Town's new website unveiled

If you visit the town of San Anselmo's website (townofsananselmo.org) after Monday, you should be greeted by a brand new website -- with a picture of the infamous deer to welcome you.

The new site has been nearly a year in the making and was unveiled to the town council earlier this week.

"We're very excited, this has been a long time coming," said Dave Donery, director of community services. Because a large part of what residents want to do online is register for recreation classes, Donery was intimately involved with the site development and presented it to the council.

The new site was designed and built by CivicPlus at a cost of $25,000, after town staff made it a goal to focus on customer service this year.

On the homepage, residents will find news, announcements, a calendar, and a menu that includes links to: about us, departments, government, community, and business.

The about us link gives contact information and basic information about the town (for example, residents can click on links for each park for information about amenities or to make reservations online).

Under the departments link, you will find information about every department, frequently asked questions, linked to the most commonly needed forms and permits, and bios about the different department heads.

The government link provide calendars, agendas, and all the packet information for public town meetings. There will also be information about the boards and commissions and bios on the council members.

Under the community link there will be information about and links to many things that aren't necessarily run by the town, but that community members would be interested in, such as the schools. 

"The public doesn't know that the town doesn't run the little league and we get calls for that all the time," said Donery, pointed out a link to the San Anselmo Baseball Association on that page.

The last link on the homepage will have information about businesses, including information that is also provided in other places, such as permit information for businesses, information about the chamber of commerce, and upcoming events.

Also on the homepage are graphics that provide information directly about emergency alerts, upcoming events, and public meetings. Residents can even choose to sign up for the town newsletter or get emails about the town going out for construction bids, job openings, news, or changes to the recreation calendar.

"San Anselmo was one of the first town's to have a website. Now, it looks like it," said Mayor Barbara Thornton.