New Medford Township website expected to launch this weekend
After months of updates and waiting, the new Medford Township website is just days away from launching.
“It is imminent,” said Beth Portocalis, assistant to the township manager. “I would say over the weekend it should be ready to go.”
The manager’s office has made technology upgrades one of its largest projects of the year. The upgrades will help improve efficiency in the municipal departments as well as with residents.
The new website, located at www.medfordtownship.com, has been discussed since the late winter, however upgrading has been a tough task. Township clerk Katherine Burger told council there were issues with amount of server space available as the website was being built.
“To allow township personnel to still do work, progress had to slow down,” she said.
At last night’s council meeting, Mayor Chris Buoni told residents the next meeting on June 17 will be the first to be live streamed. Cameras were set up in the courtroom of the Public Safety Building over the past couple of months to handle the task.
The stream was tested internally during the May 20 council meeting. Portocalis said streaming would be tested internally again prior to its official launch on June 17. Councilman Frank Czekay asked township officials to send a Nixle alert with the URL for the live stream prior to the meeting.
The township is hoping to see fewer phone calls and public works complaints at council meetings. Shortly after the update on the website, Medford resident Rich Harris had a complaint about the Main Street bridge stretching over Haines Creek that has had issues with flooding during recent storms. He says the drains are clogged, causing the water to pond on the bridge.
“When it rains, you can’t walk through there,” he said. “It hasn’t been cleaned out since last year.”
Complaints such as Harris’ will be easier to file with the launch of the township’s citizen response program. Eventually, residents will be able to file a report with public works through the website or a mobile phone app. Currently, residents must call the township or public works to file a complaint. It then takes time for public works to respond to the complaint.
Even though Harris’ complaint is a county issue, township officials will be able to forward the report to the county faster through the new website. Buoni encouraged Harris to send future reports through the website instead of waiting for a council meeting.
Many township departments are already putting some of the new technology and forms to use. Township manager Chris Schultz said in May much of the township’s internal data has already switched over.
The launch of the website will also bring the mobile app closer to launching. Development of the app is expected to progress following the website’s launch.
