Friday, December 19, 2003
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Friday, December 19, 2003 |
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City Web site adds services, to undergo redesign in 2004 By J. FRANK LYNCH Peachtree City’s new slogan, “Plan to Stay,” can be applied to the community in various ways, say members of the committee that settled on the phrase and chose a new “virtual peach” logo to go with it. One of the first official uses: Adornment for the city’s Web site, recently updated with several new features. A complete redesign of www.peachtree-city.org is targeted for sometime next year, said Betsy Tyler, public information specialist for the city, but in the meantime the new services already online are worth a visit. Tyler, along with systems administrator Matthew Robinson, gave a demonstration of the additions at the Dec. 4 City Council meeting. Among the new features: • TicketFastPay: This online method for making a credit card payment on traffic citations handed out by Peachtree City Police was approved by the City Council last March. Software developer Courtware Solutions, Inc., says the process is completely secure and the city promises information entered won’t be made available to third parties. The ticketholder is asked to enter a last name and either a license number or citation number, and then follow the prompts. The system is already in use in several Atlanta-area counties, including Coweta, Clayton and Cobb. • Virtual Neighborhoods: This feature is still in development, said Tyler, but promises to eventually offer a wealth of detailed information about the city’s neighborhoods at the click of a mouse. Starting with pull-down menus to the city’s four official “villages” as well as the unofficial “West Village” between the CSX tracks and the county line, the directory offers links to each subdivision in the city and offers detailed information on neighborhood watch programs, homeowner’s associations, zoning and covenants, fire station districts, recent home sales and property tax information, and even traffic speed stats. A directory of weekly yard sales even comes complete with automatic links to Mapquest locators of each address. • Quick Delivery E-mail Lists: The application page for this service asks, “Want a quick way to get Peachtree City information?” If yes, residents can get on the list to receive via e-mail any of four communications sent from City Hall on a regular basis, usually to the news media: The Update newsletter; City Council and Planning Commission agendas; emergency alerts and special notices; and press releases. The service even comes complete with a number of “two pack” or “three pack” options if applicants don’t want their in-boxes to be swamped with news from City Hall. As with the Fast-Pay service, the city promises not to make e-mail addresses or other information available to a third party, but users are reminded that an e-mail address may be subject to Georgia’s Open Records laws, Tyler said. • Velo-City or Virtual City Hall: While not entirely a new service, this pull-down menu has been redesigned for easier access and features electronic forms for registering for recreation classes, applying for burn permits, reporting street or cart path problems, or to obtain garage sale signs. It also includes PDF-printable forms for golf cart registration, occupational tax license and solicitor’s permits that still must be hand-delivered, Tyler said.
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