Website gives Warren Countians improved access

By ANDREW THOMASON, The Daily News, athomason@bgdailynews.com/783-3242

Warren County has rolled out a new website with more features and content that “makes things available so you don’t have to go downtown to see what your county is doing,” said Jack Wright, Division of Stormwater manager and the lead on the website redesign.

But the upgrade wasn’t just to foster civic engagement - it was mandatory.

The upgraded website helps the county meet new guidelines instituted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Division of Water regarding public outreach and announcements on its waste water systems.

Warren County’s new website: www.warrencountygov.com

Still, the new website is a major improvement, according to Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon.

Upgraded features include a calendar of county and community events, fiscal court agendas and a photo gallery. The county can now also track the number of visitors to its website and the pages they view, a feature not previously available.

The previous update was about five years ago, close to an eternity in online years.

“This update is way overdue,” Buchanon said. “Our primary goal is to make sure that every citizen can have real-time information about their local government.”

Another goal, according to Buchanon, is to educate potential businesses, tourists and anyone else about Warren County.

So far, so good.

The county has received correspondence through the website from people in England and Germany about how the county functions, according to Wright.

With the new website less than a month old, the county is still experimenting with many features. Eventually, county meetings might even be streamed live through the website.

“The ways to communicate online are ever changing. We hope to keep up with the available technologies, and provide the service and access that people want,” Buchanon said.

Local web developer Hitcents performed the initial update for about $6,000. The county pays a $30 monthly maintenance fee.

“We do a lot of businesses’, a few banks’ and credit unions’, and several restaurants’ (websites),” said Beth Durbin, the account manager for Hitcents’ website department.

In addition to the county’s site, Hitcents also designed websites for BGMU, Mariah’s, Houchens Industries, Junior Achievement of Southern Kentucky and many others.

“We do have some out-of-state accounts, but the majority are definitely local,” Durbin said.