The Bonners Ferry City Council will be changing its website after approving a contract with CivicPlus, a company that designs websites for local governments. 

The council agreed to a one-year contract costing $7,183.40 for the first year, with a second-year cost of $5,400. 

The current website is not being run by anyone, with changes to it coming from city staff not trained in website use. 

Bonners Ferry city administrator Mike Klaus said CivicPlus reached out to the city, prompting him to review examples of its work.  

“Civic Plus called us,” Klaus said. “I started looking at some of their websites. They design a lot of public websites across the country, in a lot of Idaho cities as well. When I saw their product, I thought that could be a good solution for the city of Bonners Ferry.” 

An agreement with CivicPlus was first brought before the council on Nov. 18, when Klaus told the council that the city’s current website is not performing as a website should. 

“We don’t really have anybody to manage it right now,” Klaus said. “We’ve really struggled to find people to do it. That’s what’s caused us to seek out another solution for a website platform for the city.” 

Klaus said the current website is not updated frequently, which he believes creates problems for residents seeking accurate information. 

“What we're trying to do is find a way to just make sure that we find a website system where it's easy for staff to upload information and change content so that we don't get behind,” Klaus said. “Because I think one of the worst things that can happen is when you have a website, but you don't keep the content current. Then people tend to not trust the information.” 

Council members were particularly supportive of features that would allow residents to sign up for swimming lessons online rather than visiting City Hall in person. 

According to the company’s website, CivicPlus was founded in 1998 under the umbrella of Icon Enterprises. The company reports managing more than 5,000 government websites and serving 340 million users nationwide. CivicPlus also reports a 98% client retention rate. 

A specific launch date for the new website has not been set, but Klaus said it will likely go live within the next six months, if not sooner.