Over the past year, the city instituted live streaming for its City Council, commission and committee meetings; provided residents with an option to review the archived videos of past meetings; updated its website; added entries on social media pages such as Facebook and NextDoor; adopted a new emergency alert system; and created a link for media outlets to access relevant city information and logos.
"There was a real focus on making information more easily accessible for residents and businesses," Rollingwood City Council Member Wendi Hundley said of the projects. "We have a very smart and engaged community, and we recognized the high level of services that our citizens expect."
She attributed the changes to the "forward-thinking City Council" now in place, with last year's 2018-19 fiscal budget accounting for the bulk of the technology improvements implemented this fiscal year. The city spent $6,345 in upgrades to its video recording hardware in order to livestream its meetings, Hundley said.
City Administrator Amber Lewis said the new technology had a few challenges but offered residents "instant access to information" without having to go through a staff member to request a meeting recording. She said residents' participation in civic affairs has increased with their ability to watch the meetings live or archived
Beginning with the Aug. 4 launch of the city's new website, the improvements not only offered more accessibility to information for residents but also saved money for the city in the process.
"While we got smarter technology, and we had to do some upfront investment in the hardware and software," Hundley said. "We now see a financial benefit of almost $5,000 a year in savings."
Designed by Municode in conjunction with public relations firm Buie & Co., the new website hosts the city's agenda management system, an improvement that first aired Sept. 12 and includes packets supporting the items set to be discussed at City Council and commission sessions.
"We have received very, very positive feedback from our community for just the overall accessibility," Hundley said of the website overhaul. "I've heard it's much easier to navigate. People enjoy the search feature because it's unifying the agendas, the meetings (and) the municipal code of ordinances."
The city started live streaming its meetings via YouTube Live on Aug. 6 with a Park Commission session. By using YouTube Live, there's no cost for the livestream, Hundley said.
Plans are in the works to improve that option further in 2020 by providing an index to each meeting so searches can be conducted by agenda topic, with users skipping to the part of the video that interests them.
"I think it's helped us offer more transparency to our residents by providing access to the most current city business," Hundley said of the live stream sessions. "But also allowing them to review archived meetings if they miss something."
She said she found the new option helpful when approached by a resident with a question about city business, using the tool to assist her response and directing the citizen to the pertinent council session that focused on the concern "so they could hear it firsthand."
The city's Swift 911 emergency alert system is an upgrade from its former program, with city staff members finding the new program "easy to use" since it can be accessed from mobile devices, Hundley said. For instance, police officers who are covering a local flood can shut down Bee Cave Road to traffic from their smartphones and send an alert to subscribers that the road is closed, she said.
In the future, citizens and users will be able to choose which alerts and updates within the Swift 911 program they want to subscribe to based on their preferences, such as community events, Hundley said. However, in an emergency, the city will send everyone an update.
Although the city has maintained a Facebook page for some time, Hundley said it wasn't very active. Along with the site's recent increased usage by city officials, she said Lewis also began posting local information on NextDoor, a social media resource for people who live in Rollingwood "to get more channels of communication out to residents."
With 70 followers on Rollwingwood's Facebook page, Hundley said its users are "slowly growing." According to Hundley, the city's NextDoor site has 567 households subscribed and a total of 921 members.
A community newsletter is being developed, with its first edition estimated to be out within the next six months. The periodical will highlight business undertaken by the City Council as well as civic boards and commissions; include spotlights on community residents and businesses; and provide police activity updates together with other local news, Hundley said.
"We're trying to use a variety of vehicles to convey the same message," she said.
In the first half of next year, the city plans to launch My Permit Now, a website that will allow users to apply for permits, pay online, request building inspections, submit files, download inspection reports, see approved plans and check the status of permits as well as apply online for plat reviews or rezoning. Additionally, the database can be used to report issues within the city's jurisdiction such as tall grass or highway damage, items that may require city staff maintenance.
Staff is working on a communication plan to alert citizens on the various ways they can connect with the city, Hundley said.
"The high level of staff that we have in place and the team of Rollingwood employees has made this possible (along with) their willingness to update outdated systems and make information easily accessible," she said of the changes.
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