Oct. 9, 2013:  Easier navigation to follow village business and find timely information online is on the horizon for Bronxville residents. 

The Bronxville Board of Trustees, at its October 7 meeting, approved an agreement with online services company Virtual Towns and Schools to design and implement a new website for the village.

Three Bronxville Village staff members, Karen Buccheri, secretary to the mayor and village administrator, Peggy Conway, Bronxville deputy treasurer, and Julie Cagliostro, manager of information systems for the village, set the goal to offer residents and others who do business with Bronxville a more attractive, informative, and interactive website.

They will work with Virtual Towns and Schools to realize that goal and aim to have the website fully functional by January 1, 2014.

Users of the new site can look forward to seeing information on how to find the right person to answer questions and accessing all building department, public works forms and vital records forms used by the village, as well as finding maps that clarify the village's parking areas with their various privileges, restrictions, and time limits.

"Our hope is that people will be able, first of all, to easily access information," Conway said. "We want to have every single application that anyone can think of readily available."

Connection to the village eAlert® system will facilitate real-time transmission of emergency announcements on the new website.

"The capacity to upload documents and reports within the village office, rather than relying on an outside consultant, means residents will see more timely posting of important information," Buccheri noted.

Buccheri, Conway, and Cagliostro interviewed several companies with expertise in designing and hosting websites for municipalities. They decided on Virtual Towns and Schools as the best fit because the company deals exclusively with smaller municipalities rather than with larger cities.

"Virtual Towns and Schools has experience with who we are and what we are," Buccheri added.

The three-year contract includes secure hosting in a monitored facility, 24-hour emergency support, periodic upgrades, and a free website design upgrade at the end of the three-year agreement.

"We’ll have an attractive and timely product, so everybody wins," Buccheri added.

Pictured here (L to R): Trustee Donald Gray, Mayor Mary Marvin, and trustee Guy Longobardo.

Photo by Carol P. Bartold