City of Sheboygan to spend $160,000 to redesign website
Emergency purchase of firewall hardware is also sought
SHEBOYGAN — The Common Council will vote Monday evening to spend nearly $160,000 to redesign the City of Sheboygan website.
City officials have reviewed several software programs on the market and determined that CivicPlus meets specifications. With the new website, the city will also be able to receive and track requests for records, and to provide a publicly accessible database for those documents. The firm that will be redesigning the city website is located in Manhattan, Kansas which is located 58 miles west of Topeka.
If approved by the Common Council, the initial cost would be $159,814.47 while the city would be paying $77,105.95 annually according to a quote from CivicPlus.
Nearby communities that use CivicPlus include Howards Grove, Manitowoc, Grafton, Cedarburg, Jackson, Fredonia, and Green Bay. Currently, the city website utilizes the free WordPress content management system. Prior to launching a redesigned website in July 2011 using WordPress, the city IT Department was using Adobe Dreamweaver since 1998. Local photographer and web designer Dennis Murphy led the effort to redesign the websites of the city, Sheboygan Police Department and Visit Sheboygan.
The city registered sheboyganwi.gov in June 2013. The city launched their first website at ci.sheboygan.wi.us in March 1998.
RELATED: City of Sheboygan says ransomware attack affects nearly 68,000 individuals
The Common Council is also expected to authorize an amendment to the 2025 Budget for the emergency purchase of firewall hardware and professional services from Capital Data. The purchase is related to the October 2024 ransomware attack. Nearly 68,000 people will be receiving a letter in the mail from the City of Sheboygan informing them they were affected by the data breach.
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