert or remind others about the event.News and Notices displays any items that were sent out via the websites email information system. If you received an email Public Notice, or think you missed one, or are away from the local area, you can access the website and see the new notices at a glance. Click on the notice and entire text will be displayed.
7. The left column also features two addtional items: Rapid Renewal, which allows you to click the button to access the state online registration for your vehicle without leaving your home. This is for re-registration, not new vehicles. The online service accepts “electronic check” only, no credit cards. You need your registration and insurance card in front of you to answer the questions required. You will also need a personal blank check to retrieve the bank and account codes. After the registration is
completed, you get a notice to print and carry with you until the new printed registration and sticker tags arrive by mail in approximately 2-3 buisness days. This is handy if your are injured and homebound, or forgot to do it and the offices are closed.Below that is the Weatherbug icon which shows the zip code it is displaying information for, the temperature in farenheit and celsius, and the local time. For more information about the forecast and radar screens, simply click on the Weatherbug icon and it will take you to their homepage for your zipcode.
8. The final new feature is the Emergency Notice red banner just about the rotation picutres with the exclamation points. This feature is for important new info about something immediate, like a meeting cancellation, etc.
So as you can see, there are several new features and they are active. I wanted the new site posted immediately for better informational services in our town, even though some information screens are not yet completed. They are happing NOW!
In spite of the what you may have heard about the new site, it is still being updated every day with corrections and new items. But the information being displayed is new and current. We have never had this much informational news on our site, and it will continue to grow.
I am excited by the new features and think they will help our citizens know more about the happenings in Lebanon.I am a volunteer sysop programming this site with direction from the Selectmen and town office staff. I work my job during the day, and do the towns website at night. Please be patient and feel free to ask questions, or provide more information about items you would like to see on the site. If we can do it, we will. There is unlimited space and this is your service. Feel free to use it. No matter what, if you email me, you will get an answer about whether it is or is not possible, and why. The only reason I would not answer is if I do not receive the email for some reason. If you do not hear back from me, feel free call me.
Steve Endsley
sendsley@metrocast.net