The City of Great Bend plans to launch a new website in the next year. At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Public Relations Director Addison Crites recommended changing vendors for a more affordable and user-friendly platform for its website. She noted that the new site will continue to use the domain and URL “greatbendks.net.”
The council approved Crites’s recommendation to use Revize, a government website agency, paying the initial startup cost of $20,060. The annual cost after startup is $7,990, “which is half the annual amount we currently pay Civic Plus,” Crites told the council. The City has a contract with Civic Plus that runs until May 31, 2026.
This was Crites’s first formal presentation to the council since becoming the public relations director in July. She said she met with an account executive from Revize who showed her the City could receive “a substantially cheaper annual deal with Revize by nearly half of what we pay for Civic Plus, while retaining the same features we currently use on a day-to-day basis.”
The new service will include ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) remediation because the Department of Justice ruled in 2024 that state and local governments’ web content must be accessible to people with disabilities. Municipalities with populations under 50,000 must meet this requirement by April 26, 2027.
The Revize contract also includes a free redesign every four years.
“The timeline for the project will take 24-30 weeks and our current contract with Civic Plus ends on May 31, 2026. To launch our new website before the Civic Plus contract ends, we need to begin this process quickly,” Crites told the council. “We can start at the end of the week if we want to.”
Because of the recent discovery of the Revize proposal and the deadline for completing the project, she asked the council to waive the formal sealed bidding process. That way, she said, the City can complete the changing of platforms before the contract with Civic Plus ends and they are forced into a position to renew for another year.
Crites answered questions about the service, saying she does not anticipate any problems with the transition and there will still be a form for people to make civic complaints such as reporting potholes.
She reported Revize has earned three Horizon Interactive Awards, which recognize the best in web design, development and interactive media. They have been in the website design industry for 26 years and have launched 3,600 government-related websites.
Council meeting at a glance
Here’s a quick look at what the Great Bend City Council did on Tuesday, Sept. 2.
Paid bills to date, and paid the payroll register ending Aug. 16, in the amount of $570,845.
Approved a one-day Cereal Malt Beverage license for Chad Ehrlich with F&E Collection Auto Auction, Great Bend, for Sept. 27.
Heard an update on what is happening within the City organization from City Administrator Logan Burns.
Approved a cost proposal to hire Revize, a government website agency, for services that include development of a new City of Great Bend website. The cost is not to exceed $28,050.
