It has been some time since the Town of Hudson Bay website was designed and the town council has agreed that it will need an upgrade.
Community Development Director, Jeanine Holowatuik, says it has been 15 years since the website was first launched and, besides minor upgrades, little has been done to improve the webspace.
“We're looking at the functionality of it, and trying to improve it, both in the information that's provided on there as well as the usability, be it on a mobile device or just the (overall) user-friendliness of the site, as well.”
The website design company, 2 Web Design, is being hired by the town. Holowatuik says they have down many other municipal websites, including Martensville, Humboldt, and the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres.
Design and maintenance fees will be $7,000 for the first year of establishing the website and $1,000 a year for maintaining the website. These funds will come from the unused marketing dollars that have already been budgeted for, says Holowatuik. Especially with changes to digital versus print advertising, Holowatuik says there are not as much printing costs needed by the town.
Some improvements that council and staff want to see are improvements to their community events calendar which is already highly used, she says.
“That's something we like to promote on our website and something that is going to be a priority to be on our website moving forward.”
Council also reviewed the rental agreement between the town and the Seniors Centre, which is housed in the town’s library building.
Rental for the seniors centre was dropped from $570 a month to $285 a month.
There was little discussion about it, says town Administrator, Teresa Parkman, as all the councillors wanted to help support the seniors of Hudson Bay.
“They've contributed to our community over the years and this is something that we should look at doing for them to continue helping the senior center stay viable and be able to be where they are.”
The invitation for Minister of Highways, Greg Ottenbreit, to come and tour around Hudson Bay has been met with a firm date for the meeting. The town and RM, as well as other local businesses and organizations, will meet with the minister on Sept. 8 to discuss improvements to HWYs 3 and 9 that intersect in Hudson Bay.
Both highways are in rough shape, says Parkman, and council and local representatives want the Ottenbreit to take notice and work towards possible improvements.
Plans for the drive-in movie are also being finalized, says Holowatuik, with the event taking place on Aug. 14 on the southwest outskirts of town. It will be a free event for the community but those interested will be asked to pick up vehicle passes from the town office. Directions will be included with ticket pick up.
