Recognizing the relatively antiquated state of its online presence, the Town of Wawarsing has signed up to have a completely new website created. At the town board meeting on Thursday, December 19, Johnny Frost, who liaison for IT on the board, announced that the town would be working with CivicPlus, a well-known internet technology company that boasts a “comprehensive suite of solutions that combine to form THE modern Civic Experience Platform.”

CivicPlus has been in business for 25 years and claims more than 10,000 customers worldwide with significant penetration in the North American markets.

Their software and solutions are tailored to municipal and county governments. They say on their website that they “strive to create one-stop, frictionless, interactions that delight residents and help staff collaborate and work efficiently.”

At the January 2 meeting of the Town Board, the board authorized Supervisor Houck to execute agreements with CivicPlus to provide website development at a cost of $14,420 with an annual recurring service for $5,919. In addition, a “recreation platform” will be developed for $5,838 plus a recurring cost of $3,500. The annual recurring costs will be subject to a 5% annual cost adjustment.

CivicPlus offers an extensive suite of software options and promises security to go with their website hosting. Cybercrime is a going concern for municipalities. In September, the Town of Ulster was hit with a ransomware attack and led to a major loss of data.