Village’s website set to launch Oct. 1

If you live in Perry Village or are interested in the community for other reasons, and have an internet connection, mark your calendar for Oct. 1.

That’s the projected launch date for a redesigned version of the village’s website, which is located at perryvillage.info.

Village Council on Aug. 23 approved a contract with Lake Metro Web to design, host and maintain a new and improved

village website. This marks the third time in recent years that the village has hired a contractor for website design services. Neither of the first two efforts met village officials’ expectations for a website that was attractive, easy to navigate, and useful to residents or others seeking information about the community and its government.

For about the past month, Perry Village administrators and council members have been working to secure information and visual content that Lake Metro Web owner Jerry Spradlin will add to the community’s revamped website.

Mayor James Gessic said at council’s Sept. 13 meeting that he has been taking

For about the past month, Perry Village administrators and council members have been working to secure information and visual content that Lake Metro Web owner Jerry Spradlin will add to the community’s revamped website.

photographs and trying to gather other pictures, such as those of village landmarks and the village’s police and road departments.

In addition to photos that will go under different departmental headings, the website will have a photo gallery, Gessic said.

Councilman Phil Cassella, meanwhile, has been gathering historical information on the village, while Zoning Inspector Jim Watson has provided a zoning map to include on the website.

An online zoning application also is being prepared.

“We’re going to condense the application down to one page,” Watson said.

However, visitors to the website won’t be able to find an online version of the village’s zoning ordinance book, at least not anytime soon, Watson noted.

“It’s going to be awhile before that gets put on there because we have no (complete) electronic versions of it,” he said. “I found a partial one from back in 2014 in Microsoft Word that somebody started typing, but a lot of it is outdated and missing,” he said.

Gessic said Lake Metro Web will have a “working, behind the scenes website” ready for village government administrators and council members to preview before it makes its formal Internet debut.

Along with introducing a new website, Perry Village also is preparing to enter the social media arena.

“After the website is up and running and get the bugs worked out of it, Facebook is going to be introduced and also YouTube videos that can be posted,” Gessic said.

In regard to YouTube, he said it could be used by the village Police Department, for example, to post videos on topics such as bicycle safety or the dangers of texting while driving.