LEWISTON — The city may have a new look on the Internet, but the biggest changes by far are behind the scenes and under the hood.

“There is just so much more we can do now, it really is a work in progress,” Community Relations Coordinator Dottie Perham-Whittier said. “The more information we put up, the more we want to post. It’s growing day by day.”

The city debuted its new website on Aug. 15 and has been working to fill its pages and get applications like the multiple calendars and emergency notifications system running and under control.

City staffers officially debuted the page, at www.lewistonmaine.gov, at a news conference Monday morning.

The new version updates the city’s Web presence with a more modern look, bright colors and pictures sent in by area residents.

But the site contains a host of new stuff. It not only tells users about city boards, news releases, agendas and City Hall hours, it lets them take care of many of their functions online. 

One area, accessed by clicking the Online Services button on the home page, lets users buy a hunting and fishing license, a dog license or renew their vehicle registration online. Another button, Notify Me, lets users sign up for emergency alerts, news about bid postings, City Council and board agendas, news releases and keep track of city doings on 12 different calendars.

“One of the biggest changes is that it’s all up to date now because we have so many people doing it,” said David Gudas, the city’s personal computer coordinator. “Before, it was just me. If somebody wanted to change something, they sent it to me and I made the change.”

Perham-Whittier said that making changes to the Web could take days on the old website. Now, with more than 50 people updating calendars and department pages, the site updates within minutes.

Another feature, the Report a Concern button, sends a message directly to city administration. Reports of potholes, concerns about campaign signs and or questions about city business can be directed to the right department and answered quickly.

“A municipal website is always difficult to set up because we do have so much information we keep track of,” City Administrator Ed Barrett said. “I think this website makes it a bit easier for people to find that information. And hopefully, it looks better, too.”

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