Sturgis selects CivicPlus for city website overhaul

With a unanimous vote Monday, the Sturgis City Commission approved a proposal by CivicPlus to update the city’s website.

Sturgis’ current website, sturgismi.gov, is built on an out of-date-platform, according to City Manager Andrew Kuk. It needs a refresh. Monday’s vote gives Kuk the authority to sign all necessary documents.

“The pricing provided by CivicPlus is based on GSA (General Services Administration) pricing,” Kuk wrote in a report shared Monday. “Additionally, they provided a $4,424.00 discount on the annual reoccurring services for the first year.”

For the first year of service, Sturgis would be charged $27,424. The fee includes $23,000 for implementation and $4,424 for annual services. The second year’s annual service cost would be $8,848.

There is a $20,000 general fund allocation in Sturgis’ current budget for community information activities. The remaining $7,424 would be divided, Kuk said.

“Staff (will spread) costs out to the utility funds as part of their office expense line items. Future budgets would include the annual service cost in these same areas,” Kuk said.

Developing the new website is expected to take between five and eight months. It will include features and modules such as online notices and alerts on the page, an events calendar, space for citizen requests, translation services for at least 40 languages, and a responsive design that reformats when the site is visited on mobile devices.

“The proposed site would be designed on a platform that would allow staff easier access to complete website updates and manage the system, without needing to rely on a web developer to make changes,” Kuk wrote. “The platform also ensures that branding of the site is consistent throughout based on design choices. Additional benefits include greater levels of website security and continual updates to the system to ensure that security.”

Sturgis’ recent history with CivicPlus includes utilizing the company for the city’s current mass notification system, social media archiving services, FOIA management software, and recreation management systems.

“CivicPlus also is now the parent company of MuniCode, the system we use to host our Code of Ordinances,” Kuk wrote. “As stated in my goals, we wanted to work to update the website, modernize our platform, and work to make these services more cohesive. CivicPlus allows us to achieve those goals.”

Frank Stanko is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.