Commissioners refer $21,006 website development request to council after choosing CivicPlus

Staff told commissioners that the county's current website vendor is ending that line of business and that the county evaluated demos from two vendors. After back‑end and editor demos, staff recommended CivicPlus for the county website rebuild. The quoted development fee was $21,006 and the ongoing hosting fee would be $6,500 per year (the recurring hosting was already included in the IT budget).

The county's plan: staff will take the vendor selection and funding request to the county council for approval of the development fee; if council approves, the commissioners will return to sign the final contract. Commissioners moved to allow staff to proceed to the council with the proposal and caveated the referral on council approval; motion carried.

Why this matters: County websites must be ADA‑compliant beginning next year; staff emphasized CivicPlus’s experience with Indiana counties and accessibility requirements. Commissioners noted the startup development fee was not currently budgeted and asked staff to seek council funding.

Next step: Staff will confirm whether the development fee includes the first year of hosting and will bring a contract and final cost breakdown to the commissioners after council action.