Members present: Chairman Fred Steinberg, Janis Gray, Paul Vlach, Ralph Armstrong, and Leslie Bracebridge.
Absent: Keith Dragon, Narda Wakoluk
Meeting opened at 7:14 p.m. Minutes of May 28 were accepted as written.
Discussion with seeming agreement but no votes taken included the following points:
- All bulk email announcements will go to all recipients, no selected messages to only certain recipients.
- All bulk email announcements will be put on the web site on a yet to be created “What’s new?” page with just bullet announcements sent to the individual recipients, stating that there is something new to find and where to find it.
- In Keith’s absence, the committee assumed that he would prefer, and therefore the committee agreed, that Keith would put up the announcement requests at his convenience and date the bullets as he puts them up. The alternative discussed was to have a time schedule such that all new announcements would be put up on a specific day with input information “deadlines.” We will confirm with Keith.
- Archiving of announcements was deemed necessary. Specific parameters concerning how long kept on web and how paper back up is archived need to be set.
- Ralph presented a “test case” for the web site. On behalf of the Library Building Committee, he asked if a survey could be put on the site.
- Discussion included edits to the survey, but it was agreed that this could become a form of censorship, beyond the “inappropriate” censorship category.
- The committee agreed that a non-binding statement would be appropriate.
- The committee agreed that a technical mechanism is available and would be used, to avoid multiple responses from the same individuals.
- The committee agreed that the survey should also be available in paper format in the newsletter to ensure that all households, including those without computers and online access, had an opportunity to participate. Thus a first “blend” of newsletter and web site information.
Sample web site policies were distributed:
- State of Vermont Model Municipal Web Site Policy – exemplified with “Town of Wallingford Web Site Policy.
- Arlington, MA Online Policy
- Town of Estes Park Policy
- The “disclaimer” only from the Town of Boxborough policy
Additionally, the Town of Weymouth recommended visiting www.muninetguide.com for practical guidance of what municipal web sites should offer.
The state of Vermont Model Municipal Web Site Policy as depicted by the Town of Wallingford was used as a base model with deletions and additions made both from the other models and from Shutesbury specific ideas. Fred offered to compile the changes into a final draft to be distributed for review before the next meeting. Any further changes will be made at the next meeting in hopes that it can be accepted by the committee and presented to the Selectmen for their approval at the July 2, 2002 selectboard meeting.
Paul wanted the record to note that he learned in his research that neither Amherst nor Fitchburg has a policy for their web sites.
The technical details of putting the Our Town and heretofore paper only, newsletter on the web site were discussed. Some graphics and inserts would have to be eliminated. A request was made that the inserts at least be listed.
As another “test case” Paul said that Nick Grabbe had written an informative piece on Amherst Landfill fees for Shutesbury for the Daily Hampshire Gazette. He wondered if the committee would object to him approaching Nick to get the article on the recycling page of the web site. There were no objections.
Similarly, Paul raised the possibility of including a police log similar to that in the Amherst Bulletin on the web site. With no objections from the committee, Paul offered to talk first with Chief Bray about this. The information will either be gathered directly from the police department by the web site staff, or similarly borrowed from the bulletin as Paul hopes the recycling article may be borrowed from the Gazette.
The next meeting of the web site committee was scheduled for June 12 at 7 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Leslie Bracebridge