(Posted March 23, 2020)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
The city of London’s revamped website, londonohio.gov, launched earlier this month. Changes include a more user-friendly format, some new content, and interactive services, including an online payment option for utility bills.
“The site is more streamlined. There are less tabs, so people can get to the information easier and quicker,” said Amy Rees, administrative offices executive assistant, who spearheaded the changes.
From the home page, users can navigate to pages for the various government departments, safety services, staff contact information, community links, and job opportunities.
The home page also is the place where the city posts highly important notices. Currently, those notices include a link to Madison County Public Health’s information regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and an announcement about the temporary closure of city offices to the public.
Special notices specific to city departments will be posted to those departments’ individual pages. For example, the city posted a note on the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) page asking residents to refrain from flushing items other than toilet paper. The note pertains to the shortage of toilet paper related to COVID-19.
Other new features on the website include information about BPU’s new billing system, specifically the public’s three options for paying online. The board accepts electronic checks, automatic withdrawals from customer checking accounts, and payment with credit cards through the website.
“People have been waiting on that for a long time,” Rees said about the online credit card payment option.
The city’s website has always listed job opportunities within the city government, but users usually had to hunt through the various department tabs to find them. Now, all city job openings and accompanying applications can be found under the “job opportunities” tab.
New content on the police department’s page includes news releases and a clickable link to the department’s mobile phone app.
Several of the city’s spaces–including the Cowling Park shelter and gazebo, municipal pool shelter and picnic tables, city hall conference room and city hall multi-purpose room–are available for hourly rental. Now, those interested in renting one of the spaces can check availability under the website’s parks and recreation tab.
Rees said she plans to keep the site’s community events calendar up-to-date and welcomes any organization holding events or programs in London to contact her with information.
To learn more about the city of London’s website, contact Amy Rees at (740) 852-3243 or arees@londonohio.gov.
