The District of Houston is dipping into a provincial grant account to re-do its website by making it more efficient to provide information and to connect in an online world.
The $60,000 project, using money from a provincial grant sent in 2020 to deal with COVID-related issues, would bring livestreaming of council sessions and expand the ability of the District to take online payments and allow people to fill out and submit forms online.
It would also allow the District to post updates, photos and videos of various activities so that it could better represent itself and its work.
“The current website requires HTML coding knowledge, which no internal staff have and results in large amounts of staff time to figure out on an as-needed basis,” corporate services officer Holly Brown wrote in a memo to council that was discussed at its March 15 meeting.
An online remake would also allow the District to promote the area’s ‘Naturally Amazing’ brand adopted in 2014.
Improved communications technologies would “increase efficiencies in updating information on our website, mobile-friendly layouts, the accessibility and useability of the website and the effectiveness with which we use the website to convey information and provide services as part of our internal processes,” said Brown.
“Currently, social media posts are made by corporate services as needed, which results in time delay and inconsistent branding.”
Internal server upgrade approved
With the District to spend $60,000 on its external online presence, council has also approved $28,750 to update its internal computerized accounting workings.
“Our current server system is reaching capacity and no longer supporting the volume of data for our accounting software,” interim finance director Jennifer Larson indicated to council in a comprehensive memo.
The system can no longer generate reports and can no longer be used for a number of other functions, she added.
As adopted, functions would be moved to the cloud instead of beefing up internal servers, something that will provide the District with unlimited capacity.
“Regardless of the option chosen it is apparent that the District needs to do something in the current year before there is a system failure,” Larson wrote.
Credit card authorized for mayor
A District of Houston credit card has been authorized for the mayor’s position given the amount of travel and accommodation incurred on council business.
Senior staffers are already provided with credit cards for the travel they undertake.
The mayor “may need to book accommodations or travel arrangements using a credit card. In the event that travel has to be rearranged on short notice or during non-working hours, the cardholder may need to be able to do this themselves,” a memo from interim finance director Jennifer Larson states.
Senior staffers also use District credit cards to order items when the item or items are needed immediately and no other credit arrangements have been made.
The mayor’s card’s permitted uses will be the same as for staffers regarding travel and ordering supplies if no previous payment provisions had been set out.
But the card cannot be used to buy alcohol, for personal purposes, for cash advances, for phone or wireless services or for purchases not related to District of Houston business.
Final Beanstalk grant amount provided
The Beanstalk Childcare Centre is receiving the final portion of a $7,780 grant provided last year by the District of Houston for items purchased in support of its activities and programs.
Tables and chairs, high chairs, sanitizer dispensers and refills, carpets and rest mats, and carpet cleaner were purchased.
“This municipal grant allowed us to coninue to offer safe, quality childcare, expand our services and support families in the community of Houston,” read a report presented by Beanstalk to council March 15.
“The pandemic made it difficult to fundraise and this grant allowed us to purchase much needed items without burdening families.”
The grant came from a $100,000 account set up by the District using money from a provincial grant received in 2020 to deal with the effects of the pandemic.
In this circumstance, the $100,000 is meant for community groups whose activities or programs were affected.